Hold on tight folks, this is a long one!

December 1, 2020

What a whirlwind the past couple of months have been for birding.

Just imagine, starting in mid to late April, and through the month of May, a huge number of birds fly into Canada on their northbound migration, and many of them funnel through our little area in Southwestern Ontario as they hunt for food and a place to mate and bring up their young. Thousands of people from around the world come here to observe this spectacle. Sadly this year was a no-go for the visitors, but the birds still came anyway.

The outbound migration is usually not as frantic for either birds or people, and takes a lot longer to happen.

The annual Raptor Count started at the beginning of September and ran right through until the end of November. During these 3 months there is a person on the top of the Holiday Beach Hawk Tower every day, keeping a count on all of the different raptors that fly by our area. Usually there are a good number of people helping out, but unfortunately with Covid-19 screwing everything up this year, only 3 people at a time were allowed on the tower, and that was restricted to the official counter and observers. To make matters worse, the Conservation Authority had blocked off physical access to the tower, so we had to climb over the barrier any time we wanted to go up or down. This was very difficult for my lady to do, so she would often stay at the bottom, or wander the park looking for the smaller birds. Fortunately, I was allowed up as one of the observers, so I spent quite a few hours helping out.

September was an amazing time for birdwatching this year.

My Lady and I got an alert about 2 Swallowtail Kites hanging out near Point Pelee National Park, and within minutes we were in the car and on our way. Once we got there and one of our friends told us where it was, we were entertained by 1 of them for 45 minutes as it flew back and forth over the fields looking for insects to eat.

One morning I was up the Hawk Tower helping to count the Raptors going by, when all of a sudden the young lady doing the official count got very excited and asked me to take some photos of one particular hawk. We were able to confirm that it was a Swainson’s Hawk, which is normally found in the prairies, and is considered a Provincial Rarity here. We were extremely lucky to see it, and I was even luckier to have gotten a few good photos of it.

Swainsons Hawk. Rare in this part of Ontario

The Broadwing Hawks made their grand exit over a few days mid-September. Initially we only had a few going by either by itself or with a few extras, then the next day it was as if a switch had been turned on and great kettles of the birds were forming over our area, and streaming out across the marsh on their way out. At times it was difficult to count with so many at one time. Over 44,000 Broadwings passed from September 11 to the 19^th. I left the counting to the professionals and for the most part I just stood there in awe, and taking a few photos along the way.

A Woodcock made an appearance right at the base of the tower one morning while I was there. It had been spotted the day before, and this time it had startled a lady walking along the path. It was much easier to get a good photo this time, than the ones I took in the spring

Woodcock out in the daytime. Usually out at night.

I guess the Blue Jays had a good year, because over the course of 4 or 5 weeks, they created steady streams in the sky as they flew out of the east and onward towards the USA. They had the counters on the tower working furiously with their clickers, with a final count of well over 1 million Jays. And this was only the ones we could see during the counting hours. It’s amazing to see the sky filled with birds like this.

Near the end of the September we had a couple of friends visit the area, giving us a chance to show them around. While we wandered through Holiday Beach we observed more Jays flocking through, along with a number of warblers and a pair of Green Heron. We were lucky enough to watch one of the herons catch and eat a fish from the marsh.

The warblers are also outbound during September through November, but sadly their colouring is much duller than in the spring. This makes it harder for the untrained eye to be able to determine what bird it is. I was snapping photos, but could only identify a few of them.

Not to be outdone by the birds, September is also when the Monarch Butterflies start their journey down to Mexico, with a short stop at Point Pelee. One evening over 4500 butterflies were resting on a single tree right near the tip. We got there in time to see them, but it was too dark to get a photo, so we came back in the morning to observe them leaving, but by the time we arrived most had already taken off.

Monarch Butterflies greeting the morning sunlight and heading south across the lake

And a bit of good news, the Ospreys on their communication tower successfully raised their young, and they fledged during September. Mom and Dad stuck around to teach them about life all through October.

It’s one thing to catch the fish, but you also have to fight to keep it

Into October the Starlings begin to gather in large numbers and make wonderful patterns as they fly over the fields. Eventually they too make their way past the counters on the tower, but are not included in the counting. Often many other birds fly at the same time as the Starlings, such as Red Wing Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Rusty Blackbirds, and Crows. It all becomes an Avian Frenzy.

