Yes, it is finally that favourite time of year for all birders, no, not Christmas, Spring Migration! We anticipate and dream of trees dripping with warblers and rarities at our feet but usually the actual experience is quite different. We are however, easily mollified with the odd precious, beautiful looks at a few warblers where a dreary, cold day becomes “the best day ever”.
This will be our first two week trip to Pelee not having to chase birds. Before our Big Years we only spent 3-4 days at Pelee each year and the last two years have been grueling marathon two week chases for many birds. This year we can truly relax and just enjoy the birding experience. And so true to our “relaxed” birding instead of our normal 4:30 am departure we slept in and left at 5:45 LOL! The laziness is kicking in already!
We stopped in Chatham-Kent on the way, which is our usual practice. Rondeau Provincial Park, Keith McLean Conservation Area and Blenheim Sewage Lagoons all have migrating birds stopping in and we were sure we would pick up some Ontario year birds there.
Shortly after we arrived at Keith McLean we saw a bird we did not immediately recognize, which does not happen often anymore, we know Ontarian species. Initially we said Grasshopper Sparrow? but it did not fit that, too big, different bill, It was bright with fresh feathers but we could not place it. I sent a pic to Steve and he could not really tell from our horrible back of the camera shot but confirmed it was not Grasshopper. After looking at a few more of Jerry’s pictures and putting it to Merlin it suggested a female Bobolink! Of course! This is a female species we have struggled with before and I’m not sure why it does not seem to stick with us. Maybe this time?
Bobolink Female
We ended up also adding Marsh Wren, Dunlin and White-crowned Sparrow to our list and Jerry was happy to be taking pictures that did not require blowing out the exposure to compensate for dark rain forest. We finished the hike circling the property and headed around the corner to Rondeau Provincial Park.
The Park was really quiet, we knew it would be having seen reports over the last few days but Yikes! it was QUIET. We managed to add Gray Catbird, Northern Yellow Warbler, Baltimore Oriole and Palm Warbler. Then we opted to move on to Blenheim Sewage Lagoons.
We had so much fun walking through a sea of Tree Swallows as they flew back and forth feeding over the grass and water of the lagoons. We added Cliff, Bank, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow to our list. Then we scoped through many shorebirds to find a Baird’s Sandpiper that had been reported previously.
It was another hour drive to our cottage at Pelee to “check in”. Once we were unpacked and sorted out a bit we opted to head into the park. We needed to renew our park pass. We buy the family pass as it lets you use the fast lane that opens a gate for you instead of waiting in line behind people who are asking questions and buying passes. It is worth it to us to use this rather than saving on the senior rate. The person manning the booth happily let us know that they have extended all those passes until November of this year so we did not need to buy a pass this year! How cool is that? Thank you Point Pelee National Park!
There are so many places to go to in Pelee but I picked the spot that most of the reports had been coming from – Tilden Woods. It is generally the go-to if you are short on time and usually has the most birds. Just along the trail a short distance is a water slough and we stopped to see what someone was photographing. It turned out to be a Lincoln’s Sparrow and as we watched and Jerry took pictures a Northern Waterthrush flew in and then a bright Yellow Warbler and after that a Swamp Sparrow. They were not all new birds but they were right in front of us offering great views of all of them.
Lincoln’s SparrowYellow WarblerSwamp Sparrow
We moved on and chatted with people we knew along the way eventually ending up at a slough off the seasonal footpath that we had been told had a Louisiana Waterthrush. We waited a bit and suddenly saw a Waterthrush that looked quite a bit whiter and cleaner than the Northern. It was very far back and behind an assortment of twigs, shrubs and broken branches. Many photographers were trying to get pictures as I and another birder called out its location. Going left on the log, now behind the tree, oops coming right now, in the open on the black log. You get the picture? While we were mostly on the Waterthrush, a Prothonotary Warbler dropped in and a Blue-winged Warbler teased us all with stellar views in front of our faces. An Eastern Phoebe also started feeding at the back. We were there about 45 minutes helping people that arrived see the bird and trying to take video and pictures of the stunning Blue-winged Warbler as well. These kinds of views are why people come to Pelee.
There are many years when you “see” a bird with glimpses behind logs, peeks through leaves, but the views we were getting from all the birds were extremely good. We did eventually move on as a group and worked our way down the path. We had been talking to a few couples who were trying to get their 100th species to get a Pelee pin and a few people walking past overheard the conversation. Minutes later the woman rushed back to us to say they had seen a Hooded Warbler back where we had just come from. We all rushed back en masse and had great looks at a Hooded Warbler that was racing up and down a tree trunk, not the usual way we see a Hooded at Pelee.
We once again moved towards the parking and along the way saw a Black-and-white Warbler, some Baltimore Orioles and heard our first Wood Thrush. It was now almost 8 and light was fading fast. We were more than happy with our 20 species for the day to add to our Ontario year list.
May 3
It was a cold morning, 8C feeling like 4C and because we are keeners we were in the park at 5:10am when it was still dark. It was a full moon and we hoped we might hear a Whip-poor-will on our walk to the tip. We did not but others saw one on the path and heard one in another area before we got there. Oh well, not a necessary bird to hear or see. It was a beautiful sunrise.
When it was light enough to discern what was out on the tip we added Black-bellied Plover and a cute, tiny Piping Plover to our year list.
With no warblers dripping off the trees we walked back towards the Visitor Center birding along the way and chatting with many people that follow our blog or we have met on previous years to Pelee. To be honest, with the lack of birds it was more socializing than birding. We met up with Amy and enjoyed a walk through Tilden together. The sun came out a bit and things warmed up and we managed to add 7 more birds to the Ontario year list with great views of Northern Waterthrush and Blue-winged Warbler.
