White-faced Ibis | The Ovenbird Blog

Pelee Week 2

by Ellen Horak | May 17, 2026 | 2026

May 9

Traditionally the middle Saturday of the birding festival is the busiest as many birders expect it to be peak migration. The talk was the park would be closed once 750 vehicles were in the gate. I’m not sure it reached that number but It was packed. We made sure to get up and in the park for just after 5am. We walked to the tip as we have done most mornings so I can warm up a bit from the chilly mornings. There were some migrants in but still nothing like a fall out or even multiple birds of one species. This has been such a strange, late year. It was bound to happen sometime. More people than birds.

Still, birders were happy to look and look again at the same species or the same bird multiple times and of course there is a big social element to this festival. There are some birders we only see at Pelee every year and so it is a time to catch up with old friends and meet new people. Most of us recognize names from ebird lists and Discord so it is always nice to meet new people that you feel like you already know. While we walked 11 km of trails the rest of the day we added only 4 new birds for the year, Yellow-throated Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, Bay-breasted Warbler, and Black Tern. We had some nice looks at Red-headed Woodpecker and went to see the Yellow-breasted Chat again.

We also stopped to take pictures of the celebrity Eastern-Screech Owl that is on everyone’s checklist as it has chosen to nest right along the main road of the park so that almost every birder, I assume, will have it on their list or a picture of it.

In order to see the Black Terns we had to stop along the east shore of Hillman Marsh where we had distant views of them feeding over the water. Our next stop was one of our favourite places, Kopegaron Woods. This Carolinian Forest has a boardwalk meandering through a wetland and forest of large trees. There were reports of Summer and Scarlet Tanager but we only managed to see the male Scarlet Tanager.

Scarlet Tanager still molting from its winter/juvenile plumage of green

I was super hungry having not eaten much and we had walked the the usual 15km so after Kopegaron we headed to Taylor’s Seafood for perch. It was sooooo yummy that I could eat it every day.

Taylor’s 12 perch plus 2 fries – Yes we shared!!! Although I was hungry enough to eat all 12!

May 10

Mother’s Day is also a busy day in the Park but most birders opt to not go in or just do the tip first thing and get out by noon as many families arrive to enjoy Mother’s Day picnics and hikes. This year we went to the tip but no birds again and then opted to stay in the park for most of the day sticking with the seasonal paths that are less used by the other visitors. We only added American Pipit at the tip and no other new species. We managed to see 77 species in the park so there were birds around but again, not the quantity we expect at Pelee. The weather was lovely and we covered the usual trails for 15 km and chatted with birders we met along the way so the number of birds did not matter. We opted to have dinner in as it is always busy at the restaurants. They were handing out complimentary bags of veggies at the festival food desk so we had a lovely fresh salad with our meal of American Goulash.

May 11

It was 6:15 when we got into the park but since it was Monday we still got into the visitor centre parking. There are fewer birders than normal so we even got onto the tram as there was no line-up. Many birders will not show up until they know that there has been a substantial migration flight. The tip, as it has been for the previous 8 days, was quiet with no discernible migration. We did a loop of the beach and interior paths and saw two Clay-coloured Sparrows in a tree but not much else so we then headed up to the Visitor’s Centre via the road and Post-Woods.

We stopped birding at noon because we were not seeing many birds and decided to go back to the cottage for a rest and showers. While we were at home reports of a co-operating Worm-eating Warbler kept coming in on the Rare Bird Alert. It was annoying us to the point where Jerry said we should just go and see if we could see it. We went back to the park and pulled into Park Orientation which was jammed with vehicles. There was a spot at the curb that was not a parking spot but I could see people with cameras and bins looking at something a few feet away. Jerry stopped the car, we both jumped out and ran over and had beautiful views of a Worm-eating Warbler. Just stellar views! The best we have ever seen in Ontario. Jerry snapped some pictures as it landed on a branch right beside him and then the other photographers and birders moved in around him. He took a few more photos and we jumped back in the car and left so others could use the space. it was a 2 minute twitch (chase)!

