Sunday, April 30, 2017

FOY Birds and More!

I was due for a trip to Point Pelee, so there I went!  Rondeau was not in the cards today as Kent Bridge Road would have been very busy first thing in the morning with the 401 closure.  Pelee was a good choice today as I heard that Rondeau was quite "slow".

I met many friends and found some decent birds.

I started birding with Dan Greenham and we walked to the Tip.  Some FOY birds along the road included Eastern Kingbird, Ovenbird (heard singing), Northern Parula.  Just south of the solar panel, a trail-side Sedge Wren was giving birders some good looks.



The very Tip was quite brutal and nobody stood there for any length of time.  We did catch a glimpse of the long-staying Eared Grebe along with some Horned Grebes.  I never saw an Eared last year, as they were rather scarce overall.

We then walked up west beach trail where at the start, I caught sight of the Prairie Warbler from yesterday.  Lighting was horrible though.



We checked the serengeti tree area for the Henslow's Sparrow, but to no avail.  A Savannah Sparrow was nearby.



I continued up west beach trail seeing a few birds including several Palm and Black-throated Green Warblers.



I kept walking up to White Pine then over to Chinquapin Trail and down through Tilden's Woods.  A few birds were noted, but not many!  A FOY included a Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Woodland Trail was not too productive for birds, especially on the east side with the brutal EAST (again) wind.  I did see at least 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Many have come in the last couple of days.



Next stop was briefly at Blue Heron, but it was too windy.  A bunch of Chipping Sparrows were on the lawn, and later I learned that a Clay-colored was among them.
I then decided to park at Dunes and walk the seasonal trail down to Pioneer, then back up west beach trail.  The only FOY was a Veery.

I heard that the Henslow's was seen again, so I went down that way by myself. Upon arrival, a bird flew out of the grass which I was certain an ammodramus type.  It briefly perched, but it was certainly not a Henslow's but a Le Conte's!  I saw it a second time, but never was able to photograph it.  A decent consolation in any case.

While there, I added a FOY Tennessee Warbler.

Upon arriving back at the VC, it was time to leave and head to Tilbury.  The Black-necked Stilt (found by Barb "Wire" Charlton) had been reported again, and since it is basically on the way home, I stopped there.  Irene the Birder was there as well as Carmen Loew.

The Black-necked Stilt was nice to see since I was not able to get to Windsor for the "flock" a couple of weeks ago.


The last I saw of this species were the two at Hillman Marsh a few years ago.

The weather actually turned out quite nice today, despite the threatening forecast.  Better than yesterday!

On to another week.....


3 comments:

  1. The one time I pick Rondeau over Pelee....

    The Black-necked Stilt was quite a stunner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I find you cannot get 'em all! Good that you got over to the Black-necked Stilt.

      Delete
  2. It was nice to meet you Blake! ..and Irene as well! :)
    -Carmen

    ReplyDelete