Hello Ontbirders. The Rondeau Provincial Park spring birding program will run from Saturday May 1 through to Victoria Day. There will be daily Bird Hikes and a Birders' Breakfast.
A cooperative Hooded Warbler was seen by many observers on Tulip Tree Trail, immediately adjacent to the Visitor Centre. This male sang persistently. Potential breeding hopes were raised by the presence of a female in the vicinity. The news of a House Wren carrying nesting material into a Prothonotary Warbler nest box was greeted with considerably less enthusiasm! Also observed on Tulip Tree Trail was a Blue-winged Warbler. In the good-bird not-a-warbler category, a Summer Tanager was sighted there. At the Maintenance Loop, a Blackburnian Warbler tested the limits of our upper hearing registers. Visitors to South Point Trail saw a Sandhill Crane. Shorebirds are challenging to find within the park boundaries - so reports of 4 Black-bellied Plovers on the beach and a Solitary Sandpiper at the main dock were most welcome. As posted by Irene Woods, there was an excellent selection of shorebirds at the nearby Blenheim Sewage Lagoons yesterday. Highlights include 7 Wilson's Phalaropes, 4 Marbled Godwits, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers, 3 Ruddy Turnstones, 300+ Dunlin, and 15+ Lesser Yellowlegs. Also present were Solitary, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover and Greater Yellowlegs. Observers at noon hour today reported far fewer birds, after a visit by a Peregrine Falcon. Our afternoon bird hike will visit the lagoons tomorrow, May 5, at 1:00 pm. Close by, the Cattle Egret was reported up to Monday evening at the intersection of Erieau Road and Bisnett Road. We have no further information on this bird for today. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Bird Hike schedule has been changed slightly from last year. I will lead a guided hike twice daily from Saturday May 1 to Monday May 24, inclusive (fee $5), as follows: Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Thursday at 7:30 am and 1:00 pm Tuesday and Friday at 7:30 am and 7:00 pm; Wednesday at 7:30 am. All of the 7:30 am and 1:00 pm hikes listed above will meet at the Visitor Centre. The 7:00 pm hikes will meet at the entrance to the Marsh Trail. A second hike on Wednesday at 1:00 pm will meet at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. New for this year, permits for the Sewage Lagoons will be available from the Rondeau Visitor Centre The Friends of Rondeau will provide a Birders' Breakfast for a small donation (coffee, tea, bagels, soups and treats) daily from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Visitor Centre. There will also be a special new program on Saturday May 15, at 7:00 pm. This evening presentation will focus on spring migration at Rondeau. Tickets are available from the Visitor Centre. Please note that there will be no bird hike at 1:00 pm on this day - Saturday May 15. The birding competition is 24 consecutive hours during the weekend of May 7th-9th. For details on this bird-a-thon, contact the Visitor Centre. More information on the park's nature programs and the Friends of Rondeau is available at the Friends' website: www.rondeauprovincialpark.ca. Directions for park: Take exit 101 from Highway 401 and drive South 16 km on Chatham Kent Road 15. Turn right and follow the signs to the park. The Bird Sightings Book, Bird Sightings Board and other relevant information are located at the Visitor Centre (open 7:00 am to 5:00 pm from May 1 - 24. To reach the Visitor Centre from the park Gate, travel 6 km South on Rondeau Road to Gardiner Ave., then follow it around the bend to the parking lot. Directions for Sewage Lagoons (courtesy of Irene Woods): Blenheim is on #3 H [Talbot Rd]. in Chatham-Kent. Take # 3 H West out of Blenheim, about 1 km. You will see a car wash at the corner of Lagoon Rd., turn right [ North]. Go about 1/2 km. and you will see a small locked gate [ see below]. Enter at this gate only. Please park on the lagoon side of the road--only. Permit required (available from Rondeau Visitor Centre, etc.) Steve LaForest Friends of Rondeau Bird Guide c/o Rondeau Visitor Centre (519) 674-1768 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
