Pelee May 18th - there's something about this place....

Tip early - brought my scope for the first time this year and had 3 Lesser Black-backs (including 1 mostly-adult bird)... Highlight was a distant flyby RED-throated Loon (darn good pelee bird)...  But overall it was pretty slow. Oh, also 1 adult Little Gull..

I had lots of songbirds (in song) on my walk to and from the tip - so after a quick breakfast my Dad and I started working the west beach (due to east winds)... What did we get?

BAM!!! This beauty played a little hide-and-seek before we had a clear look and made the ID -

BAM! Female Kirtland's Warbler! Self found to boot. There aren't many more exciting finds in the bird world than a KIWA... After playing hard to get at first, she became very cooperative and gave stunning views down to a few feet away (and we were the only people there!)

She actually vanished for a while, but Karl Konze found here again in the same spot we first did - and she stayed there for the rest of the day - giving fantastic views... I think she is something like my 14th KIWA in Ontario, and every one is freakin awesome... 

KIWA and Pelee Cactus

Beaut.... 

We left her after a while and went for lunch (we had planned to walk the west beach for a while, but obviously we were side-tracked). On our way back to lunch we came across a young male Summer Tanager!!! Sa-weet! 

After lunch we started where we left off and had OODLES of warblers and other neotrop's along the west beach. Most birds I've seen all April/May - and many lookin pretty sweet. No real highlights, just great numbers of 20+ warbs, vireos, etc... It kept us busy long enough to bird until 6pm-ish, when I went back for my good camera gear and had a bit of a photoshoot with the Kirtland's in the evening... 

She wasn't terribly cooperative with the 600mm (tame, but hard to get shots of)... All the pics I've posted here are form mid-day with my point and shoot! I'll save the good ones for later when I have a chance to edit them... She really was a beauty (adult female I believe).. And I'll do her justice sometime in the future!

Pelee Birds - May 17th, 2013

HEY! You there... 

Great day of birding...

Started at the tip - things were pretty slow. Although not that cold given the east winds...  At least 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were there before I got bored and started to wander...

At the VC lot for second breakfast, I had a Common Nighthawk fly over...


A quick check of Tildens, Woodland Nature and part of the west beach let me know that a decent drop of new migrants had occurred!

I see you over there... 

A text from Steve Pike got me to his location quickly (tip road near VC) - for a look at an incredibly dull "Solitary Vireo" bird... Didn't get any pics (wish I did) -but it was a darn freaky bird. What a terrible split... Lump them back!


My Dad and I worked the west beach picnic areas (and west beach trails) for most of mid-day with great numbers of migrants. We ended the day with 23 species of warbler that we saw at least 3 individuals of! Also pulled out an Acadian Flycatcher (personal FOY)...

We checked the tip again quickly mid afternoon. There was a dark mantled gull there that confused me, right before some tourists flushed it (never to be seen again)...


The evening was spent along NW beach area where we continued to see great numbers of migrant warblers and other neotrop's... A great day! A calling Nighthawk closed out the festivities..

Please come and sit right here! 

No major rares to report, but it was really fun to be out. Here's some pics form today, brought to you by my "point and shoot" camera -

BOBO in the VC Parking Lot

Yellow-throated Hummingbird

A sleeping Black-and-White Warbler... Seriously...

Photo of the day (not too bad for a point and shoot eh?) - Scuurrrrlet Tanager

Pelee Birdz! May 16th.........

Large Mouth! 

Another day, another dollar (or no dollars).... Started at the tip early, as per usual – mostly with Dave Bell and Barb Charlton among the masses. Birds still migrating overnight, and there has still not been a single day with a large drop of Warblers into the woods. Overall, rather enjoyable though...

Winds were very light to calm... A small loon flying past (I heard some calls of Red-throated) was a very good looking PACIFIC LOON in juv/basic plumage just past the point (going west) – until it turned NW when it rounded the point. My 6^th self found PALO in the last 10 years... Pretty awesome! Although at the same time, I’d happily trade one in for some new “self found species” – but what can you do?? (just enjoy it!)

Peter Burke then picked out an adult Laughing Gull sitting on the tip in front of the 40+ people standing around chatting. Nice looks! My Dad also found a Whip-poor-will near the Sparrow Field that several of us checked out. Very cool.

The tip was pretty slow – so we left early and worked the woods in the north end of the park. A singing male Cerulean put on a show for our party. Just as the team was ready to split up, word came of a Yellow-throated Warbler not far from our location!!! We walked up the road and enjoyed great views at the far N end of the Blue Heron trail...Woot!