Northern WaterthrushNorthern House WrenHermit ThrushOvenbirdBlue-winged WarblerBlue-winged Warbler
We left the park around 2 and got back to the cottage to rest a bit, drink water, and update pictures for a couple of hours. Then went to and early dinner at Salsa Caliente our fav Mexican food restaurant in Leamington where you get authentic Mexican at inexpensive prices. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures. The plan had been to head to Hillman Marsh but we we were sooo tired! Showing our age! Judging from the migration forecast and favourable south winds I suspected that the next day would be very good so it was better to be well-rested for the “good day” .
May 4
Oh, it was a good day! Not those dripping off trees day but more birds finally in the park and sunshine and warmth as well. Lots of happy, smiling birders moving from sighting to sighting along the paths. I decided to try for the 100 species in a day pin. Well the pin is 100 species between May 1 and May 18 but I like to challenge myself to 100 in a day. The rule is within the Pelee birding circle which included Leamington and Hillman Marsh. We were in the park at 6am. There were not many new warblers at the tip but I was intent on counting everything we saw, which is the only way to get to the 100. We were in the park at 6am and stayed for almost 9 hours seeing 69 species. The highlights being a few new warblers at the DeLaurier Trail. We had nice eye level views of Cape May, Northern Parula and Chestnut-sided Warblers.
But at 69 species I knew I was in trouble and not likely to get the rest at Hillman Marsh but I was not giving up so off we went. We stopped along the road and then at the East Beach Access to Hillman where we met up with Paul and Joanne and added 6 more species for the day. At Hillman Marsh we added another 15. At the time I actually did not know how many species I had because I had not even finalized the Park list and figured there might be birds that I had missed adding, still I knew I was close but not over 100. Shortly after we had left DeLaurier there was a report of a Prairie Warbler being seen and so after we finished at Hillman we opted to go back and see if it was still there and add a few more species. When we arrived Jean, John and Victoria told us they had been waiting 2 hours trying to re-find it with no success. We walked the boardwalk and saw an Orange-crowned Warbler to add to the list and decided to hang around a bit longer. Shortly after we found a Least Flycatcher. The others had left and after 15 minutes we decided to leave as well. There were two choices to leave as it is a circle trail. Jerry started towards the shorter, south route and I said why not take the north longer route? Maybe some more new birds. As we walked on a birder coming our way stopped to tell us a Prairie Warbler was ahead on the boardwalk! We rushed for the first time on this trip and sure enough the Prairie Warbler was feeding in small trees right beside us on the boardwalk. The rest of the birders watching were on the far side of the bird. I got eyes on the bird, had some good looks and called Jean to let her know it was still being seen. Then I posted to What’s App as the new location had not been posted and it was quite a way from the original spot.
Of course it flew back and out of sight shortly after. Jean and others arrived and we waited. I felt bad that the bird had left, I know I don’t have control but I want everyone to have a happy ending. After 15 minutes Jean saw a bird further back and we all got on it to find out it was the Prairie! Many high fives and hugs! A super happy ending to the day. It was after 7 and the light was dimming but I did have another hour maybe to add more birds but I was DONE! Birded non-stop for 13 hours, walked 15.6kms, I was happy to call it a day and get my 100 pin for birds seen over the 2 full days we had been at Pelee. I knew that number was over the 100. We headed back to the cottage and I finally put all the lists in to find I had ended up with 96 species for the day and had 107 species for the two days. Good enough for the pin and if there is another day with lots of birds I might give the 100 another try.
May 5
The forecast was for rain starting around noon so we knew we might not have a long day to bird. We were in the park at 6:30am – do you notice how each day has gotten later and later? The park has not been as busy as it has in the past as the weather and lack of birds has kept people from coming so we are not having to rush in early to get parking at the Visitor Center. That will change as the weekend nears and the bird numbers increase. We took the tram to the tip thinking we would take our scope and then forgot to get it out of the car. No problem, there was not much to see by the time we got down there anyway. Again, no birds dripping off the trees. A FOY (first of the year) Red-eyed Vireo was well-photographed by a fairly large group that had deemed it a Tennessee Warbler until I corrected the ID.
Red-eyed VireoWhite-eyed Vireo
There are many new birders out at Pelee and I think many species get misidentified like that and put on ebird in error. Certainly as a newer birder I would never have spoken up to dispute an identification but I feel pretty confident to do so now. The highlight for many at the tip might have been the flock of Avocets that quickly flew down the side of the beach. We, and many others were looking into the woods with our backs to the water but I noticed a few people coming onto the beach raising their bins and cameras to the water behind and spun around in time to see them whiz by.
We left the tip fairly quickly and walked up the west side (in the raging wind) and found nothing new (not surprisingly). Can you tell it was Jerry that wanted to walk up the west side? And that I always follow the birding rule that birds are on the opposite side to the direction the wind is coming from?
We walked Woodland, then Tilden and spent much time catching up with fellow birders, Greg who we had met in Costa Rica, Barry and Dave from Hamilton, Grant and Lindsay. It has been rewarding hearing from people using these blogs to help plan their own trips to birding destinations. It was one of the reasons I opted to put as much detail into them as possible. We ended up only adding another 5 species to the Ontario list. We opted to beat the rain and headed back to the cottage before the rain started and spent the afternoon writing this blog and getting pictures added through a very slow internet.
For the non-birders I should clarify about the “lists”. Our year list right now stands at 557 species seen because we went to Costa Rica. And in Costa Rica we saw some of the birds we also see here in Ontario like Baltimore Orioles and Chestnut-sided Warblers so my “Year list” is different from my “Ontario List” this year and so now we are at home we are working on our “Ontario List” although many of these birds are also added to the Year list of course. I also have a Point Pelee Birding Circle List that is the one I can use to track the species for the 100 pin. Our Ontario list is at 183 species and the Point Pelee Birding Circle is at 118 species seen. All of this is kept straight by ebird – for free! It makes life infinitely better!
