NOTE: Some of you might have noticed in my list of birds seen there was a question mark at #158. I can now add that this bird was a Varied Thrush we were invited up to Ottawa to hear because we are doing a Big Year. It was coming to a small yard for a number of weeks and the owners absolutely did not want birders coming to the home as there was no access to their yard. A very few birders were allowed to visit an area close by and hear the bird as it sang at dawn every morning. It will remain a Heard Only bird unless another shows up later.

The strategy has shifted a bit in the last week to trying to get as many common and early migrants as possible off the list before Pelee. I’m still not chasing common species but rather birding in local areas that I likely will see one myself. It’s a bit frustrating because it is just the beginning of migration so most birds are yet to come, but seeing hourly reports from hours away makes it tempting to drive and get it off the list. I’m resisting. We have ramped up our birding considerably and most outings we are walking 10-16km in a day. Unfortunately, that often only nets us one or two species. We also welcome some of the rain days so we can rest up a bit. Unlike the 20 somethings that go all out for their Big Years, us older folks need to consider our aging bodies and energy LOL. I spend quite a bit of time on my yoga mat willing my muscles to stretch so I can get up and do it again the next day.

On Monday we checked our local marsh again for Rails but heard nothing. Then we headed into Burlington/Hamilton to check various parks along the lake hoping to catch some early migrants with limited success. We only added a Gray Catbird, so called because it has a “meow” call.

There was a nice movement of Broad-wing Hawks through Hamilton later in the day but we had already headed to Jerry’s mom’s for dinner and missed them. Tuesday we headed down to Rondeau for the day with sun and warm temperatures in the forecast. We hiked far out the Marsh Trail and heard a Marsh Wren near the very end but did not see it tucked in the bullrushes. We will see lots of these in the next months and should be able to get a photo too. I got a text some American Golden Plovers were in a field in Erieau, 10 minutes away from Rondeau, so we headed there and along with another birder re-found the birds in the flooded field. That is a good bird to get as it is not always reliable at Pelee or later in the year. The views were not the best but Jerry managed a few record shots.

Wednesday was a bit of a rain day but we we headed out for a quick walk on the trail and watched 100 Tree Swallows feeding just on the top of the river in a steady wind. As they flew upstream into the wind inches above the water the bugs must have been blown into their mouths and then they would swoop up, fly downstream, and then fly upstream again just above the water. It was cool to watch and gave us a great view so that we could pick out the 2 Bank Swallows and the 1 Barn Swallow that were part of their group. In the evening we popped over to our local pond at dusk and heard a Virginia Rail calling with it’s kid-dik, kid-dik call. Listen to the call below…

Thursday we started our day back at the marsh hoping to get a pic of the Rail, we had it fly across the road and back but did not manage a picture. Then we headed into Hamilton for care-giving but stopped for a few hikes along the way. In a flooded field in Flamborough I spotted a Broad-winged Hawk flying over a field so we added another bird for the year. Friday we just checked some local marshes and then called it a day.

I wasn’t sure where we should head on Saturday, we had considered birding in Toronto, or visiting the Hawkwatch at Beamer for their 50th year celebration or we could head to Pelee and hope to re-find some Willets (rarity) that had been reported late Friday. For some reason I was stressed with the decision and feeling like whatever I chose would not be the “right” one. I have been pretty chill so far with the birding decisions made but the decision kept me awake Friday. Because both of us were awake at 4am we opted for Pelee.

We didn’t find any Willets at any beaches or marshes so we went into the Park and enjoyed seeing small groups of migrant warblers making their way up the east side of the park. We added 2 common species and then I heard the Discord ding…Glossy Ibis, Orillia. I wanted to leave right then, Jerry wanted it confirmed. It was confirmed 40 minutes later and we were on the road from Pelee. UGH!, why had we not opted for Toronto? With still 2 hours till we arrived another DING!… it had flown. Now things got a bit heated in the car. What to do? In bumper to bumper traffic, will the bird be found or do we turn around? We were both tired and hungry and our ETA was 5:30. We opted to keep going, once you commit you have to follow it through, the bird could return, or be re-found. Ten minutes later it had been re-found! One hour to go! When we finally pulled up there was a birder, Rick, pulled over at the spot and we could easily see the bird from the road without bins (always the happiest when that happens). We spent about 30 minutes watching, taking pictures and video and just enjoying the dopamine buzz of GETTING THE BIRD!

We had started our day at 4:30am, drove 10 hours, hiked 8.6 kilometers and were back home at 8:30 with only 3 birds added. Not very efficient but the Glossy Ibis is a rare visitor from the south and you gotta do what you have to do. Of course, Sunday morning at 7:57 there was an American Avocet at the Pelee tip! Seems I am always a day early LOL! Not likely to stay in the park but I hope it heads to Hillman Marsh and sticks around a few days and some of its friends also show up as we will be at Pelee soon. At 1:45 a text came in from Barb to check the ‘Whats this Bird” in Discord. Pictures of a Yellowlegs that did not really look like a yellowlegs and could be a Eurasian rarity had been posted for help with the ID and where was this bird? back up in Simcoe County where we had just been yesterday for the Ibis! We got in the car at 2:30 and arrived at 4:30. Many birders were there with scopes trained on a field of grass with 200 Greater Yellowlegs looking for the one that looked paler and not patterned. Most of us did see that paler bird but it never got close enough for definitive looks to positively ID the bird. The thought was it could be a Common Greenshank, a huge rarity and a lifer for us but after 2 hours of scoping, pics taken, experts weighing in, the consensus was maybe just a Yellowlegs. If photos can be found from one of the birders that can change that opinion then at least we have seen it. So for the second night we arrived home late, tired and hungry and this time with no bird to show for it. It happens…

Week 16 1 rarity added 17 total rarities so far 8 birds added 196 for J&E