Both pics of THEE birds... 

Dave Bell and I had a bit of a friendly warbler competition underway for most of the spring.... When I twitched the Worm-eating a few days ago, I pulled ahead of our 35-35 tie.... (36 to 35).. Then he and Barb responded when he got 36 with their self-found Kirtlands!! But thankfully I managed my 37^th species of the year in Ontario (and Pelee) when I twitched the Kirtland’s about 90mins after they found it...

So anyways – the only thing I had left on D.B. was Yellow-throated, until this bird put on a show – locking us into a 37-37 species tie for 2013. Dave is off to work now, and I’m not 100% sure exactly how many more days of birding I’ll manage in May 2013 – but it was really fun overall (and a great year for Warbler species counts!)

Female Blue-winged Warb in flight from a few days ago.. I feel pretty good to tie that guy on warbler numbers - given that he makes ID's on birds like this one in flight on cloudy days (and nails it)!

Anyways, I went back at mid-day to get a break from the heat --- and ended up napping for several hours --- putting an end to my birding day early. Which was fine by me! Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Pelee Birds May 15!

My FOY BC Night Heron... My Dad and I probably found this not long before Barb Wire and Dave "the Machine" found themselves a Kirtland's Warbler (at least we got to see it)...

We were treated to a massive (400+) Baltimore Oriole reverse migration in the morning, along with serveral other species (but still generally lacking in good numbers of warblers).. 

I'm a bit behind on my writing (and don't fully remember everything)... Here's our ebird checklist for the day:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14128026

The Carolina-like Chickadee showed up at the very tip during the reverse. It stands out like a sore thumb. Peter Burke spotted it earlier in the morning by the tip tram loop.... You can pick it out because it lacks white on the median coverts, has less white edging on the flight feathers - and also appears to be missing several tail feathers... Waiting for expert comment!

I made the wrong call in parting from Barb and Dave for an ill-fated jaunty along the east shore north of the park.. They found this beast, but thankfully 90mins later we were able to view it. Thanks guys!

In the evening there was an INSANE spectacle of shorebirds at the Hillman cell... From our ebird list below: 

Black-bellied Plover 5000 huge numbers
Semipalmated Plover 50
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Willet 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 25
Ruddy Turnstone 200
Semipalmated Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 5
White-rumped Sandpiper 1 seen close, heard calling - nice alternate plumage
Dunlin 400
Short-billed Dowitcher 1500 - INSANE count...
Wilson's Phalarope 1 male

A few times they all flushed, flying close and far... Really a spectacle... Photo below:

Just a fraction of the flocks in flight... 

OK apparently this Chickadee is going to hang around???

We may need an ID on this beastie.... Uploading pics for comments......

Pelee May 14th - birds!

Ok going to sleep now. High hopes for good birds on unusual weather (thankfully warm unusual weather) tomorrwo!

Pelee May 13 !!! Slow.. Slow slow slow.. and FANTASTIC

These beauties are putting on a show (all 4 of them) 

3 funny things from today:


#1 - We met Russell Cannings from BC - and little did we know - he's a giant...

#2 - What happens when 5 photographers (not me) are sitting on a beach and have the Piping Plover walk up to them? A Park staff person will walk up and tell you to back away from the bird (flushing it in the process)... Score 1 for the Pelee brass...

#3 - David LaPuma does not have time for White-crowned Sparrows... Even if you're photographing them.



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PELEE MAY 13!!!!!!!!!!!! The birds ---


Piping Plover! - Cute lil begger was at the tip again this morning. What a cool bird...

....

..... a huge flock of Common Terns (with several Black's) was a spectacle at the point...

.......

I don't remember seeing much else at the tip... Other than sickly Swallows and a few warblers...



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We hawkwatched for a while and saw a lot of Red-tailed Hawks.... Along with some other stuff... But nothing great... Shorebird migration is really underway now with flocks of Black-bellied Plovers and other expected species (like Dog-watchers) mixed in!

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My Dad, Dave Bell and I decided to head back to the tip for the afternoon evening... You know what we saw?!


SNOWY EGRETS BABY!


5:39pm - SNOWY EGRET flies south past us - heading towards Pelee Island..

5:44pm - SNOWY EGRET $2 flies south past us - heading over open water (middle island? Ohio?)

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HOW COULD I FORGET THIS!?

Dave Bell and I had this Chicka south of the Sparrow Field early ----

We tried to get it to make some noise !!!!!!!! And failed..... What do you think??? It seems like few of us know Chickadee's all that well... But it really caught our eye...