May 6
We opted not to go to the tip as the forecast for migration was low and instead started at the top of the park just in the gate and worked our way down the west side stopping at all the small access areas along the way. We would park the car, do a loop along the seasonal paths, return to the car, drive to the next area and do a loop there. It was still relatively quiet but we did see birds that we had already added. Northwest Beach was the birdiest and we spent some time doing a loop. We had nice views of a White-eyed Vireo and a few other warblers and then decided to head down to the tip because a Cerulean Warbler had been reported. It is a warbler not always seen well. Hundreds of birders saw it in the morning and there were only a few people around looking for it. We heard some intel that it had been seen out along the beach but was going north. We opted to split up with Jerry going onto the beach and me staying in the interior where it had last been noted. After a bit I checked out onto the beach and Jerry was way south and 3 women were way north with large lenses up taking pictures of something. I decided to check it out. They could have been just photographing a Gnatcatcher but it was, of course, the Cerulean! I took a look, called Jerry and then took an Iphone pic in case he did not make it in time. The bird had flown back further by the time Jerry got there but he did get some pictures before the bird moved deeper into the woods along the path.
We walked out to the tip after that because after 10am you can. Before 10am there is a line that humans cannot cross to allow the migrating birds time to rest without being flushed by humans and dogs. After 10 you can walk out and most birders do their utmost not to get close the birds. Tourists, not so much. Jerry took some pictures.
Friends Angela and Michael from Hamilton joined us a bit later and we went back to try and see the Cerulean again. With no other reports we started walking north on the path figuring it would be a long shot to re find it but soon a birder coming toward us told us they had been watching it for about 20 minutes just up the trail. He was kind enough to take us back and show us the spot but the bird was no longer there. We continued to walk north and shortly after I saw some movement in the shrubs and it was the CERULEAN! It is crazy to think you can re find these birds in the vastness of the woods. It was right along the path and we all had great views of it.
Cerulean Warblers – two viewings
We had a nice walk through the park adding a few more birds along the way and then headed to Hillman Marsh for shorebirds. There were American Avocets! Shortly after we arrived a Peregrine came through hunting and lifted all the birds and everything was gone. We chatted with people, waited and watched a few birds and left to go to dinner when none of the shorebirds returned.
American AvocetBirds scattering as the Peregrine flew through
Dinner was our fav Mexican food and again I forgot to get a picture! After dinner we opted to go try for the Whip-poor-wills and heard American Woodcocks but no Whips.
May 7
We went to the tip, no surprise LOL. You just do not want to miss birds so everyone goes. The same birds were on the tip and things were quiet so Jerry wandered off down the beach as I chatted with all the birders around the scopes. A few minutes later he called me, one of the few places there is signal, and just said “Least Bittern”. I hung up said “Least Bittern” loudly to people around me and we all left en mass. It was high up in a tree on a narrow path and a few hundred people were trying to see it. It is a very good bird to see like this as it is usually tucked away in a marsh were you are more likely to just hear it.
Least Bittern
After the excitement of the Least Bittern people found a Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireos and lots of the same species we had seen before.
We eventually left the tip to walk up through the woods but things were quiet. A few warblers here and there. When we came out to Woodland Trail a young boy let us know he had just seen a Chat and so we walked slowly further down the path paying more attention. I saw the underside of a bird hanging on a branch just above the ground with a white underbelly and i could see some white. I had my bins on it and called the others to take a look and it turned out to be a CHAT! Woohoo! Another great bird. We all had good looks and another few birders close by saw it and then it was gone. I reported it later to the Visitor Center hike leaders and others re-found the bird a few times. Jerry did not get a picture but we did see a lovely co-operative Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Angela and Michael headed off to check out Delaurier and we decided to go back to the Tip as a Yellow-throated Warbler, a rarity, had been reported earlier. We went out on the beach and no one was on the bird. There were a lot of birders milling around and looking into the trees. Way down the beach I saw a man waving his arms over his head in the universal language of “its over here”. Unless he was just trying to get his wife’s attention LOL. I yelled to the group to head down the beach and we all had spectacular looks at the Yellow-throated Warbler.
Yellow-throated Warbler
We still walked our regular 10-11kms but saw less birds and decided fairly early at 4:00 to call it a day and not head to Hillman Marsh. Of course I was just out of the shower and reports came in of a Black-headed Gull and then a White-faced Ibis that had arrived at Hillman. Sheesh! But both of those birds we have seen in Ontario and so I opted not to chase. This is the chill, non-urgent birding year so limited chasing. Maybe we will still come across them organically in the next week.
May 8
Guess what was at the tip this morning? The Black-headed Gull! Not the great views they got at Hillman but we at least got to see it flying around with the Bonaparte’s Gull. It takes a bit of patience as you are looking at 30 gulls and waiting to see one with black under the wings. It did eventually land and I took a quick view in the scope of someone to confirm the sighting. So there you go! Not chasing, in this circumstance, paid off and we saw one of the birds anyway.
There were definitely more birds at the tip but not much variety and all species we had already seen. Still you have to check the whole area in case you are missing something. The numbers of birders have increased substantially and the beach is very crowded with people and cameras. You will think a group of 20 people all taking pictures means a great warbler only to find they are photographing a Kinglet or a Gnatcatcher. Nothing against these very cute birds but there are MANY of them in the park. And yes, I understand that they are lifers to maybe many of these birders, just pointing out what it is like traveling the beach trying to find anything rarer.
It was Angela and Michael’s last day so we were trying to help get them both to 100 for their pins. Angela hit the 100 before we left the tip but Michael took until lunchtime. A Brewster’s Warbler, a hybrid between a Golden-winged and a Blue-winged Warbler, was reported on Redbud and even though it is not countable as a species many people want to see them in case they are ever added. We joined many other people and eventually had some very nice views. The pictures, not so much.