We then headed to Hillman and saw some shorebirds but nothing new. We had some lovely looks at Short-billed Dowitchers allowing us to practice our identification skills between Long-billed and Short-billed.

When we left Hillman I wanted to stop at Pelee Wings to rent some binoculars for our friends arriving the next day but they suggested we had to go to the Marsh store in the park to get the bins. While that was happening an Ash-throated Flycatcher had been found in the park near Dunes and we were now just 1.5km from there getting the bins so we had to go for that bird, a mega rarity from Arizona/Texas and an Ontario first for us. We walked over from the Marsh boardwalk taunting the bird to leave by taking our time but I’m a bit curious this year to see whether most rarities have to be chased right away or not. When we got to the beach it was not being seen and after some chasing from beach to seasonal path we found the group that had seen it and ended up with wonderful views from the beach. So far the three rarities we have “chased” later have all been seen.

Ash-throated Flycatcher – first for us in Ontario – should be in Arizona or Texas

We had originally planned to meet Dorlisa for dinner but she went for the Ash-throated and then we went so we were texting back and forth and eventually met for dinner at 7 instead of the original 5:30. Birds before anything else! We ate at Crave Bar and Grill – the food was very good – Jerry tried their Jackfruit Tacos and I had the Perch tacos and once again I forgot to take pictures. What is happening to my brain?

We added only two new birds to the Ontario year list on the 9th and both were rarities. This is really unprecedented for spring migration. A few migrants each day but nothing like the numbers we are used to. There are 3 billion less birds in North America since the 70’s and so each year the number migrating is less. Sometimes they bypass Pelee but all along the lakes it is the same story right now – few warblers. The talk now is it might not happen until Friday/Saturday and we leave on Saturday so we might have to make it a very late day on Saturday before heading home. We will see what tomorrow brings.

May 12

Still nothing at the tip. Ten days and not one day of a decent influx of birds. We did have our best looks at Ruddy Turnstones close to the birders instead of down at the tip.

We walked the familiar trails and added nothing to the year list. There are birds but the same birds we have been seeing for the last few days. Our friends Marg and Lawson arrived at noon and spoiled us by bringing lunch. How nice it would be to have a personal chef LOL. Thanks Marg! Marg has been my editor extraordinaire for all the blogs I have posted from 2023 on which has been awesome for me as I hate making errors in these posts. I owe her bigly! We took them into the park and did the touristy things since this was their first visit to Pelee and their first “bird-watching.” We took the tram to the tip and walked out a ways to take the obligatory selfie at the southern most point of Ontario and the 42nd Parallel sign. The guys walked up the tower while Marg and I sat on a bench and caught up.

We took the tram back down to the visitor centre and walked through Tilden. It was birdy and they saw 12 species of warbler including a Red-headed Woodpecker. We had nice low looks at Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, and a Cape May having a bath in one of the sloughs.

Dinner was at Freddy’s and the Fattoush salad and Perch dinner were excellent as they always are. The forecast was for SW winds and rain in the night so maybe something will arrive if there is anything on the other side of the lake. Fingers and toes are crossed.

May 13

We got to the tip later than normal but there had been little there and still limited migration at the tip. Later it was obvious there were more birds that had come in further in the park. But the tip was pretty empty- Day 11. Places along eastern Lake Ontario had mini fallouts of warblers so they are finally starting to move. We took the tram both ways and walked the trails with Marg and Lawson seeing some different warblers from yesterday. They were getting better with using binoculars and getting better at spotting movement and seeing the bird. It was fun to share our passion with them. We saw a beautiful Scarlet Tanager with a bit of yellow/green still on it.

We finally heard a Canada Warbler but did not find it in the tangle of leaves and branches. We spent a bit of time in areas that Wilson’s Warblers were being heard and seen but we could not hear the song or see one. At noon we took them back to the cottage so they could head home and we had some lunch and a short rest and then headed back in for another walk around Tilden. It was still quite birdy and while I was looking at an area I sensed movement beside me and saw an American Woodcock beside me that had walked across the path and then went into the forest leaves. So wonderful to have that experience. It was 6 inches from my foot.

