Erieau Birds

Erieau Gulls and Terns

I had no plan today, but at the last minute decided to head down to Erieau. Firstly, I checked the Railroad Trail. There were some warblers to start. Farther down there is a bare field which I checked for shorebirds. It is almost peak time for Buff-breasted Sandpiper and sure enough one was in the field.
After that trail, I crossed the road and walked along McGeachy Pond. I noticed quite a few Caspian Terns flying around, and I looked down the beach towards the village. In the distance I could see a huge number of gulls and terns. I hurried down to the public beach.



At the beach, I was struck by the sheer numbers of gulls and terns. At first, I could not see the whole beach, and when I rounded the dune, there were more!
I tend to underestimate things, but I thought there were at least 12,000+ birds here either on the beach, in the air, or on the water.






There is a new viewing platform, so I sat there for some time watching the spectacle. Strangely, I could not find even an uncommon bird! I am sure something was there though, but one could only look at a fraction of the birds. I estimated 5000 Common Terns, 4000 Bonaparte's Gulls, at least 3000 Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, plus the Caspian Terns, and likely some Forster's Terns.
I have never seen this many birds at Erieau before in one spot! --especially this time of year.

Eastern Comma on Rail Trail

The Rail Trail is an excellent spot for birding. There is the marsh along the Bay on the east side, and the onion fields on the west side. Small birds are attracted to the trees. There used to be more trees, but they were cut down a few years ago. I remember the old days when there would be incredible numbers of warblers along there in the middle of May. One time it was so overwhelming, I had to leave!

This trail was cleaned up last year and is better for walking. It follows the old rail line that came into Erieau. The rails are still below the dirt, helping to hold the dyke together.

Erieau was once a bustling rail terminus. The tracks to the area were torn up in the early 1970's.

The photo below shows how busy the port was. Coal was shipped from here, and rail ferries took the rail cars across the lake to Ohio.