Pelee Area Today

Point Pelee c. 1960

I had the urge to go to Point Pelee today. So I went! The weather was a bit better than predicted, but as usual, far poorer than the weekdays.
I started at the Tip, which was fairly active with ducks. Most common were the Red-breasted Mergansers. Lots of scaup were far offshore to the west. Others included Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Mallard, Wood Duck (1 pair), and about 12 Long-tailed Ducks (1 flock).


A single Double-crested Cormorant was around, the first for the season.
A Merlin heading north over the water was a decent sighting.
I walked West Beach Trail for a bit, and saw a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks, but not much else. A Horned Grebe, my first for the season, was swimming offshore. It was just about in breeding plumage.
I also walked Woodland Trail, but it was very quiet except for the blackbirds. I did see a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets and heard a creeper. A Northern Flicker flew over.
The sloughs are entirely dry. The lack of precipitation has much to do with it! In fact the water levels all over are very low, as you can see in the above photo at the Tip.

I stopped at De Laurier and noted many sparrows at the entrance. Just Song, Tree and Junco.

Sparrows in the Grass

Some white flowers were coming up near the house, but I have no idea what they are. Pretty though.

Snowdrops

The only other flowers I have seen this week were some Coltsfoot outside the shop at work. It is an odd spot for them. Coltsfoot is a non-native species, as probably the above one is.

Coltsfoot

Hillman Marsh has lots of mud due to low water. Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Killdeer were near the entrance. I am told Dunlin was there earlier in the week as well. These are some of the first shorebirds, as expected, to show up besides Woodcock.

Hillman Marsh

Tundra Swans in Dover