Brewster’s Warbler – Cross between Golden-winged/Blue-winged Warbler
We then headed through Tilden and finally saw our first Black-throated Blue Warbler, one of my favourites. Jerry managed to get pictures of a Louisiana Waterthrush that is very similar to the Northern Waterthrush. The clear white throat with no streaks makes it a Louisiana over Northern.
Louisiana Waterthrush
We heard that there were Yellow-breasted Chats giving great views at Cactus Field so we headed up to that area even though we had seen one yesterday. You can never get enough of looks at Chats. The birds were singing (loud burbles, rattles and clucks) and then we saw the two chasing each other through the cedars and for a bit one posed on a branch for us. In our 13 years at Pelee we have never had looks like this year.
Yellow-breasted Chat
We said goodbye to Angela and Michael and headed over to Hillman Marsh to see if there were any new shorebirds. We added Short-billed Dowitchers and then decided to get pizza in town.
Short-billed DowitcherGull bullying a Dunlin to drop its food
Cattle Egrets had been reported near Hillman but they were gone by the time we went by so I was watching the fields and lawns as we drove to town for the small white herons. While we waited for the pizza a report came in of the egrets just 10 minutes away and on the road I had just carefully scanned. Obviously not well enough! We ate a few pieces of pizza and then headed back and stopped and saw 3 of them off the road in a wetland area. We had to next stop for milk on the way to the cottage and while I was waiting for Jerry a report came in of a Black-necked Stilt just 15 minutes away so really not a chase LOL just a drive over. I didn’t get the right directions into google but we did find the pond after some help from Discord and sure enough a Black-necked Stilt was wading along the shore. It flew to another pond minutes after we arrived but Jerry managed a few pictures before we went back to the cottage. A long day, but a good day.
In the last 7 days we have walked 79.2 km or 122,537 steps and we have added 70 birds to our Ontario List and 46 birds to our Year list. Whew! One more week to go and south winds forecast tonight!
We arrived home from Pelee Saturday at 2, did some laundry, ate a nice home-cooked meal and were awake at 4am Sunday to head to the Carden Alvar to help lead a hike with the Waterloo Naturalists. It was a drizzly, cold, windy morning, a stark contrast to the 28C at Pelee just two days ago. We met up with a bunch of great people and spent the day discovering this unique part of Ontario that is home to special birds, plants, and insects. We added an Upland Sandpiper and a Grasshopper Sparrow but the Loggerhead Shrike, a Carden specialty, did not appear. With a morning and afternoon hike, followed by dinner with the group, it was another long day and we were looking forward to some down time over the next two weeks.
Upland SandpiperWilson’s Snipe
Monday we caught up with house chores and then headed to our son’s for a BBQ. On the way home we stopped at a small wetland behind their home because we know Willow Flycatcher’s have been there for many years. Sure enough we heard the “fitz-bee” call of one and found him out on a branch. Many birds have “site fidelity”, meaning they return to the same spot year after year if the site has the right habitat, food and they have been successful nesting. This species has been in that wetland for the past 5 years that we know of. Perhaps not the same one but certainly it is good habitat for flycatchers. The Willow Flycatcher was bird 300 for both of us! Three-quarters of the way to 400! Once we add the common birds I expect to get out west I think we will be around 380.
300! Willow Flycatcher
Tuesday morning we headed out to a local area to find a Mourning Warbler for me. Jerry saw one at Pelee but I missed it. The first stop we heard many birds and some warblers but not the Mourning Warbler. Other Brant birders heard it so we know it is around but it was not singing. We moved on to another area and decided to stop where we thought the habitat looked nice. We turned on Merlin and as soon as we got out of the car we heard the Mourning Warbler song and very close to the car. It was singing right beside the road where we could see it in a tree. Jerry got some lovely pictures and I had some fantastic views of it. Often this can be a “heard only” bird as they are a skulky warbler often under logs and in wetlands on the ground.
Mourning Warbler
This means that I am one bird ahead of Jerry until he hears/sees an Easter Whip-poor-will, which will likely be in Rainy River. So far we have both managed to see all the rarities but the time may come when one of us misses something that we will not get a second chance at. I worry about this more than Jerry does LOL.
Wednesday and Thursday were rain outs and while the birding might have been good somewhere in Ontario I took the time to figure out our East trip in September and started booking ferries, whale watching (seabirds) and hotels. There are a couple of rare gulls showing up here and there – a California and Laughing Gull – and it is tempting to chase them but California is a western Gull we will see a lot and the Laughing Gull shows up out East with some regularity. If they end up closer and when we are heading for something else then I might go for them for the Ontario list. We have one #1 ranked bird to get, a Baird’s Sandpiper. We usually see them in August here in Ontario but we are likely to get it in Saskatchewan in June. We have 13 #2 ranked birds to get but only 3 that I feel we need to add before we head west. Black Vulture in Niagara is one, Acadian Flycatcher is another, and Dickcissel is the third. While I might have other chances for these I would feel better getting them off the list now.
Friday we took advantage of a small break in the weather and headed into Middlesex County to find a singing Acadian Flycatcher. We hoped that site fidelity would again work in our favour and so we went back to the same trail and the same spot we found one last year. Sure enough an Acadian Flycatcher was singing in that spot. Finding him was a bit of a challenge among the green leaves but we got on him and Jerry got a bit better picture than last year.
Acadian Flycatcher
This spot also has Hooded Warblers so we spent some time following their songs and trying to find them in the foliage. It took much more time than finding the flycatcher but eventually one was singing close enough to the trail and Jerry got better pictures than the fuzzy one from last week.