Starlings trying to interrupt communications

The Turkey Vultures come through in October. It’s cool to watch them slowly rise over the trees to the east of the tower, and as they find the lifting thermals, they circle higher and gather into large kettles before one decides to peel off and head west, and the remainder follow.

Small portion of a large kettle of Turkey Vultures

October finds the Golden Eagles making their appearance, usually just beyond camera range, but this year we had a few fly close enough to be able to get reasonable photos with a long enough lens. Although we have a number of Bald Eagles in the area, everyone loves to see the Goldens, and there are often a number of people hanging around the tower watching for them. Unfortunately this year the restrictions forced most people to watch for them from the bottom of the tower.

Red Wing Hawks and Red Shoulder Hawks came by in good numbers, along with Kestrels, Merlins, Coopers Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Sharp-Shinned Hawks and Northern Harriers. Each has a different shape and flight style. It takes a while to learn how to tell them apart, and I often get them confused (Good thing I am an Observer and not a Counter).

Things seem to settle a bit come November, so we began visiting Point Pelee more often.

This year we had some Pelicans in the area, and we even saw them a couple of times but never had the chance to photograph them, until one morning in early November when we had gone to the Tip to see a Cave Swallow (missed it). One of our birding friends had seen the Pelican just off the east side, so we trudged over and as we were looking he texted me with a simple “Look Up”, and sure enough, it was passing directly overhead. We are very thankful to have great birding friends.

As we wandered one of the trails I noticed some birds at the top of a tree. Took a few photos and once I chimped the shot I saw that they were the Evening Grosbeaks that we had been trying to see for a couple of weeks. I pointed them out to my Lady and she was very happy to see them. Within a few moments, they all took off, and we haven’t seen them since.

Another evening we were settling down to watch some television and got an alert about a Frigate Bird hanging out near Leamington. Within the hour we were standing with a number of birders watching this bird that must have been blown up from the Caribbean or southern US by one of the hurricanes. After an hour or so, it was getting dark, so we decided to leave, only to find out that a few minutes later it flew off its perch and headed south to Point Pelee, and was not seen again.

The ducks are starting to show up on the lake and waters in the area. We had a visit from a Ross’s Goose at Jack Miners near Kingsville. Not usually found in this area.

Ross’s Goose about the same size as the Mallard Ducks. Here one day, gone the next.

Another thing found at Jack Miners was a small group of Cackling Geese hanging out with the Canada Geese. Up until last year we might have just thought they were young Canada Geese, but thanks again to our friends, we have learned there are some differences between the Cackling and Canada Geese, with the Cackling being much smaller, with a shorter neck and smaller bill. I wonder if we have seen these in Toronto, and never took notice of them before.

Cackling Goose is much smaller than the Canada Goose behind

We have had a few female Long Tailed Ducks off the Point Pelee tip. Haven’t heard of any males around, but the last time we saw them they were a bit north in Sarnia. Maybe we’ll get lucky this year to have both hang out this far south.

At the end of November My Lady and I were out for a drive near Point Pelee and as we went up one of the small roads to the east we had a very close encounter with an adult male Northern Harrier, also known as a Grey Ghost. It flew past us going the other way, hunting low and slow over the ditch by the road, so I swung the car around and buzzed past it to get ahead, parked the car, jumped out and grabbed the camera and started trying to get photos. Thankfully it somewhat cooperated and gave us enough of a show that I was able to get a few worthwhile shots. It eventually wandered up another road and we lost sight of it shortly after.

Adult Male Northern Harrier taking a dump and then flying by asking if I saw what he did

Finally wrapping up the Hawk Count on November 30, I went up the tower again to help out and wish our counter a safe drive back home. We spent a few hours looking into a grey sky filled with wind driven snow and sleet, with not a single raptor flying.

What started off with such a blur of activity, ended as it should, a dwindling down to shorter days, colder winds, snow, and the satisfaction of a job well done. Overall, the official count was over 115,000 raptors, taking 4th place for the highest season.