We saw another Red-headed Woodpecker and watched that for awhile. We have seen one almost every day. We talked about going to Hillman Marsh and then back into the park to try for Whip-poor-wills but both of us were tired and just needed a bit of a break from it all. There are clearly birds in the park and we can bird tomorrow and hopefully catch up with a few of the species we are still missing.

May 14

Oh it was a very good day! The trickle of birds everyday and some substantial input through the night made birding very enjoyable with multiples of most warbler species finally seen. I decided to try for the 100 species in a day again. We opted not to go to the tip but started at the top of the park. Then a report came from Hillman that a Willet and a Wilson’s Phalarope were being seen so we opted to drive over and at least get those two rarities that would also be year birds for us. When we arrived people were searching for the Phalarope but the Willet was easy to see. We scoped for a while and then opted to head back to the park. We passed Jean on the way in and just as we were driving out Jean called to say the Phalarope had just been found so we did a u-turn and retraced our steps to find a distant but nice Wilson’s Phalarope. I got Jean her Prairie Warbler and she repaid with this bird. That is the birding karma I talk about in action.

We returned to the park and continued birding down the west and east sides of the park managing to add a few birds and getting nice views of others we have seen. I have not been carrying my camera for a week now and instead am taking all the video you see on my Iphone 16 Pro. I am quite pleased with it and while the birds have to be really close the quality seems to be better than my camera was. At least for showing it on a blog like this.

We finally tracked down a Green Heron at DeLaurier and as always Jerry took some very nice pictures of it.

We also heard the Wilson’s Warbler a few times but did not get eyes on the bird. I imagine we will see it at some point. And we also added a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher to the Ontario list.

When we had exhausted the Pelee Park trails and we were also exhausted we headed out of the park to get some well deserved Mexican food. I managed a picture of the guacamole at Salsa Caliente but can you believe that I forgot to take a picture of my yummy enchiladas? How does this happen? I have birder brain and hunger takes over LOL. Anyway, trust me when I say it looked and tasted delicious! While waiting for our food I put together a trip report from the day so I could see what my species count was. I had seen 90 species at that point.

After dinner we headed to Kopegaron Woods because I thought I had a good chance to add a few birds there that I did not get in the park. Sure enough there were Swainson’s Thrush and then a Rock Pigeon from the farms outside the woods. A bit further along the boardwalk we saw a Hairy Woodpecker. Now I was at 93. A few minutes later Merlin suggested it had heard a Rusty Blackbird. We had not added this bird for the year yet so we retraced our steps and actively checked every blackbird we were seeing. Jerry spotted something a bit different and we both got on it with bins. I confirmed it had a yellow eye and we had our Rusty. #94. It took a bit to get a picture as it was back in tangles but Jerry managed a record shot.

When we reached the end of the loop I opted to start walking the loop again just to see if the Prothonotary had appeared. I had missed seeing it in the Park and it would be a nice bird to add for the 100. As I started down the boardwalk I saw a couple with cameras raised and as I got close they showed me an Eastern Screech Owl sitting in its hole sunning. #95 as the one in the Park had not been visible.

I was getting excited. We still had to go back to Hillman and we planned to walk the Couture Dyke at dusk for rails so I was getting more confident by the minute that I would hit the 100. Jerry took some owl pics, we checked further along the boardwalk but no Prothonotary and so we headed out of the woods to find a group at the entrance with bins and cameras raised – a Golden-winged Warbler! #96 and still two places to visit.

When we arrived at Hillman there were plenty of birds in the marsh and we started scoping right away. I knew I had missed Green-winged Teal earlier so I quickly found those for #97 and then a Greater Yellowlegs for #98. Merlin suggested a Black-bellied Plover had called but we could not find any as we scoped. I found two Ruddy Turnstones for #99. We took turns scanning and suddenly Jerry said he had a Semi-palmated Plover! He tried to get it in the scope and after a few minutes he had it #100 for the day! Woohoo! And it was a year bird for us too. We then added two more species for 102 and one more stop.