Hooded Warbler
Next we checked out a field where we had a Dickcissel last year but it was not singing when we were there. It might show up next week or perhaps it will not return to that spot again. Sometimes site fidelity works and sometimes it does not. I do have a chance for this species up north or even out west but it is not plentiful. I hope someone finds one on territory so we can get it next week. On territory, for the non-birders, is when male birds find suitable habitat to nest and start singing to attract mates. They will defend these territories from other males and are easier to find as they remain in one location and are singing a lot. Saturday and Sunday were family days, a last sleepover with the grandkids and a family gathering before we head west. Most of the bookings have been made for the East trip and everything is in order for the West trip. We are anxious to get going and start seeing different birds.
On Saturday night Brett heard a Yellow Rail ten minutes from our house at Grass Lake. These are very secretive birds that we expect to get up in Rainy River where they nest but it is always good to get them during migration. We had the kids Sunday morning so did not go over to hear the rail but after our dinner and grandson’s football game we stopped in on our way home just at dusk. We joined about a dozen people who were gathered at the marsh edge hoping to hear the “tik-tik-tik” of a Yellow Rail. it sounds like two stones being tapped together. We waited about an hour but there was no tapping. We will give it another try in the morning.
Monday we were expecting to wake up to snow and maybe have to hang around the hotel part of the day but there was nothing on the ground in Richmond. It was -8 though. We decided to head out to try for a lifer Gyrfalcon. These are a sensitive species so I cannot see reports on ebird but I had some information from birders of a few spots to check. Unfortunately, I took us to an older location by mistake that was an hour away from the area we wanted to go to. Ugggh – it happens when we have so many things to do in the evening and we are tired and I just don’t recheck all my information. The area had received snow and lots of it – we felt like we were in Northern Ontario complete with roads that were not plowed AT ALL! We finally got to the right destination and started driving blocks of fields. It was similar to looking for a Snowy Owl, drive slow, stare at fields, look for lumps beside bushes, up on posts etc. The wind was vicious and the few birds we saw were being battered about. We did this for 2 hours and no Gyrfalcon. But the consolation was our 150th bird of the year – a Western Meadowlark.
Our next destination was a Wetland area where a Black Phoebe, a southern Arizona/Texas bird was hanging. Last week when we arrived we would have had a lovely walk/saunter on gravel paths to get the bird but I had made the decision to head to the Island first. Today things were quite different – and we were wearing running shoes.
It was a heavy slog in, we got turned around figuring out the area the bird was in having never been there before, and started nagging on each other. This tends to happen when things are not going our way, LOL. We finally found the area and hung out checking out the few birds around. No Black Phoebe. There was a Northern Shrike (Butcher Bird) in a tree right at the same area. I watched it for a bit and realized that it was eating something. Uh-oh! but a quick look with my bins showed a mouse impaled upside down on a branch with its little pink legs sticking up in the air.
Northern ShrikeNorthern Shrike Mouse Dinner!
Sad, but at least it was not the Phoebe. We spent over an hour scouring the brambles, watching along the water edge, our feet were wet and cold, we were discouraged and though we knew the bird was most likely still there and close by we just knew we could not stay any longer.
Its always tough when you get a day like this when things just don’t go well. But we try to hold onto the things that do go well. On the road outside the wetland we had two Varied Thrushes land beside our car for even better pics than the other day. They as such a gorgeous bird.
Varied Thrush
We headed to our next stop for a Marbled Godwit and again faced vicious winds and cold made worse by our socks that were still wet. And no Marbled Godwit. Three dips in one day. Sigh!
The last stop of the day was for Owls – Short-eared and Barn. I had info of where the two species hunted and we arrived around 4:20. Ten minutes later two Short-eared Owls flew over the field and entertained us for the next 30 minutes often coming very close to where we were standing on the road. It was awesome! We already have Short-eared on our list and have a picture but it was still nice to have the experience.
Short-eared Owl
We wanted the Barn Owl for our year list. It is not an easy bird to add. We waited there for 1.5 hours going back and forth to sitting in the car to stay warm until dark fully descended – no Barn Owl. Four birds, four dips. Yikes, this happened just a few weeks back on our Toronto trip. Hope it’s not going to become the norm!
We ordered pizza, headed back to the hotel to hot showers and planned what we should do tomorrow with more snow and frigid temperatures forecast.
Tuesday we woke up to snow in Richmond, where it rarely snows, apparently. We decided we still needed to get out there with only two days left so we had to figure out a way to keep our feet dry. We used garbage bags the hotel kindly provided and put them over our socks, tucked into the top of our socks and then our pant legs over top of them. You end up with damp sweaty feet but better than ice cold wet ones.
Garbage bag boots
We headed to Blackie Spit in the morning hoping to track down those Marbled Godwits but they were still not around where we could see them. We did manage to find some small sandpipers and added Western and Least to our year list.
Western SandpiperLeast Sandpiper
Next we headed to an area where Barn Owls are known to roost. It was a lovely walk with 40 or so Bald Eagles sitting in trees and not very skittish when you walked close by. It was awesome to have an adult fly directly down the path towards me and over my head! We also got up close looks at Eagles building a nest. The video is below. We walked around, checking all the evergreens and the tangles but did not find a Barn Owl.
Bald Eagle
With snow still very much in evidence we opted to head up to Stanley Park and see about adding a Barrow’s Goldeneye. We had put one in as a hybrid earlier and wanted to make sure we saw the “real” thing this time. Stanley Park is a gem, and never disappoints us as far as birding goes. It was the first time we had seen it in snow!
Stanley Park
We went out to the beach and immediately saw a number of Barrow’s Goldeneyes. Jerry took pics, we confirmed that they were true Barrow’s and just like that something else was off the list.
Barrow’s Goldeneye
We walked the Lost Lagoon Path because Jerry needed a picture of a Bushtit and half way around we saw a dozen Bushtits flying through the Rhododendron bushes. It was a challenge to get a picture as they are super fast and small and the bushes were thick with leaves and snow.
