Chestnut-Sided Warbler, Point Pelee © J.Lees                        The Pelee Marsh Boardwalk © J.Lees

Next I spent some time at the Pelee Marsh. This splendid marsh was covered in singing Red-winged Blackbirds. I estimated about 1400 and most of the birds were singing. It really was a natural spectacle; the noise of all these birds was amazing. I also had great views of at least 20 North American Black Terns both in flight and on their nests. Also at the marsh: an Osprey, 600 Common Grackles, eight Greater Scaup, 15 Wood Ducks, eight Ruddy Ducks, eight American Coots and three Common Yellowthroats. I also had a good look at a huge Bull Frog sat on the edge of the marsh.

On the way to my accommodation, a flock of 200 Horned Larks flew over the road and landed in an onion field. I pulled over and to my surprise found a group of shorebirds also stood in the field. There were 32 Black-bellied (Grey) Plovers, 13 Short-billed Dowitchers, 20 Least Sandpipers, 160 Dunlins, 15 Ruddy Turnstones, eight Killdeers and two Semi-palmated Plovers and they were all in summer plumage.

May 17th 2006 - Point Pelee National Park

Weather - Sunny with a North wind

I chose not to take the first train to the point but to go around the Woodland Trail early. Although generally quiet compared with previous days, I did have great views of a singing male Canada Warbler and a Lincoln's Sparrow. It seemed a lot of migrants had moved on in the clear weather. Totals from the Woodland Trail: a Blue-winged Warbler, two Tennessee Warblers, a Nashville Warbler, 180 Yellow Warblers, four Magnolia Warblers, a Cape May Warbler, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, four Black-throated Green Warblers, five Myrtle Warblers, a Blackburnian Warbler, a Blackpoll Warbler, a Black-and-white Warbler, three Scarlet Tanagers, four Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, 16 Orchard Orioles, 70 Baltimore Orioles, seven Gray Catbirds, eight Warbling Vireos, three Red-eyed Vireos, three Eastern Towhees, two White-crowned Sparrows, two White-throated Sparrows, two Indigo Buntings, six Eastern Kingbirds, a Least Flycatcher, a Carolina Wren, a House Wren, a Swainson's Thrush, a Wood Thrush, ten Cedar Waxwings, four Blue Jays, two American Crows, a Northern Flicker and a Downy Woodpecker.

Blackburnian Warbler, Point Pelee © J.Lees

Then I jumped on a train and headed out to the tip, and again migrant numbers were low. But I was very pleased to see a third summer Laughing Gull sat on the tip with a few Bonaparte's Gulls and hundreds of Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls.

Laughing Gull, Point Pelee © J.Lees

Laughing Gull is a rare visitor to Ontario so it was really nice to see this one. Also, a Sanderling made a brief visit and small groups of Forster's and Common Terns fed off the point with a single Caspian Tern.

May 17th 2006 - Anglers Lane, Marsh St. Clair's Lake

Weather - Sunny and very warm

I decided to leave Pelee and head to the Southern end of Lake St Clairs for the afternoon in search of some more southern birds.

Anglers Lane, Marsh St Clairs Lake © J.Lees

I began scanning the marsh and of course found lots of Red-winged Blackbirds sitting up high singing away. Then I found what I came for - a very handsome male Yellow-headed Blackbird also up and singing. I then had a very close view of a Least Bittern as this tiny little bird flew low over the mash.

I managed to see a few new species for the trip list. These included: two Green Herons, three Common Moorhens, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Solitary Sandpiper, three Marsh Wrens, three Swamp Sparrows and a Cliff Swallow. Animals were also out and about with good views of Woodchuck, Raccoon, two Muskrats, 60 Painted Turtles, a Garter Snake and a Black Swallowtail butterfly.