Not sure if I will have another post this year, seeing as how it’s been a few months since the last time.

I will leave you with a bunch more photos and wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. May 2021 bring us all better times.

Till next time, stay safe and healthy.

Hey, Guess who’s late (again)

September 14, 2020

Wasps. They end up spoiling picnics, pool parties, barbeques, baseball games, and almost anything else you want to do outside in the late summer.

In our case, they are really harassing our hummingbirds. It’s gotten so bad that we have had to set up wasp traps near each of our 3 hummingbird feeders, just to try and give the hummies a little bit of a fighting chance. It’s helping, but the wasps seem to be in an endless supply and just keep coming.

As mentioned last time, August was HOT. We had a really intense day of thunderstorms right near the end of the month, and we are expecting a cooldown over the next couple of weeks.

We caught sight of a couple more ships coming along the river that looked interesting. This time it was a Tug pulling a barge.

One day at Holiday Beach our resident fox put on a bit of a show for us. It looked like it might have been playing with something it had caught, while still keeping a close eye on us to make sure we didn’t get any closer (not that we were going to).

So August has seen the return of a lot of various Sandpipers, such as Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, Stilt, White-Rumped, and others that I just have no idea about yet. Some are small, some larger, some have long necks, others don’t, some have long straight beaks, some have short beaks, and some have long beaks that dip at the end, the plumage is similar but slightly different, and so on. Give me time to really be able to identify the warblers, and maybe I can learn some of the myriad shorebirds that drop by. Don’t ask me who any of these are yet.

The butterflies and dragonflies were still putting on a show, with the Monarchs hopefully coming by in numbers soon.

We found out that late August is not the best time to go to the tip at Point Pelee. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way. This is the time when all of the Stable Flies decide to have their babies, and need to fill up on blood. Dogs, cats, farm animals and people are high on their list of best things to bite. And it HURTS! Note to self, try to remember to stay away during that time.

So, other than that, we are looking forward to the outbound migration of the warblers, and the real push out of the Raptors (no not the sports team, the birds). Last year we had some amazing days and if we see that again, it would be fantastic.

So long Summer, hopefully Autumn will be kind.

Till next time, thanks for reading. Stay safe.

June was a bit Cuckoo

July 13, 2020

What an interesting month June was.

Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh opened up, with Pelee being open weekends only for a bit, and although we haven’t been yet, we have heard that a good number of American Pelicans have been spotted down near the tip. We have seen a few flying by our little piece of heaven, but haven’t been able to get any photos of them.

A bit of good news with our tower Ospreys. They are still around and it looks like they may have babies, but they are staying low in the nest right now. So the ones that we saw flying around last month weren’t ours. The only way we can figure that they might have babies is that we have seen the parents on the nest, or bringing more nesting materials up to it.

We went to Holiday Beach one evening and as we wandered the road we heard a strange sound. At first I thought it might have been a Heron, but after a couple moments it made a Tok-Tok-Tok type of sound and we realized it was a Yellow Billed Cuckoo. Sure enough after a few minutes of searching, it showed itself to us and we got a couple of reasonable photos. We have gone back a few times and have heard it in the area, but it seems to be a bit camera shy now.

Although the Orioles are still in the area, they have stopped stealing from our Hummingbird feeder. Unfortunately our Hummies have been only making infrequent stops right now, and we rarely see them.

The Fish Flies came in for about a week, and they are pretty well gone now, and the Fireflies have started their nightly fireworks displays. We expect them to be gone soon as well.

Speaking of Fireworks, we heard a couple of houses shooting some off in our area, but due to COVID-19 the town cancelled all of the real Canada Day celebrations, and instead had virtual stuff online.

So what’s a birder to do when the majority of birds have moved along?

It seems bugs and Butterflies are a reasonable distraction. Unfortunately, the really good ones are so damn hard to photograph because like the birds, they just don’t stay still very long.

So, how’s the heat treating you? We had a string of Heat Alerts here with the temperatures feeling up in the 40’s due to the humidity. Let’s just say it was STINKING HOT some days.

Went out a couple of nights ago to watch the moon rise over Big Creek. The mosquitoes were trying to have me for dinner but they didn’t like the stuff I sprayed on my body. They still whispered into my ears but I tried to ignore them.