Couture Dyke is a walk around a huge marsh land that we visited last year. It is a good place to listen for rails. We ended up hearing Least Bittern, perhaps the one from last week at the tip and a Virginia Rail. While these were not birds we needed to add to our Ontario List they did get added to our day list along with an Osprey and a Field Sparrow giving us a total for the day of 106 species seen! I was more than happy with that and while I was tired I was not exhausted the way I usually am after these 100 day adventures.

May 15

With the ups and downs of this migration it was no surprise to once again have a quiet tip with only a few migrants. We did manage to see a possible Acadian Flycatcher. Flycatchers can be a challenge to ID and so we will wait to hear what others think of the photos taken. It is easiest to identify them when they are singing as their songs are all unique but many look very similar and that causes difficulty in the field with different lighting, distance etc.

With it being our last full day in the park we were not too worried about trying to find the few birds we have not seen this migration. Those left we know we can see elsewhere in the province if we want to do that. Instead we met up with Judy and Cindy and spent a delightful few hours walking the trail chatting, laughing and occasionally birding. There were still birds in the park but the warblers were up high in the trees and so there was little incentive for us to crane our necks to see warblers that yesterday had been seen beautifully at eye level.

Just after noon we decided to leave the park and headed over to Hillman to see a White-faced Ibis that was being seen. As we walked down the path a couple leaving told us that the birds had all flushed, including the Ibis. Oh no! but we continued on and when we arrived at the water the Ibis was just flying back in and landed quite close to us.

We helped a few people see shorebirds in the scope and then opted to call it a day. We had dishes to clean and things to pack at the cottage. We had a nice meal at Freddy’s and spent the evening relaxing. Usually, on our way home we stop at Rondeau but we are going to go to the Tip in the morning to just see if this heavy migration that is forecast actually happens here.

May 16

Well there was migration in the night but the majority of the birds missed the tip and landed further up in the park. We checked out the tip and as it was quiet and rain was forecast we opted to say our goodbyes to the regulars Keith, Jeremy, Cindy and Judy and head for home. We arrived home before noon and the news from Pelee was of a Kirtland’s Warbler that Keith found around 10am. Oh well, that is the way it goes, you get some, you miss some. We were happy to be home after 2 weeks of continual birding. Pelee is always great no matter when you go or how long you stay. While we felt the quantity of birds was less, the quality of our interactions was fantastic this year. We had so many wonderful, up close interactions with these jewels that briefly stop in our area.

We spent 1 day at Rondeau, 13 at Pelee. We went to the tip 11 mornings and walked a total of 167km over the 14 days. The day I got the 100 species we walked 16.6km. The cottage we rent cost $2,200 for the two weeks and our meals out cost around $400 plus gas there and back. We used electric every day in the park. We added 90 birds to the Ontario Bird list for the year and 58 to the Year List of Birds. So at the end of this trip we had seen 223 in Ontario this year and 582 birds seen for the World List this year.

The numbers of birders choosing to go to Pelee has dropped over the last few years with many suggesting it is too packed with crowds but the Park is very large and while there are crowds around the celebrity rarities for a short time most of your time at Pelee can be completely alone on the trails. For those that like to socialize and meet friends you can hang around the more popular trails but there are countless opportunities to be alone too. Hopefully this blog gives you a little taste of what awaits at Pelee. It is a very special place…until next time…

Week 23 Part 2 West is Best!!!

by Ellen Horak | Jun 9, 2025 | Canada 400

Wednesday we faced a long drive of 12 hours mostly because we opted to drive in Canada instead of heading into the US which would save us 3 hours. We had originally planned on birding in Manitoba but with wildfire smoke and time constraints we opted to drive through and save birding in that province for our way home. It was an easy drive, little traffic, once you hit Manitoba the speed limit is 110 so the kilometers go quickly. We checked into the Pilgrim Inn in Caronport and then headed 30 minutes west to Chaplin Lake. This salt lake is home to a number of migrating and nesting birds. We added 9 species in a few hours and probably saw a Baird’s Sandpiper but I was not sure so it remains off the list until we check photos and get second opinions. It is getting tough to go through all the photos and for Jerry to send them to me so that I can use them in my blog but we will eventually catch up when we get to my brother’s in BC.