Back on the bird front, I ended up seeing ten Yellow-headed Blackbirds (very rare breeder in Ontario), four Great Blue Herons, six American Coots, 250 Black-bellied Plovers, 300 Dunlins, four Killdeers, 100 Forster's Terns, an Eastern Kingbird, six Bank Swallows, 40 Barn Swallows, six Purple Martins, three Yellow Warblers, eight Common Yellowthroats, a Song Sparrow, a White-crowned Sparrow, 150 Red-winged Blackbirds and 60 Common Grackles.

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Anglers Lane Marsh © J.Lees

May 17th 2006 - Hillmans Marsh, Near Point Pelee

Weather – Warm and sunny turning to rain

I was greeted at Hillmans Marsh by an adult Bald Eagle sitting up high in a tree looking over the marsh. On the marsh I found two Greater Yellowlegs, five Lesser Yellowlegs, 170 Dunlins, seven Least Sandpipers, four Killdeers, 125 Black-bellied Plovers, seven Short-billed Dowitchers, eight Ruddy Turnstones, five Blue-winged Teals, 11 Great Egrets, two Great Blue Herons, 20 Tree Swallows, six Purple Martins and a single Pheasant rounded off the day.

Tree Swallow, Hillmans Marsh© J.Lees

May 18th 2006 - Rondeau National Park

Weather - Rain and very windy, turning hot and sunny with light winds

Today, I sadly left Point Pelee behind and began to head north. I passed the onion field on the way that had held many shorebirds a few days earlier. There were only 14 Horned Larks this time but seven American Pipits and a single Semi-palmated Sandpiper were both new for the trip list. Also a Solitary Sandpiper, 46 cracking plumaged Short-billed Dowitchers, 600 Dunlins, ten Least Sandpipers, 25 Ruddy Turnstones and 80 Black-bellied Plovers.

I then followed the coast road from Pelee all the way to Rondeau National Park. On route I added Peregrine to the trip list. Rondeau National Park, like Pelee, is a sand spit jutting out into Lake Erie. Rondeau also boasts the second largest Caledonian Forest in the whole of Canada.

On arrival at the national park, the weather had greatly improved and had become warm and sunny. I had only planned to stay at Rondeau a couple of hours so decided to walk the Tulip Trail. This fantastic wet woodland was full of life and it didn't take too long before I found a male Prothonotary Warbler (which is endangered) singing and constantly coming down to the water to admire his beautiful plumage. The wood also held an Ovenbird, three Black-throated Blue Warblers, two Black-throated Green Warblers, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, four Magnolia Warblers, two Blackburnian Warblers, 80 Yellow Warblers, a Wood Thrush, two Hermit Thrushes, four Gray Catbirds, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, two Scarlet Tanagers, 50 Baltimore Orioles, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and three House Wrens.

The feeders at the rear of the Visitor Centre provided me with excellent views of the following, three Red-headed Woodpeckers, two Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Northern Flicker, seven Downy Woodpeckers, a Hairy Woodpecker, 20 Baltimore Orioles, two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, two American Goldfinches, 40 Chipping Sparrows, two White-throated Sparrows and on the mammal front an Eastern Cottontail and ten Eastern Chipmunks.

Caledonian Forest at Rondeau National Park© J.Lees

Prothonotary Warbler, Rondeau National Park© J.Lees

May 19th 2006 - Lakeshore Park, Burlington

Weather - Cloudy with sunny breaks

I made an early visit to Lakeshore Park in Burlington which is a small park on the edge of Lake Ontario. Floating close inshore off the park was a flock of 44 Red-necked Grebes and three Horned Grebes - both species in full breeding plumage. In addition to the Grebes I added a Common Loon and three Red-breasted Mergansers to the trip list. The rest of the park was quiet with two Eastern Kingbirds, four Gray Catbirds, a Downy Woodpecker, 15 Yellow Warblers, a Chestnut-Sided Warbler and a single Nashville Warbler.

