Spring Fling at Pelee

One of dozens of Sapsuckers

As one might have expected, the floodgates opened overnight and migrants poured in!  Birds were everywhere this morning as I birded with Chris Law, Steve Pike and Steve's girlfriend Cassandra.  And yes, I saw a Chipping Sparrow!  Dozens actually.  All kinds of sparrows all over inc. Fox, Savannah, Vesper, and juncos too.

Savannah Sparrow

Eastern birds such at towhee, meadowlark and phoebe were everywhere as well, not to mention Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets worked the lower areas of the woods.  Hermit Thrushes arrived too, and so did a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Many birds were reversing including the blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Flickers.
Swallow-types included many Tree, a Barn and a Purple Martin or two.
It was nice to see numbers of birds after a long winter!

The Tip area was a abuzz first thing despite the strong SW wind.  Difficult to hear anything at times.

For the afternoon shift, Richard Carr and I walked Woodland Trail.  We noted three spring Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Several Winter Wrens were popping up here and there.  At one point a rare Woodland Duck made an appearance.

Later I headed over to Hillman Marsh and found lots of shorebirds.  A good spot was the dead end of 'A' (Rd 20) where at least 80 Pectoral Sandpipers were working the mud.  I also spotted 3 American Golden Plovers there.  Several gulls plus a Caspian Tern were on the mud as well.

Over near the entrance of Hillman were more Pectoral, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe and both yellowlegs.  I walked to the shorebird cell and several ducks were in plus yellowlegs. At the wooded area it was loaded with kinglets and I spotted another Yellow-rumped Warbler.
More shorebirds were seen from the bridge along Mersea Rd. 2.  Over 100 Pectoral Sandpiper were around today!

Strangely, I did not come across a butterfly today!