Having checked what was being seen in Saskatchewan the night before I decided Thursday morning to take a detour 30 minutes further west of Chaplin Lake to see White-faced Ibis at Francis Lake. It was a fantastic wetland lake with large numbers of ducks and marsh birds.

Many Yellow-headed Blackbirds dotted the road edge and Ibis’s exploded from the grasses as you got close to them. They were very skittish and getting pictures was challenging but Jerry eventually managed.

A bonus I was not expecting was to see two Black-necked Stilts, an expected species but not abundant. it saves me from chasing it later in Alberta.

On the way back to Chaplin we stopped at Reed lake, a salt lake like Chaplin to scan for a possible Piping Plover that had been seen.

We walked out to the salt beach and I scoped both directions and saw nothing and then I turned it over to Jerry and there was a Piping Plover! It was way down the beach but we walked down to try and get a better picture. It just kept moving further away. We always take multiple looks for things for just this reason, birds suddenly appear in your scope view!

Next stop was Chaplin Lake again to see if the lighting was any better and we could figure out if a Baird’s Sandpiper was there or not. I still struggled with seeing one, I kept thinking a bird looked good but then it didn’t. It was now later than I had wanted to be heading to the Grasslands 2 hours away so we opted to stop the “search”.

Minutes later, right on time, we had our usual fight that happens 4-5 days in on these trips. Lack of sleep, differing ideas of how to bird, numbers of daily irritations with each other, confined in a car, the reasons are insignificant, but we needed to clear the air. I slammed on brakes to yell at Jerry, he yelled back, we went back and forth for a bit and finally I started to drive in silence and Jerry says, “Gray Partridge”, it was right beside the car! Another bird to add to our list. And just like that the fight was forgotten.

When we finally got to the Grasslands NP it was mid afternoon and we only had time for a short hike but we had added lots of birds on the drive into the hiking area and we added more on the short hike. On the drive in we were lucky to find an adorable Burrowing Owl sitting on a fence post.

The grasslands and buttes are magnificent to view, the sagebrush and wildflowers add a wonderful scent and the silence is complete. Until a bird buzzes. Sparrows are, of course grassland species and they can look very similar with songs that are often buzzing or trills that take some practice getting to know. Merlin helps us a lot with sparrow song but we are getting better at the more common ones and that helps to identify when we hear something different. Hearing and identifying the call is one thing, but actually seeing the sparrow is quite another. Some like Savannah and Clay-colored perch up on the top of a bush to sing so it’s easy to see them. But other’s like Brewer’s and Baird’s Sparrows tend to sing from inside shrubs or the grass and so it is not always easy to find them. To complicate things further, Brewer’s and Clay-colored are very similar looking and when they are singing in the same area it takes some figuring out which pic is which for us.

With a bit of a time constraint on us we headed over to the west block of the park and our tiny house for the next two nights. The Sanctuary Inn is a new accommodation in town and we highly recommend it. We stayed in the tiny house and it was perfect! Caitlin is a wonderful host and pays attention to the smallest detail. We would have loved to stay longer!

Friday it was nice not to pack up or rush out early. We headed to the Eagle and 70 Mile Butte Trails to do some hiking with two targets on our minds.

We needed Rock Wren and Lark Sparrow and both were seen regularly on these trails. Within five minutes we saw two Lark Sparrows and minutes after we heard the Rock Wren. We saw many Wrens and Lark Sparrows so Jerry had multiple chances for good pictures and he got them!

I love when the day starts like that! We traveled up the trail to the highest point where you could see 360 degrees out over the grasslands and badlands. The hike was rated difficult but it was not in our view.

It was lovely seeing the colour of the alpine/prairie plants.