May 19th 2006 - Canada Centre for Inland Water, Burlington

Weather - Sunny

Next I called in at Canada Centre for Inland Water which is based in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario. Here there are four large man-made islands that are now home to thousands of breeding birds. For me the most exciting breeder is the Caspian Tern. These massive terns have always captivated me and this colony is truly fascinating. Around 950 adult Caspian Terns nest in full and quite close view of the land. These very busy and noisy terns really are great to watch.

Caspian Terns, Hamilton Harbour © J.Lees

The terns are out numbered by the even louder colony of 10,000 Ring-billed Gulls. Also, at least 70 Common Terns, 400 Double-crested Cormorants and 50 Black-Crowned Night Herons breed here. I managed to add a Redhead, an American Black Duck and two American Kestrels to the trip list. On the way back, I called in at Dundas Canal and added two Spotted Sandpipers, three Hooded Mergansers and ten Turkey Vultures.

May 20th 2006 - Backus Woods, near Long Point

Weather - Sunny

Backus Woods is situated a few miles inland from Long Point, Lake Erie. This wood lot is owned and managed by Long Point Bird Observatory. It's a typical, huge, damp Canadian woodland. Bird of the morning went to a singing male Louisiana Waterthrush deep in the wood that showed well for a short period. I also got see an Alder Flycatcher and at least three singing male Cerulean Warblers though they were quite high in the tree tops. Also in Backus Woods I added the first Pine Warbler of the trip, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, two Black-throated Green Warblers, a Blue-winged Warbler, a Common Yellowthroat, two Scarlet Tanagers, three Baltimore Orioles, four Rose-breasted Grosbeak, two Indigo Buntings, 14 Red-eyed Vireos, two Black-billed Cuckoos, two Wood Thrushes, two Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Broad-winged Hawk and four Turkey Vultures.

I also spent some time turning over fallen logs on the woodland floor looking for salamanders. I managed to find one corking Blue-spotted Salamander, a Red-backed Salamander and two Lead-backed Salamanders.

Blue-spotted Salamander, Backus Wood © J.Lees

May 20th 2006 - Long Point

Weather - sunny but quite windy

Long Point is one of the best migration spots in the whole of North America. Unfortunately, most of Long Point is privately owned and not accessible to the public. Old Cut is open to the public and you are very welcome to walk around the world famous Bird Observatory garden, even when they are mist netting. It was now early afternoon and I didn't expect to see very much but to my delight there had been a fall of migrants. I spent the afternoon birding around the Observatory garden and was rewarded with some cripplingly close views of many migrants.

My afternoon totals were an Orange-crowned Warbler, a Mourning Warbler, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, 140 Black-throated Green Warblers, two Palm Warblers, two American Redstarts, two Ovenbirds, a Northern Parula, three Wilson's Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, 30 Yellow Warblers, four Chestnut-sided Warblers, 180 Magnolia Warblers, ten Cape May Warblers, 80 Myrtle Warblers, 30 Blackburnian Warblers, 14 Bay-breasted Warblers, a Blackpoll Warbler, three Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Swainson's Thrush, three Scarlet Tanagers, three Lincoln's Sparrows, four White-throated Sparrows, four Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, three Baltimore Orioles, ten American Goldfinches, a Marsh Wren, two Red-eyed Vireos, three Blue-headed Vireos, two Willow Flycatchers, 20 Purple Martins, 300 Bank Swallows, 150 Tree Swallows, a Rough-winged Swallow, 200 Barn Swallows, ten Blue Jays, three Least Sandpipers, a Dunlin, a Merlin, ten Turkey Vultures and three Ruby- throated Hummingbirds.

Bay-breasted Warbler, Long Point © J.Lees

May 23rd 2006 - Long Point

Weather - Sunny light NW wind

After birding around my wife's hometown for a few days I decided to return to Long Point. On route I had a very good view of a Wild Turkey feeding on the roadside. This time I arrived early morning and birded around Long Point Provincial Park. There was a very good mix of birds around with Northern Parula and Cape May Warblers both in good numbers.