Wood DuckGreat Blue HeronBushtit
Eventually Jerry thought he had enough that one would be good and we finished up the walk and then headed back down to Boundary Bay for another Owl watch at dusk.
We walked the Dyke path and there were already Short-eared Owls out hunting along with Northern Harriers. We saw a Harrier grab a duck from a small pond and land heavily with its dinner. A coyote came up the side of the dyke and casually wandered towards us a bit and then headed back down the other side.
Coyote with a bit of Mange
We chatted with a couple of photographers that had shown up and they offered up the location of the celebrity Northern Hawk Owl that we had heard about last week. I was hesitant to see it as I had read that the crowds were huge and we try and avoid those situations with Owls. But, it was the end of the day so we took a quick drive over to hear that it was no longer being seen. We headed back to the hotel and went out for Indian food and plotted how we would spend our last day. A Ruff was reported close to Blackie Spit and so we had 6 birds still on our list to get: Gyrfalcon, Barn Owl, Ruff, Black Phoebe, Marbled Godwit, Northern Hawk Owl. The problem was we had one day and not really one full day because of the cold most birds were staying hunkered down till it warmed up around noon. We had to make some decisions as to what we went for. Luckily they all were located in the southern area but with more than an hour between some spots.
We started Wednesday with a quick stop where the Ruff had been seen and found Long-billed Dowitchers that it had been seen with but they were all tucked in and nothing looked different. We opted to head to the Hawk Owl spot next even though it was back-tracking because it made more sense the Owl would be out rather than the Phoebe or shorebirds. Are you still following? LOL When we arrived at the Owl site there were only about 5-6 photographers and all of them were standing around. That was not a good sign. But as we left our car and walked down the path people started running. That is a good sign and sure enough we could see the owl on a hydro wire above the road. What a strange place for this little owl to end up in. Homes, industry, a busy road and just a few small fields to hunt in. We took pictures and a few videos and left in 11 minutes including the walk from the car and back.
Northern Hawk Owl
Next stop was almost an hour away, second try for the Black Phoebe. It had not been reported since Feb 2 and we had been there on the 3rd and not seen it. This time we had our “plastic bag boots” on our socks and thankfully the snow was tamped down by various dog walkers so that we were not completely covered by the time we got to the area. There was open water where there had been snow and ice two days ago so we were optimistic that if the bird was alive it would appear. We waited an hour. No Phoebe. I hope it survived the storm but it seemed unlikely that it would not have needed to feed during the time we were there.
From a time perspective we knew we would have to let the hope for Gyrfalcon go. It was another 30 minutes further away and then to drive for a few hours hoping you catch it flying was a long shot. We opted instead to head back for the Ruff and Marbled Godwits, taking quantity (YEAR BIRDS) over quality (LIFER). We headed back to Elgin Heritage Park and searched again for the Ruff. The Dowitchers were around and actively feeding so we started to feel hopeful that the bird was around. A few other birders arrived and we learned that the Ruff had been seen in the morning at Blackie Spit!, on the grass! near the gate! Ugggh! we were there yesterday morning and opted not to go this morning but we were 5 minutes away at Elgin! I’m not on the BC What’s App network but I think I might have to for the summer. I then met Roger Foxall, a birding legend, who at 83 has so many cool stories to tell of birding exploits! I could listen to him for hours! He has the most lifetime birds in Canada at 565. We have seen 440 species in Canada.
We searched for the Ruff together and nothing. We opted to head to Blackie Spit to try for the Godwits again and Roger said he would join us. We got to the Spit and Jerry saw the Godwits far out on the sand as the tide was out but at least we had another bird – 2 out of the 6. Roger never arrived but we figured he had opted to head home instead. We then headed back to Elgin park again for one last look for the Ruff. We pulled into a different parking lot by accident and noticed a couple of cars and then pulled out and headed to the area where the Ruff had been yesterday. We had a quick look – no birders, no birds. At that point we decided to call it a day.
When I sat down to a glass of wine at the pub an hour later all my emails updated and there was a message, “Ruff here right now”! It was from 3:42 and Melissa, the reviewer, had sent it to me. Roger had asked her to let me know and he had driven back to the Spit to try and find us to let us know that the Ruff was near the second parking lot (the one we turned into accidentally)! OMG! So close…yet sooooo far!!!! I felt so bad for Roger driving around trying to find us and I felt so bad that I did not check my email! The Ruff is not a lifer, and it is a bird that does shows up in Ontario but it is a big rarity anywhere in Canada and would have been nice to add it to the list so early in the year.
We flew home Thursday happy with what we had accomplished, 61 birds added to our year list. We missed 5 birds that I had on my “wish” list. A couple of these might still be found on our summer trip out here but certainly they are less likely. We stayed at the Steveston Cafe and Hotel in Richmond because it was central to the airport, ferry and most of the birding spots. We like finding places that are local, have some history or community behind them and this fit the bill. Established in 1895 it featured the hotel rooms upstairs with a cafe that served a delicious breakfast included in the price, a liquor store open till 11 every night and seniors discount on Tuesdays and a pub, The Buck and Ear that featured happy hour specials every day. Everything we needed within steps of our room. We will stay here again on our summer trip.
I switched off my notifications for British Columbia and switched the Ontario notifications back on and right away I saw King Eider in Hamilton! You will remember that I have said I would not go back to Tommy Thompson for a 3rd attempt at the Eider that continues to be seen there, so I know where we will be heading on Friday.
After visiting Babi at memory care we headed off to Jones Rd on the lake with some optimism but we knew it was windy and cold and the lake was likely to be choppy. Sure enough, viewing was not very good. There were 6 other birders that came and went while we were there and no one could confirm either the female or the male that had been seen over the last three days. Jerry and I both thought we saw it but because of them diving for food and the waves and wind we were just not able to feel comfortable enough to confirm and add it to our list. The forecast for Saturday was little wind which generally means a still lake but we also wanted to see our kids and grandkids.