We headed to another area and did another hike along a river stopping at a small area with large trees and resident Great Horned Owls. At the Day Use area there were two Orioles calling continually and we noted the female we saw “looked” different. Merlin suggested it was a Bullock’s Oriole from the call and so we took pics and asked for help from the birding community to make sure we were right in our IDing of a female Bullock’s Oriole with a male Baltimore Oriole. Orioles are known to hybridize and after talking with other birders we opted to put it in as a hybrid female with a male Baltimore.

We headed back to our tiny house for an afternoon siesta, which means wading through the pictures and checking email lists etc rather than napping. We ate our big meal of the day and then headed back into the park for an Eco drive tour. We finally saw a Buffalo!

This route takes you past the prairie dog towns where you scan carefully to find the Burrowing Owls that use the prairie dog burrows to nest in. We managed to find 4 Owls at both dog town areas. But the two species we were still hoping for did not appear – Thick-billed Longspur and Sprague’s Pipit. We did manage to see a number of Common Nighthawks roosting and flying at the Grasslands campground.

We arrived back to our home at dusk and I made final preparations for the drive tomorrow. We planned to drive through Alberta but off the main highways so we could bird for our final species that we needed for the Prairies. I took photos of maps and areas because I knew that we would have no cell service for most of our drive.

Saturday we headed west our from the Grasslands and within 30 minutes we had our first bird of the day – the lovely Ferruginous Hawk ( google how to pronounce it).

Most of the driving, ok, all of the driving, was on gravel roads with wind and dust every time you stopped and opened a window to check out a bird sound or movement. We will not miss the wind

or the fine prairie dust that gets on everything including your teeth!

Within the first hour we had both of our missing birds – the Thick-billed Longspur and Sprague’s Pipit. Getting photos was another challenge. Jerry managed to get both Longspurs.

While we were driving between birding areas I checked my emails for hourly reports on Alberta birds and noticed Arctic Terns were nesting near where I knew Prairie Falcons nested. I opted to add that into our schedule and just like that a 5 hour drive became a 6 hour drive but with birding along the way it was a 12 hour day LOL. Just before the Arctic Tern spot a wetland produced our first Cinnamon Teal and better photo ops of Black-necked Stilts.

The lake with the Terns was very large and I was worried we would be spending a lot of time driving around it but as we pulled up to the lake there was a Tern flying around. We thought it was Arctic but it was quite a distance away. Looking at ebird lists from others they had no other terns listed other than the Arctic and we thought we had the Arctic. It was late afternoon and we still had another birding spot so we opted to move on. It would turn out that looking at Jerry’s pic later on the computer we could see a probably black tip on the bill of the Tern making it a Forster’s not the Arctic. I would have liked to have that off the list so we will see if we can revisit that place on our way out of BC if they do indeed nest there.

We then headed to William Coulee road where Prairie Falcons are known to nest and we have seen them in past years. It was only minutes in, looking along the cliffs and I spotted a Falcon up on the top rocks. it then flew down and went into a crevice in the rock wall where it probably had a nest. We then saw another Falcon and a Golden Eagle appeared and they had an altercation.

Further down the road we found another breeding pair. It was a VERY good birding day. We had added 27 species in Saskatchewan and Alberta and I had seen all of my expected species. We headed to a hotel at the foot of the rockies only to find it full for the night so we opted for the sad local hotel and tavern where we paid $80 (cash only) for the night. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what the room was like. Our tiny house back in the Grasslands it was not! We were only 6 hours away from my brother Darryl’s in Grand Forks!

Sunday we drove through the rockies along Crow Nest’s Pass. We stopped at a few rest areas and added 3 species to the list, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Mountain Chickadee and Violet-green Swallow. The mountains are amazingly immense and taking pictures just will never show the true scale of them. I made an attempt to take some from the car.

We arrived in Grand Forks in the afternoon and immediately started hearing birds as we drove up the road to my brother’s family compound. Based on our last trip here in 2022 we expect to add 10-12 species to our list just on his property, hopefully while sipping a Gin and Tonic or Margarita! Cheers!

