Sunday, October 2, 2016

Peregrines to Phalaropes

I was drawn down to Point Pelee today for some fine birding.  The weather was a bit iffy at first, as it started raining as I arrived at the park.
Eventually I made it down to the Tip to find several familiar faces.




There was not much action on the lake today, unlike yesterday when a couple of Parasitic Jaegers were seen among other birds.
There were black clouds on both sides of us, and even a water spout was seen to the east.


Some fishing boats were out though.



The only shorebird was a single Sanderling.



Several Peregrines were around today, as well as Merlins, Ospreys, many Sharp-shinned hawks and other raptors.
At one point, a Peregrine grabbed a Blue Jay (it had lots to choose from!) and it circled out over the Tip.




Nearby, a Merlin was munching on a warbler--likely a Magnolia.



After some time at the Tip, we headed back to the tram stop when the rain came down again.  Eventually it stopped and I headed up west beach trail with Steve Pike, Marianne Reid and Jeremy Hatt.
It was good birding all along the trail, but difficult to get on many of the birds.

Flycatchers included an Eastern Wood Peewee, a couple of Eastern Phoebes, a Willow/Alder type and this one.



I headed home after lunch via the lakeshore and stopped at Blenheim Lagoons.  A pair of Red-necked Phalaropes were swimming around.  These were reported earlier by Steve Charbonneau.



A few shorebirds were in the sprinklers, but that Long-billed Dowitcher still eluded me.



A couple of Fiery Skippers and Common Checkered-Skippers were at the lagoons.



2 comments:

  1. Always nice to see you Blake! Those Peregrines were great!

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  2. Hi Blake
    I heard about your blog from someone I met about 2 months ago and have been following ever since. I am new to Chatham so its very nice to hear from someone with the same interest as I do, and to learn where I may go to take some pictures of birds and others.
    Looking forward to other post
    Ansel

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