My totals for the morning were as follows, a Tennessee Warbler, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, two Black-throated Green Warblers, three Palm Warblers, 90 Yellow Warblers, seven American Redstarts, two Ovenbirds, a Northern Parula, three Wilson's Warblers, three Common Yellowthroats, 12 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 60 Magnolia Warblers, a Mourning Warbler, 35 Cape May Warblers, 110 Myrtle Warblers, 16 Blackburnian Warblers, ten Bay-breasted Warblers, a Blackpoll Warbler, seven Black-and-white Warblers, three Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 11 Swainson's Thrushes, four Veerys, 15 Gray Catbirds, two Brown Thrashers, an Eastern Bluebird, three Scarlet Tanagers, ten Song Sparrows, 18 Chipping Sparrows, three Lincoln's Sparrows, 120 White-throated Sparrows, 30 White-crowned Sparrows, four Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Orchard Oriole, 28 Baltimore Oriole, a Philadelphia Vireo, two Red-eyed Vireos, three Warbling Vireos, two Eastern Kingbirds, 50 Purple Martins, 40 Rough-winged Swallows, two Cliff Swallow, three Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, four Black-billed Cuckoos, four Red-breasted Nuthatches, ten Chimney Swifts, six American Black Terns, two Killdeer pairs with three young and a male Northern Harrier.

Northern Parula, Long Point © J.Lees

On my way to Townsend I stopped off in some farmland and added Vesper Sparrow to my world list and also noted four Song Sparrows and a Savannah Sparrow.

May 23rd 2006 - Townsend Sewage Lagoons

Weather - Sunny light NW wind

Townsend is a very small town just north of Long Point but has a very good set of sewage lagoons. The lagoons attract a good number of shorebirds (waders); the bulk was made up of around 200 Least Sandpipers and 300 Dunlins. Whilst scanning through the shorebirds I found a breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper. Having lived in Ontario I knew this was quite a rare bird so I quickly rang the news out. Within an hour lots of birders arrived to see this bird and several hundred people twitched the bird over the next two days. I asked one local how rare it was and he replied "it would be like finding a Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Slimbridge" which is quite funny now. I also saw four Semi-palmated Sandpipers, nine Short-billed Dowitchers, three Lesser Yellowlegs, 11 Spotted Sandpipers, a Blue-winged Teal and 30 Purple Martins.

Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Townsend Sewage Lagoons © J.Lees

May 24th-29th 2006 - Dundas area

Weather - Sunny and very hot

The last few days of the trip I stayed fairly local, birding around Dundas, Hamilton and Ancaster. Having spent the first week out birding all day I spent the second week birding mornings and spending time with the family the rest of the day. A few more species were added to the trip list with a showy Virginia Rail at Beverley Swamp and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at Dundas Conservation Area. A couple of hours in Stoney Creek produced a Northern Mockingbird, a Short-eared Owl, an Eastern Meadowlark, a Field Sparrow, a Bobolink, a Wilson's Snipe and a Green Heron.

I also saw the following species most days around Dundas: Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Trumpeter Swan, Black Duck, Mallard, Wood Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Mourning Dove, Black-billed Cuckoo, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Marsh Wren, American Robin, European Starling, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Veery, Wood Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Clay-colored Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

Common Nighthawk, Dundas Marsh, © J.Lees

A late afternoon/evening visit to Coot's Paradise near Dundas was excellent with up to 14 Common Nighthawks that showed very well hawking over the marsh and a late Tundra Swan. I also saw White-tailed Deer, Fox Squirrel, Black Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, Beaver, Eastern Chipmunks, Raccoons, American Tree Frog, Green Frog, Leopard Frog, American Toad, Garter Snake, Northern Water Snake, Painted Turtles, Monarch, Eastern Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail.

JAMES LEES