Pelee Pileated and More

Sunday, I resigned myself to do some birding at Point Pelee.  The weather was iffy first thing, but eventually the sun came out for a rather nice day much to my astonishment.
There were certainly more warblers there compared to what has been seen at Rondeau Park.  I did a quick walk through the west section of Woodland trail where warblers were flitting through the trees.  Most were Yellow-rumped, but a few Nashville and Palm were mixed in.
Lots of Hermit Thrushes were throughout the park.

Due to the running event which once again screwed things up, I quickly headed up to De Laurier and walked down Ander's Footpath.  Quite a few warblers were along the way and into Tilden's Woods.  Three Northern Waterthrushes were working the middle section of Tilden's among other birds.
I had heard about a Sedge Wren along Shuster, so I headed there.  Alas, I did not find it, but two Marsh Wrens were alongside the trail.

Towards the west end of Shuster, I stopped to look at some birds when I heard the familiar call of a Pileated Woodpecker.  I waited, and soon I saw it fly across in a southerly direction.  This is the first Pileated I have seen in Point Pelee!  It is a rare bird here and indeed all of Essex County.
Due to lack of significant forest cover, a Pileated does not feel at home in Essex County.  Within Point Pelee, the forest is probably not dense enough to suit this large woodpecker.

It was not the first Pileated I have seen in Essex County though.  Back in February 2015 when I was heading to Lakeview (?) Marina to look at all the waterfowl, I saw one fly across in the Pike Creek area.
The Pileated Woodpecker is a novelty in Point Pelee and highly sought after (even a Hairy Woodpecker is rare!).  A number have been seen in the park in recent years.  Alan Wormington did not see one until May 2003 when one was flying about the park.
According to eBird entries, one was in the park April-May 2015, and last year (2018) in May.  Others have been seen In Kopegaron Woods April 2015 and Hillman Marsh May 2013.
The present bird was first seen by Paul Pratt just outside the park on April 17.

(old photo)

I had an enjoyable walk through Tilden's Woods and back up to De Laurier.

FOY Great-crested Flycatcher

Along the way I spotted a very yellow Palm Warbler, of the eastern hypochrysea type.  I see at least one almost every year.
I walked De Laurier, but it was quiet perhaps due to the usual prevailing east winds for this time of year.  I came across the "afternoon shift" on the backside of the trail, so we walked around and soon met up with the legendary Steve Pike in the parking lot.
We then walked up to Sleepy Hollow, but did not see much of note.

I went back to Woodland Trail and walked on the Redbud Trail as well.  A FOY Wood Thrush was the highlight.

I checked Hillman shorebird cell on the way home, but it was terribly quite compared to the previous day.

Today, I noticed a large number of swallows around at various places.

On the way home from work, the Snowy Owl was still along Langstaff Line, and north of town, I found a number of gulls in a wet field.  Included were at least three Lesser Black-backed adults.

There seems to be a higher number of gulls around this spring compared to some previous years.