One morning we were out for a short drive (best time to see wildlife is around sunrise and sunset), and my Lady spotted what we thought were deer in the field, but when we had a closer look, it was a pair of Sandhill Cranes dancing around. They would normally be gone north by now, so it was nice to see them here.

Other than that, there’s not a ton more to talk about, so all we can say is, stay safe, stay healthy, wear a mask, and we’ll all get through this.

Till next time.

Thank You COVID-19

So ends another inbound migration. This time not with a bang, but a whimper. Thank you COVID-19.

I was just about to put this post up, but Windows Update decided I need to do some reworking on my hard drive. So, finally after a few days of struggling, and moving my data to a different computer, here it is. I don’t think I can actually blame this one on COVID.

I guess you could say it was pretty quiet on the bird watching side this year. With Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh both closed, and nobody getting inside, all the birds that funneled through there must have enjoyed the peace and quiet.

We were still able to get out to Holiday Beach, but since all the facilities were closed, we only spent about 3 hours at a time there before we had to go home and get some lunch, and go to the washroom. We had to get to the park early enough, because it has a small parking lot and by 9:00 it was usually full.

There were also a couple of smaller areas that we checked out, but for the most part Holiday Beach was our favourite stomping grounds. Some days it became our favourite Sloshing grounds due to bad weather pushing the marsh waters right over some of the trails. Without high water boots, some areas were impassable.

One good thing though, without taking the few extra thousand photos, I have been able to keep up with the editing pretty well. Some of the highlights;

Lots of Yellow Warblers, a couple of Black and Whites, a Wilsons Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Grey Cheeked Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, Indigo Bunting, Palm Warblers, lots of Warbling Verios (I don’t recall any from last year), our friendly Woodcock poked about a few times, Scarlet Tanagers, Summer Tanagers, Magnolia Warblers, Northern Perula, Prothonotary Warblers, Nashville Warbler (hey, we didn’t see them when we went to Nashville!), different types of Sparrows. We even went to Hillman Marsh before it was closed off, and were lucky enough to find the Black Throated Stilt close to shore.

Blandings (endangered) and Painted Turtle

We expect the next couple of months to be fairly quiet bird-wise. Of course if anything really special shows up, you will hear about it.

Our Osprey nest is sitting empty again. One day we saw a few Osprey flying near the tower, and wondered if the babies had fledged, and it appears to be the case. Wow, kids grow up so fast don’t they?

Interestingly, our local Oriole couple have stopped eating the oranges and grape jelly that we have been leaving out for them, and are just stopping by once in a while to check out the hummingbird feeder. They aren’t even going to their own feeder, even though it’s the exact same sugar water from the same batch. We are surprised that they are even still around. Last year they were gone by now.

Funny thing, we were supposed to go to Iceland a couple years ago, but held off so that our son could come with us. This year, we were all set to spend 10 days in Iceland, beginning June 3. Guess what. Yup, cancelled. Better yet, let’s just say Postponed. I guess when we do get to go it’ll be the 3^rd times a charm trip. I really was hoping to get some Puffin photos. Ah well, thanks COVID-19.

How is your Honey-Do list coming along. Most of our neighbours have turned theirs into Honey-Done lists. Thankfully my Lady doesn’t set up big tasks for me to do, so we are able to spend a lot of our time enjoying each other as we go birding.

Been to Costco or Walmart lately? How was your line-up? Isn’t wearing a mask so much fun? How about going to parties with friends and family. That was a thing not too long ago, remember. It’s funny how we are all learning how far 6 feet is. Have you noticed that it’s a bit inconsistent – some stores say 1 shopping cart, others say 2 shopping carts, and some even have lines almost 10 feet apart, and staff telling you which checkout to go to. Social and Physical Distancing. Thanks COVID-19.

I wonder how many stores and businesses will keep the plexiglass partitions up after all this is over. I’m sure some of what we are seeing now will become the new norm. Wash your hands. Use sanitizers. Video Meetings. Working from home. Gloves, masks, face shields. Temperature checks entering Long Term Care or Health Care facilities.

