Pelee Grebes to Butterflies

Clear, crisp night

A very enjoyable day to be out!  Since it was going to be warm, I decided to venture down to Point Pelee and look for birds and butterflies.
I tried driving to the Tip since someone forgot to close the gate last night.  I knew it was supposed to be closed, but why not try?  I got booted out quickly, so I parked at the V.C. and walked.  A couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers were along the way.





 I cut in at Sparrow Field and on the lake I saw close to 100 Horned Grebes, some very close.

Horny Grebes

Down the east beach I saw some sparrows including Savannah.  Lots of Red Admirals in the butterfly department.

I birded around the Tip area for quite some time, then decided to head up West Beach Trail.  At the parking lot, I looked at all the ducks and picked out a big brown duck that I believed to be a female eider.  I assumed King, and looking at the field guide at home I am sure it was.  Sometimes Common can look similar at a distance.  I did not have a scope, but the bird was not too far out.  When I first saw it, the head was up, but it quickly folded back and went to sleep.  The birds slowly drifted away sleeping....

Ducks Galore

More Horned Grebes were on the west side as well.  I probably saw over 200 total for the day.  I was hoping to find an Eared Grebe today, but I guess I would need Josh Vandermeulen to help (!).
Up the west side trail there were a lot more Red Admirals.  I also came across 5 American Painted-Lady.  The first was quite worn, but others were fresh looking.







I walked through Tilden's Woods to put in time and there were several Yellow-rumped Warblers there.  The first Spring Azure of the day was present.

Spring Azure

Up at De Laurier I had another American Lady and Spring Azure.  I ate lunch with Steve Pike, Mike Mencotti, and Gerry Sniderman.  We talked about the Northern Bobwhite reported at Hillman yesterday.  Apparently it was only heard.  Maybe someone played a tape!  Seriously though, I mentioned that Walpole Island is the only place left in Ontario that wild birds likely exist.  They are extremely difficult to find anymore, but some are still present.

The Goodyear Blimp!

I stopped at Northwest Beach and had 3 more American Painted-Lady plus some Red Admirals.  Total for the day included about 80 Red Admirals in the park.  Minus one I hit with the car.

I made a quick stop in Hillman Marsh.  Lighting was bad but there were lots of Green-winged Teal.  About 15 Pectoral Sandpipers were in the weeds.

Eastern Phoebe