A Good Start for Thanksgiving Birding

With the change in weather overnight, it was obvious birding would be good especially along Lake Erie.  Rondeau Park was hopping with birds, and a decent raptor flight was in the works.  Most often birding seems to be good on Thanksgiving weekend!

Some TV's at Dawn

I met Steve Charbonneau at Dog Beach early in the morning.  There was not much moving on the lake, but a number of Ruddy Ducks were flying to and fro.

At south point trail, we got out of the car to find a multitude of birds.  Most were Yellow-rumped Warblers, but we stood there for some time.  Early on I spotted a "Yellow" Palm Warbler which was obvious due to the all-yellow look.  There were lots of regular Palm Warblers as well.
It took us almost 3 hours to do south point trail (east side); certainly the best day yet this fall.  We ended up with at least 17 species of warblers including a nice Bay-breasted near the light beacon.

maggie

Others included a Tennessee, 3 Northern Parulas, a few Orange-crowned and Black-throated Blues among others.

O.C. Warbler

redstart

Bay-breasted

Parula

Vireos were rather absent today, but we did see a couple of Blue-headed together.

Maintenance Loop

Raptors were moving on the NW wind.  At least 12 Bald Eagles were seen, but it was difficult to ascertain how many were actually seen.

A few butterflies were out including a late Silver-spotted on the maintenance loop.

My next stop was Blenheim Lagoons where a few shorebirds were present.  As expected this time of year, Long-billed Dowitchers were there.  Up to five have been seen all week.

Some swallows were flying about including at least 4 Barn.

Several Common Checkered-Skippers were around.  It was quite windy today, so it was not the best day for leps.