Week 23 second half 33 species added 346 species Jerry and Ellen

Week 20 You Can’t get them All

by Ellen Horak | May 19, 2024 | Ontario Birds 2024

Monday found us at the Tip again for a bit of reverse migration but no great amounts of migrants and no rarities going off. Once we started up from the Tip with Theresa, Angela and Michael, we found our first of the year Philadelphia Vireo. It was high in the tree but Jerry managed some photos that show the yellow on the chest and the undertail coverts. It was HOT! The birding was ok but we did not add any other species. We did have good looks at an Olive-sided Flycatcher again and very nice views of roosting Common Nighthawks.

We staked out a few areas where Mourning and Canada Warblers had been seen and heard but we dipped on those. We spent the evening in the park because in the past we have found it can be quite birdy but the heat continued and things were quiet. We decided that we would head home on Tuesday, still do the tip in the morning but then head to Rondeau.

Tuesday at the Tip started with more shorebirds than there had been with closer looks at Ruddy Turnstone, Plovers and some Spotted Sandpipers. And then someone yelled out Pelicans and we all watched 7 American White Pelicans fly closer and closer and eventually land at the Tip! We will see these huge birds up near Rainy River but it was nice to get them off the list now and add them to my Point Pelee list.

A few minutes later Keith and Cameron looked down at their phones (I had little reception as usual) and said White-faced Ibis at Hillman, start walking! This was the morning that the Trams had broken down and we had already done the walk up 3.7km but now were faced with the walk back and at a faster pace. It would be a great bird to add to my list. As we walked we fretted about the ID – Glossy Ibis and White-faced Ibis are very similar and many get mis-identified. We had to go for it though. We ran into Josh near the Visitor Center and had a quick convo with him assuring us the finder of the bird was a careful birder and the ID was probably correct. We reached our car a bit winded, ok a lot winded!, we are in our 60’s ya know, and started the excruciatingly slow drive (40km) out of the park and then to Hillman. My phone finally caught up and a note came in that the Ibis had flown, uggggh, then two minutes later, it was back! Yes! Then as we got closer to Hillman, a note from the Tip – a rare Yellow-throated Warbler had just reversed off! AHHHHH!, then a few minutes later, a rare Eurasian-Collared Dove had flown by the Tip. WHAT!!! There were a lot of choice words uttered in the car! The emotions went from low, high, low and ended in frustration. I have been at that Tip waiting for just those birds to go by for days and days and the one time I leave to get something else!! GRRRRRRR! We got to Hillman and I ran/walked to the Shorebird Cell terrified that the bird would fly before I could see it and there was the Ibis calmly feeding, without a care in the world. I got a great bird but missed two I really wanted to get. And that is this crazy hobby, best laid plans but nature has its own agenda and I have really little control as to how this will all pan out. And as it would turn out the White-faced Ibis stayed for 2 days so I could have stayed at the Tip for those other birds and sauntered over later, as many other birders did, but YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW!

With Trams not working it made little sense to go back into the Park and do the 3.7km walk twice more in the hopes that the two rarities would reverse a few more times. They did reverse but not within a time frame that we could have got there again from where we were. We continued towards Rondeau and home and decided to make a stop at Zion Road, a spot for Lake Watching, with the thought that maybe the Dove would make a fly past as it did about a week ago. We met Tim and Jeremy doing a watch and joined them to see about 900 Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlins and Turnstones land in the fields and then take off and land again. Whimbrels joined them, other Passerines migrated overhead. What was also flying around? Millions of Midges had hatched. When we walked to the Tip in the morning I had heard this weird humming and commented that it sounded like a horror movie before some swarm of killer bees arrived and we had discussed what it might be and now I was seeing what it had been.

Eventually, the migration slowed and we had not seen a Eurasian-collared Dove or a Swallow-tailed Kite go past so we headed on to Rondeau. We spent the afternoon walking some of our favourite spots at Rondeau and finally tracked down 2 Gray-cheeked Thrush to add to our list as well as Jerry getting some better pictures of birds previously seen. Late afternoon we headed home arriving around 7pm. The heaviest migration week was over, we had survived and seen most of what we wanted to. Laundry, food, photos, lists all needed to be done. For the first time in 3 weeks we were not waking to an alarm although I was awake at 4:40 am anyway LOL.