Saturday morning we headed out to watch 2 of the grandkids at swimming lessons and instead of heading for the Eider as we planned we went home because I was not feeling well with stomach issues. An hour later a report came in that indeed, the lake was like glass and the male Eider was being seen. I dragged myself up from the couch and heating pad and we set out for Jones Road. We had enough time to try for the Eider and still make it to our grandson’s hockey game.
We scoped while birders doing a lake count scoped beside us. it took maybe 10 minutes for me to find the female Eider and get everyone on it and confirm that it was indeed the female. Jerry managed a poor picture as she was a long way out. Maria and Carolyn showed up and we searched for the male Eider as the female had moved behind the point. Maria found it and we all got on it and had good scope views but pictures were darn near impossible for Jerry’s camera. I guess that would be the advantage of going to the Toronto bird. We headed to the hockey game (they won 5-4) and headed home to make soup and rest. Sunday was spent catching up on blogs, pictures, lists and plans for the year ahead because of a snow storm. Jerry went out to shovel and had a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly over so he is officially 1 bird ahead of me this week! Although, there was no picture to confirm…highly sus, as my granddaughter Evie would say.
Week 6 12 more species added. Species seen 161 Ellen 162 Jerry
Just my thoughts on different aspects of the Big Year, in no particular order…enjoy!
Stats and Costs of the Big Year
We drove 49,449 kms! and since we drive a hybrid plugin some of our travel was “free” so assuming average gas prices we figure we spent approximately $2,650 on gas and we spent $9,095 on accommodation and some restaurant meals although as a rule we took food with us. We walked 1,145 kms and that was truly disappointing – I had thought we would be hiking much more than that. I suppose you could suggest that we were efficient in our walking but very inefficient in our driving LOL. Jerry managed to get pictures of all but 11 birds and 7 of those were “heard only” birds anyway so he only missed pictures of 4 which is very good! We birded in every one of the 50 Counties in Ontario and found some very cool places to bird that we had never been to before.
In the beginning we were putting in long days and hiking for hours but as the year went by and the species needed were fewer and fewer we found ourselves driving many hours to spend a few minutes seeing one bird. I had hoped we would be able to bird the areas more but inevitably there were time constraints on us to get back for caregiving or other life needs. If we did not have the caregiving I imagine that this would not have been as much of an issue and we would have been able to just bird more and try to find more species for ourselves.
This hobby is really not about the numbers but instead about spending time in the company of birds and often other birders. I tried not to get sucked into the numbers too much BUT it is a Big Year after all and the expectation is that you will be trying to be the top birder in Ontario. Somehow, we have managed to stay at the top until the end with Jeremy Hatt only 3 birds behind and Margaret Hough and Jude Szabo placing 3rd and 4th in numbers. Remember that for most, if not all of us we have an extra bird with the Hoary Redpoll that was lumped with the Common so the counts are 1 bird more for the official year count. Huge Congratulations to Jeremy who managed those numbers working full time and to Margaret and Jude who are relatively new birders and managed those numbers. Margaret, Jude and ourselves often ended up at the same birds and if we were not we were cheering each other on and sharing information so we could all get the same rarities. Thirteen people have made it over the 300 this year and there have been 372 species seen in Ontario (373 if you count the Hoary Redpoll). We have seen 89.8% of the birds seen. Can I just round it up to the 90% that I wanted to achieve? There have only been 12 birders, including us, that have seen 335 or more in an Ontario year. This was far more than I thought we would achieve.
First column is checklists Second column is species of birds
Once I had got the 300 so early and I realized I could likely hit 320 I was far more relaxed as we chased a rarity and meant it when I intoned my mantra “we either see the bird or we don’t”. It is crazy to me that if I had just gone for the 4 birds I now regret not going for and maybe taken on a few of the long distance chases I could have hit 340! I’m not sure how it will feel to not bird this intensively even next year with doing Canada and I don’t really feel that I will be trying to hit 300 again but I know many people that find they go for that benchmark every year now. So we will see how the numbers and listing manifests for us…
One of the absolute best things to come out of doing this Big Year is the people we have met and the friendships that have developed. It pushed me to talk to people more, to give out my card with my blog on it, to message birders I did not know and ask for help and information and overwhelmingly birders wanted to help, wanted to cheer us on, wanted to make sure we had seen a post. I won’t name you all as I don’t want to miss someone but you all know who you are and your advice, cheering and thumbs ups kept us going through the tough times. Many kept birds in scopes, stayed with birds until we and others arrived and shared in our excitement. I love this community of passionate, interesting people with sometimes just one thing in common – a love of birds! It was only through all of the birders out there that we achieved that number. Big Years are always a communal effort and the result belongs to all the birders in Ontario. The birders who go out every day, often to the same patch are usually the ones to find the rarities or the ones that stop at a new area for the first time and find something fantastic all contribute. There are many non-birders that find something that looks different and think to post it to a facebook group so that others can see that bird too. I have enjoyed helping other birders doing big years in past years and have always gotten a thrill from helping them achieve their goals in a small way.
Another hope was that our birding improved doing these years and I feel happy with our progress, particularly in learning bird songs and calls. We used Merlin a lot at the beginning of the year and especially in the spring when the bird song is strongest. I have managed to learn quite a few more songs and I certainly am way better at recognizing a “different” call and stopping to investigate what it is. We spent a lot of time on the lakes and I can proudly say that I can identify a Jaeger from a Gull and Cormorant now LOL. I can’t tell you what species of Jaeger but I feel much more comfortable looking through a spotting scope at far away dark spots! Whenever we birded with the elite birders we tried to ask questions as much as we could and they always graciously answered our queries and that translated to learning a lot more about many species. Both of us have upped our “pishing” game and I have managed multiple times to get birds to pop up for a look. We keep saying we want to record a really good pisher and then just replay it when we are in the field but doing it yourself and getting the response is waaay better.