Come to think of it, what will our Long Term Care facilities even be like, once the government brings in all the changes, whatever they will be. Will loved ones be able to get back inside and help look after their families? God that situation is so heartbreaking. Thanks COVID-19

Yup, so many things will change, but I guess the question is, will we?

Oops sorry, fell off the deep end there.

Anyway, it’s just about June, and shortly after that, summer and all the sunshine funshine. Enjoy yourselves, and if we ever get the go ahead to get together with family, give them all a big hug, but remember to stay safe, and stay healthy. If you feel sick, stay home.

Hey, just a thought, do you think the hospitals will be ready for the maternity wards to be filled starting in November or December? After all, if you have to stay home, you might as well have some fun, right?

Till next time.

Evicted?

We aren’t certain when or how it happened, but the Horned Owls are no longer occupying the Osprey nest. We stopped one morning to have a look at how the little ones were doing, and we were shocked to see the Ospreys enjoying their old home. All kinds of emotions ran through us; fear that the owlets were tossed over the side when mommy wasn’t there, and shock when we considered that maybe they were eaten! We were happy of course for the Osprey, seeing as how they seemed to be clueless as to how to build a new nest.

Cleaning up the nest after the squatters left

A few days later, we stopped again to check out the nest, and just as we were leaving, my lady noticed what looked like a plastic bag in a nearby tree. When we put our binoculars on it, we realized that it was one of the fledged owls! Big sigh of relief. After posting it to our local birding group, we learned that the owls actually come in early in order to use other bird’s nests, and then leave before the residents arrive (usually).

Point Pelee is closed. Hillman Marsh is closed. Provincial parks are closed. Fortunately for us, our local conservation area is still open for walking in, but there are no facilities available. The birds don’t care, they are coming in bit by bit. So far we’ve see the Yellow Warblers, Yellow Rumps, Black and White Warblers, Blue Grey Gnatcatchers, Flycatchers, Cowbirds, Catbirds, Herons and Egrets, a couple of Sandhill Cranes are hanging out nearby, a pair of Prothonetary Warblers are trying to get into the Tree Swallow nests, the hummingbird and Baltimore Oriole have returned to our backyard, and we have seen some Warbling Vireos around as well.

We had a pretty nice day late last week, we were over at our favourite spot, and met a couple of our birding friends who brought us some extra luck. We were able to see a few Summer Tanagers, a Female Scarlet Tanager, and even a Woodcock out in the daytime.

The weather is getting warmer, but we are all still under physical distancing restrictions. The area we live in is pretty close knit, so lately a few of us have been having “end of the driveway” meet ups. We sit around, at a safe distance, and shoot the breeze with each other. Such is the new normal I guess.

So, once again this is a short one and hopefully we can get this pandemic over with and return to some semblance of real life once more.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and we’ll talk again soon.

Till then.

No Paparazzi !

Welcome to all of my new readers, and thanks again for everyone who continues to follow our little escapades.

Point Pelee is closed, and as of May so is Hillman Marsh, effectively shutting down the local birding season for this year. The birds are coming in, and they are going to have the parks to themselves without all the paparazzi. This is just so sad. How are we going to know when the Cerulean Warbler comes in?

Fortunately a couple of conservation areas near to us are still open (for now) as long as people follow the distancing rules, so we can get out once in a while to check things out. Likely won’t get as many photos as last year, but hey, I can hope can’t I?

We have been keeping an eye on the Horned Owls squatting in the Osprey nest, and there are now 2 young fluffballs keeping their eyes on us. We were watching them one afternoon, and noticed an Osprey sitting in a tree a short distance away. As we waited, it took off and started circling around and rising up to the height of the tower, before finally doing a strafing run showing off its talons. As quickly as it started, it ended with the Osprey flying away right after.

On another day, we watched as the 3 original occupants flew in, and we got excited for some real action, but the same damn thing happened. What a letdown. Couldn’t even get all 3 Ospreys together.

Now 2 of the Osprey are thinking of setting up house on top of the light stand at a ballpark across the road from their old home. Sadly, for every 2 twigs they bring in, 1 falls down to the ground. At this rate, it will take a couple of years before they can bring up a family there.

