Good afternoon all, It's been a slow few days here in the park, with the dominant northerly winds and cool temperatures. The good news is that the trees are still not fully leafed out in the park, especially in the southern end. The not so good news is that migration has been pretty slow.
Windy conditions at the Tip this morning, made for few songbird sightings. However, the west side of the park has been great for waterfowl, with many species very close to the shore. There continues to be a large group of Surf Scoters in the area, with a few Black Scoters mixed and a couple White-winged. Common Loon were also seen close to shore this morning. A Merlin also buzzed by this location. A lone Harlequin Duck (female) was spotted at Northwest Beach flying south. It looked like it landed in the water off Black Willow Beach. Caspian Tern was also reported from Northwest Beach this morning. A lone Northern Waterthrush was noted from the Woodland Nature Trail this morning. Veery, Rusty Blackbirds and Purple Finch were all found in Tilden's Woods. Red-headed Woodpeckers (2) were found at Blue Heron this morning and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker put on a good show around the Visitor Centre. One of the best surprises of the day was a Killdeer nest with young birds already (the Friends of Point Pelee Facebook page will have video footage of the birds posted later today or tomorrow). Reports from this afternoon have suggested that there are quite a few birds concentrating in the north end of the park. There were large groups of Yellow-rumped Warblers noted, along with six other species of warbler, Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireo. There have been no reports of the Common Raven today. We're looking forward to some southerly air flow this week - and new migrants! Good Birding, Sarah Sarah Rupert Interpretation Coordinator | Coordinatrice d'interprétation Parks Canada Agency | Agence Parcs Canada Point Pelee National Park | Parc national de la Pointe-Pelée 407 Monarch Lane, Leamington ON N8H 3V4 | 407 rue Monarch, Leamington ON N8H 3V4 [email protected] Telephone | Téléphone 519.322.5700 ext | poste 3323 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada The War of 1812: A Time to Discover | La guerre de 1812 – Une époque à découvrir www.pc.gc.ca _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