Historically, Big Years have been a young man’s game and certainly the record holders generally show that. But I wanted to show that you can be older, have other responsibilities and not necessarily be that knowledgable and still post great numbers. Technology has enabled that with up to the minute posting of rarities, ebird allows you to search where any species can be found at any given time, and apps can help you identify birds you see by song or pictures. If anyone is thinking it might be fun to try one I urge you to give it a go and take a chance. There were other birders who had committed to doing their own versions of Big Years and/or trying to get over the 300 number and I like to think maybe we inspired them to keep at it just as they inspired us to keep going. It was often the same group of us chasing rarities and that made it much more fun when we could celebrate others with their own numbers and lifers.
I absolutely loved doing this Big Year, yes, there were times when I wanted to give up and that it just seemed too hard, BUT, the fun times far outweighed the bad. The joy I still feel every time I am out and raising my binoculars to see a bird clearly is the same joy from the first years we started this. The thrill is still there. The peace I get from being out in nature and the calmness that comes when I’m in the woods has kept me grounded for the three years we have been caring for Jerry’s mom.
And finally, I have to give a massive shout out to my husband and partner of 46 years, who to be honest, I dragged into this by saying we would just be trying for 300 knowing full well I would want to go as hard as I could. Way back in 2013 it was my idea to get off the couch and start listing and then I suggested he could start taking pictures so we (I) could establish my reputation as an honest birder and it was my crazy idea to do a trio of Big Years when we realized we would be caregiving for a number of years and not able to travel far. He has embraced these goals of mine and happily (for the most part) come along for the ride and I think he is now hooked just as I am. He did the vast majority of those 49,500 kilometers of driving this year as I was navigating, checking updates and making plans as we traveled this province and he did it with me often criticizing his driving – too fast, too slow, watch the road, that’s the long way! etc etc. I promise I absolutely won’t do that for the Canada year….as much! LOL Love you! Thanks for helping me reach my goal!
And a big thank you to all of you for reading along, hope I have been mildly entertaining and made you feel like you came along.
I thought the year might be over, and then the stars all seemed to align after Christmas. Jerry’s mom’s unit in the hospital was locked down due to Covid and so, sadly, we could not visit for a week and then on Friday we finally found a memory care unit in Brantford that has one room available for her in another week or so and suddenly we had a bit of freedom at the end of the year. We thought we might head to Wolfe Island to try for a Gyrfalcon but a friend had already checked the area and had not seen anything. On Dec 27 a Gray-crowned Rosy-finch was seen 7 hrs away up in Matachewan but at a private residence. I made some inquiries about access and waited and nothing was reported until the 29th when it was confirmed it was still coming to the feeders and the owners were fine with birders having access. Thank you to Jared and Kari for welcoming birders and sharing this rarity! We made plans to head up on the 30th with a hotel booked until Jan 1 so that we might also get the bird for 2025.
We left at our usual 4am with rain and strong winds for most of the 7 hour drive until the last 40 kms when it switched to light, wet snow making the driving a bit slippery. We arrived at the house at 11 and there were Evening Grosbeaks and a couple of Pine Grosbeaks feeding but a quick look confirmed that the Rosy Finch was not present. We anxiously panned the area over the next few minutes and then all the birds took flight and left. We kept scanning with our bins checking every movement but no Finch. We waited and I said, “I think we might have an hour or so wait until the next feeding” and 30 seconds later a bird flew into the tree by itself and IT WAS THE GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH!!!!. BIRD #335!! We were very excited but had to be quiet so we didn’t spook the bird and Jerry had to try and get pictures. It stayed around for only 5-10 minutes and moved to a few spots where Jerry got better pics and then it flew away without feeding. We left some black-oil sunflower seeds and a thank you note for the home owners and went on our way.
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch
The weather had deteriorated and the snow was staying on the road so we opted to head for the hotel and find a Tim Hortons to work on blogs until check in rather than trying to continue to bird although we are always on the look out for owls in Northern Ontario. We saw a few grouse on the roads and Jerry got a pic of this nice Ruffed Grouse. They come to the roads to pick up grit and unfortunately do not move fast. Further along we saw the remains of one that had been hit by a car.
Ruffed Grouse
On the last day of the year we headed a bit south to Hilliardton Research Station where we had seen the banding of Boreal and Northern Saw-whet Owls in September. We were hoping to see a Boreal Chickadee or a nice owl but it was pretty quiet. We did get out of our car and walk the roads and had great views of Canada Jay and later a Northern Shrike. I love this kind of birding on a quiet northern road with little traffic, easy to walk and easy to see as birds cross over the road. Animals love to use it too as we saw tracks on both sides of the road of fox or coyote.
Road BirdingCanada JayNorthern Shrike
At 10:15 the familiar ping from Discord interrupted that lovely walk on that northern road announcing that a Eurasian Tree Sparrow was coming to a feeder on Wolfe island near Kingston. Crap!, my nemesis bird was giving me one last opportunity but not quite chaseable when I was 8 hrs and 22 minutes away. We had discussed leaving to head home an hour earlier when we saw snow in the forecast for tomorrow but even if we had the timing would just not work out. The sparrow was one bird I was not going to get this year but perhaps it would stick around and I could get it for 2025? At the end of the day we found four more Ruffed Grouse on the side of the road and one male was showing his namesake, lovely black ruff. We could not resist more pictures and video.
Ruffed Grouse
We drove slowly back to the hotel and finished up these blogs satisfied and happy with how it all went.
And so we come to the end of this crazy year, at midnight on the 31st there will be a reset and all of us birders will be back to a count of 0 for the year 2025 until the alarm goes off and we rise from our beds, open the blinds and click “Start a checklist” and see what birds we can find …