Wednesday we chased a Stilt Sandpiper George and Marcus had found the day before but dipped on it, before heading to Jerry’s moms for caregiving duties. While home we missed a Bell’s Vireo found by Bob and Glenda at Pelee and a White-winged Dove found by Tim and Jeremy at Rondeau. Such are the constraints we have with this Big Year and there is nothing we can do about it. I’m grateful his Mom does not currently require more care and that we can get away for birding as much as we have. And I have my fingers permanently crossed that it continues until after our trip to Rainy River at the very least.

Thursday morning we were on duty to get our grandkids to school and then headed out to some of our local patches to mop up a few of the species we were still missing. We added Willow Flycatcher in the wetland behind their house to complete our list of 144 Common Species! We headed to Gilkison Flats where we met up with George S. and had a leisurely walk trying in vain to actually see the birds we were hearing. Within 10 minutes we had heard both Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a first for Jerry, and a Black-billed Cuckoo, a first for both of us. We will see these birds in the coming weeks as they routinely come through our yard and often stay in the area for the summer. We headed home and enjoyed some time on our back porch, listening and watching our yard Orioles and Grosbeaks and feeling quite relaxed for the first time in a few weeks. I even managed a nap. After dinner we headed out to local swamps to add our last two warblers we missed at Pelee when a report of a Blue Grosbeak came up in London, only an hour away. We headed there but a report came in when we were half-way there that it was a misidentification – it was a molting Indigo Bunting, that can look somewhat similar. Jerry suggested that we should have waited for confirmation but if we had and it was really the Grosbeak there would not have been enough daylight left to drive there and try to get the bird. So you can never win with these situations. We headed home, having not got our warblers or a Blue Grosbeak.

Willow Flycatcher the 144th and last Common Species

Friday morning we once again headed to the local swamps and quickly heard a Canada Warbler where we hear it most years. We tried for 10-15 minutes to find it in the dense shrubs and trees but despite it sounding like it was right in front of us we were not able to find it.

This is the continual frustration of this very quick spring and leaf out. We usually have a few weeks of barren branches with just buds allowing great looks at all the warblers but this year it has been almost impossible to see anything really well. I hope that we will see this bird on its breeding grounds on our north trip in a few weeks so that we can get a photo. We looked for a few other species that were singing and then moved on to the next swamp area where we heard the “churry churry churry” song of the Mourning Warbler to complete our needed Warblers list. Again, we hope to see this bird at some point at one of the breeding areas close by so that Jerry can get photos and we can actually see the bird.

On Saturday a Kirtland’s Warbler was finally heard singing at Pelee and since we were in the area we drove over to see if it could be seen or heard again. There had been some migration and birds were lower in the trees and in a bit more quantity than previous weeks so we enjoyed seeing some warblers including a Canada that we had just heard yesterday. We also had quick looks at a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher to add to the list. No one refound the Kirtland’s although it might have been re-heard a few times before we arrived. While we were searching for the Kirtland’s 6 hours east of us a Worm-eating Warbler was found and seen that day. I suspect that those were our last chances at those two rare warblers and they will not be added to our list this year.

This week we did add King Rail to our list. This is an Endangered and Sensitive Species in Ontario so I am not at liberty to tell the whereabouts or the story behind our getting it. Their nesting locations are kept very secret and we were fortunate to have an experienced birder take us to hear one. I have hidden the checklist as I know that people can see those on my profile and I do not want the birds put in jeopardy. Usually, I love nothing more than sharing locations and helping others find birds but this is one that, sadly, I cannot.

I expect that we will hit 300 species on the Rainy River trip in a few weeks unless some more rarities arrive in the next week. We are close…9 birds away.

Week 20 144 Common Species are completed All 28 expected Warbler species seen or heard 19 rare birds and 9 mega rare have been seen 10 more species added Total Species seen this year 291 for J&E