The little ones are starting to come in now. We’ve seen Kinglets flitting gingerly in the trees, as well as an Eastern Towhee, Yellow Rump, Carolina Wren, a couple of Wood Ducks in the trees, Coopers Hawks building a nest, a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, as well as some of the bigger guys returning, such as Cormorants, Herons and Egrets.

Eagles have been plentiful this spring and we have a couple hanging out pretty close to our home.

As for the Astrophotography, it’s taking a little while to learn what part of the night sky to take photos of, and how to get worthwhile shots, so this time I have nothing new. Hopefully in the next couple of months I might be able to get some Milky Way shots, and maybe the Andromeda Galaxy.

Well, that’s all for now.

Till next time, just stay safe and healthy, and let’s get through these interesting times that we are currently cursed with, and look forward to brighter times soon.

Birds, Bees and Bugs

This year we were fortunate to be able to visit Point Pelee during the Festival of Birds, and we met up with our friends Damian and Doug who provided us with most of our identifications of the over 125 species that we spotted. Once again, I took far too many photos, and it is taking quite a while to go through them all and select the “best of the best”. Here are a few, but there will be a lot more to come in the near future.

Blue Grey Gnatcatcher
Catbird
Kingbird
Ovenbird
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Scarlet Tanager

Our Ruby Throated Hummingbird still visits our backyard feeder, and up until last week, the Baltimore Orioles were making sure we kept them fed as well. It looks like the Orioles have moved along now. And how’s this for something funny, during the inbound migration, I spent days trying to take a decent photo of a House Wren, but all they wanted to do was scurry around the leaf litter and undergrowth on the ground, and then fly away as soon as the camera would focus. I may have a good shot in there somewhere. Then a few weeks ago, I heard some sweet little “Whirreee – poop poop poop – peep peep” in the tree in the neighbour’s yard behind our fence. Then, as I watched, a House Wren popped down to the deck, found a little bit of fluff, grabbed it, and flew into a birdhouse that we put up on the fence. I was dancing with excitement. Not only was our birdhouse being occupied, IT WAS A HOUSE WREN! There have been a few ladies checking it out, but so far it doesn’t look like it met their standards. He is still in the tree, calling for the ladies, and occasionally tidying up the little love nest. Good luck to him.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird
House Wren calling for the ladies
House Wren fixing up the love nest

One little fella that we really don’t want hanging around, is a Carpenter Bee. At first I thought it was a Honeybee, so I left it alone, until I found some wood shavings under our steps, and saw the bee make its way into a hole under the stair. Did some quick reading up, and sure enough there is a difference in the Honeybee, and the Carpenter bee. Looks like I have to make the bee a little uncomfortable about moving in, but I might not be able to evict it until the fall.

When we came to Leamington a few years back during the Canada Day weekend we were introduced, rather rudely I might say, to the common Fish Fly. At night, they would fly in from the waters of Lake Erie, and buzz around anything that a) moved, b) didn’t move, c) was lit up, d) wasn’t lit up, e) breathed. We woke up in the morning and the hotel was covered in them. The cars were covered, the roads were covered, and the grass was alive with them. Millions upon Millions of them. And when you walk on them they crunch and emit the smell of rotting fish. Imagine the smell in town as people try to go about their business, driving over them, walking on them, cleaning them off the signs and buildings everywhere. Our neighbour told us when they lived in Belle River they had to use snow plows to get them off the street.

Well, this year isn’t too bad in Amherstburg. Sure, we have them, but nothing like Leamington a couple years ago.

On the other hand, we were in Kingsville (just west of Leamington) on Saturday and found some areas that were like a carpet of bugs.

These bugs are at the end-of-life stage, and the only thing they are interested in is mating. They swarm around looking to hook up, then go off to the nearest streetlamp, neon sign, light coloured car / house / building / person, to wait to die. They live for 24 – 72 hours, and don’t even eat. In fact, they don’t have a mouth, so other than being a nuisance, they won’t bite you.

After a couple of weeks, they will be gone, and we wait for it all to happen again next year.

Fish Fly
Fish Flies under streetlamp
Fish Flies on a hydrant
Carpet of Fish Flies beneath a streetlamp. Notice all the bugs in the grass as well

Welcome to Summer and Happy Canada Day.

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Thanks