Pelee Things

A strong SW wind pulled me down to Point Pelee today.  Had a fine day of birding with Richard Carr and Steve Pike.  Lots to see, especially sparrows.
A fair bit of action at the Tip, but one would have thought something of interest (a jaeger or good gull) would appear.  Lots of bonies moving for a change.  Shorebirds included a Black-bellied Plover, Sanderling and a pair of distant flyby birds that were out of range for ID.



Some Tree Swallows swirling around plus one Bank.  There was discussion of Cave Swallows with this big SW wind today.  I see one was reported in NY State today!

This creature was hunting Blue Jays!

After 2+ hours, we headed inland and looked at sparrows, kinglets and warblers.  Only Yellow-rumped and Palm for today.  Sparrows were the bird of the day with all the usual types present.  Chippies led the way again today with hundreds of them.  Large flocks were numerous. Some took baths!

Steve and I walked up west beach trail in search of butterflies, not to mention birds.  Several common species present, but I eventually spotted a male Sachem.  It was very active and did not settle and I eventually lost it to sight.  We continued on, but shortly Steve spotted another.  This time a female.  Good photos were achieved on this one.  I thnk the record late date for this species is October 17.  Perhaps it will be broken this year!

 Sachem

I went up to De Laurier and walked Anders.  As I came back to the end, I spotted a slow-moving Fiery Skipper.  It did not move much, and in fact I could have touched it.

Not-so-fiery Skipper

Steve and I then went up to NW Beach and found many more sparrows.  Too many to look at!  Here was also an Eastern Meadowlark and the second Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the day.

Curious Cuckoo

On the way home I stopped by to see if the Red Phalarope was around.  It was!  A young couple, whom I had met back in May was watching it as well.
On to another week, but these tremendous SW winds should bring in something of note......