May 21 I packed up the truck and headed out, stopping in Sudbury to do some yard work with my grandpa and then have supper and a night at my grandparents' house.
May 22 I headed out in the morning for Guelph, and made a stop at Carden Alvar near Orillia for some birding. Had an interesting hour there, adding three new birds to my Ontario list (Grasshopper Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, Loggerhead Shrike), and a few new birds to the year list such as Golden-winged Warbler and Sedge Wren. Then it was time to move on so I could make it to Guelph for supper.
May 23 I hung out in Guelph with my friends before departing to spend the night in Watford. It was a fairly uneventful drive, but I had some Common Nighthawks along the highway which was nice.
May 24 I did my first two plots, and managed to lose my cell phone in the dark on the first one. Luckily, it was right where I thought it would be, and I went back after finishing up the plot to get it. After that excitement I headed down to Rondeau via Erieau to check into my campsite and figure out the park layout.
May 25-27 I did my Rondeau plots, birded, went to the Blenheim sewage lagoons, and hung out on the beach, all the while failing to find internet anywhere. It was a fairly enjoyable few days, with good birds such as Acadian and Willow Flycatchers, Yellow-throated Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Red-headed Woodpecker, Kentucky and Prothonotary Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat and Whimbrel, and I also met many nice people, a special thanks to Bob and Sandra for feeding me dinner one night!
May 28-31 I did quite a few plots in Skunk's Misery, an area of Carolinian forest near Newbury. Turns out it was my misery as well, with many swamps and mosquitos combined with raspberry thickets. A few good birds were to be had though, including Cerulean, Blue-winged and Hooded Warblers, and Acadian Flycatcher. The upside was that the Strathroy public library is only a half-hour drive away, so I could have air-conditioning and internet every day. May 30 I drove up to Guelph as the Strathroy library was closed and I was in need of a shower and a visit with friends.
June 1-2 I did plots around Port Stanley, checked out the beach, and hung out at the St. Thomas library before heading back to Guelph for two nights with friends and then it was back home to try to catch up on sleep and food.
My trip list is below, followed by some pics from the two weeks. I'm currently back in the south for round 2 of plots, so I'll make another (shorter) post upon my return!
Bold = year bird, * = Ontario bird, ** = Canada bird, *** = lifer
Canada Goose - many
Mute Swan - 2
Wood Duck - 100+ (incl. 50 at the bruce mines lagoons on the way down)
Gadwall - 10+
American Wigeon - 1
American Black Duck - 2
Mallard - many
Blue-winged Teal - 15+
Northern Shoveler - 3
Green-winged Teal - 10+
Ring-necked Duck - 2
Lesser Scaup - 3
Common Goldeneye - 2
Hooded Merganser - 1
Common Merganser - 10+
Red-breasted Merganser - 20+
Ruddy Duck - 9
Wild Turkey - 100+
Common Loon - 20+
Pied-billed Grebe - 10+
Double-crested Cormorant - 500+
American Bittern - 10+
Great Blue Heron - 100+
Great Egret - 2
Turkey Vulture - 300+
Osprey - 15+
Bald Eagle - 10+
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 5+
Broad-winged Hawk - 10+
Red-tailed Hawk - 100+
American Kestrel - 50+
Merlin - 10+
Virginia Rail - 2
American Coot - 10+
Sandhill Crane - 5+
Black-bellied Plover - 300+
Killdeer - 100+
Spotted Sandpiper - 30+
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Whimbrel - 10
Ruddy Turnstone* - 15+
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 10+
Least Sandpiper - 3
Dunlin - 3
Wilson's Snipe - 5+
American Woodcock - 10+
Wilson's Phalarope* - 1 very pale male unfortunately
Bonaparte's Gull - 20+
Ring-billed Gull - many
Herring Gull - many
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Great Black-backed Gull - 30+
Caspian Tern - 10+
Black Tern - 5+
Common Tern - 5+
Forster's Tern - 5+
Rock Pigeon - many
Mourning Dove - many
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 5+
Black-billed Cuckoo - 2
Eastern Screech-Owl - 3
Common Nighthawk - 15+
Whip-poor-will - 2
Chimney Swift - 100+
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 20+
Belted Kingfisher - 20+
Red-headed Woodpecker** - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 50+
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 10+
Downy Woodpecker - 100+
Hairy Woodpecker - 60+
Northern Flicker - 100+
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 60+
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 20+
Acadian Flycatcher** - 5+
Alder Flycatcher - 30+
Willow Flycatcher* - 50+
Least Flycatcher - 15+
Eastern Phoebe - 20+
Great Crested Flycatcher - 100+
Eastern Kingbird - 100+
Loggerhead Shrike* - 1
Yellow-throated Vireo - 6
Warbling Vireo - 40+
Philadelphia Vireo - 2
Red-eyed Vireo - 250+
Blue Jay - 500+
American Crow - many
Common Raven - many, some down in the south too
Horned Lark - 50+
Purple Martin - 150+
Tree Swallow - 500+
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 100+
Bank Swallow - 500+
Cliff Swallow - 100+
Barn Swallow - 250+
Black-capped Chickadee - many
Tufted Titmouse - 10+
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 10+
White-breasted Nuthatch - 50+
Brown Creeper - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 50+
Sedge Wren - 2
Marsh Wren - 10+
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 50+
Eastern Bluebird - 30+
Veery - 100+
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 30+
Hermit Thrush - 2
Wood Thrush - 100+
American Robin - many
Gray Catbird - 150+
Brown Thrasher - 50+
European Starling - many
American Pipit - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 250+
Blue-winged Warbler - 1
Golden-winged Warbler - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 10+
Nashville Warbler - 20+
Northern Parula - 5+
Yellow Warbler - 1000+
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 100+
Magnolia Warbler - 50+
Cape May Warbler - 5+
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 10+
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 30+
Black-throated Green Warbler - 50+
Blackburnian Warbler - 20+
Pine Warbler - 10+
Blackpoll Warbler - 20+
Cerulean Warbler** - 6
Black-and-white Warbler - 100+
American Redstart - 500+
Prothonotary Warbler** - 2
Ovenbird - 200+
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Kentucky Warbler*** - 1
Mourning Warbler - 30+
Common Yellowthroat - 300+
Hooded Warbler - 5+
Wilson's Warbler - 2
Canada Warbler - 5+
Yellow-breasted Chat - 1
Scarlet Tanager - 100+
Eastern Towhee - 50+
Chipping Sparrow - 500+
Clay-colored Sparrow - 50+
Field Sparrow - 100+
Vesper Sparrow - 10+
Savannah Sparrow - 500+
Grasshopper Sparrow* - 10+
Song Sparrow - 500+
Swamp Sparrow - 100+
White-throated Sparrow - 10+
Northern Cardinal - 250+
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 100+
Indigo Bunting - 250+
Bobolink - 100+
Red-winged Blackbird - many
Eastern Meadowlark - 50+
Brewer's Blackbird - 10+
Common Grackle - many
Brown-headed Cowbird - 500+
Orchard Oriole - 5+
Baltimore Oriole - 250+
Purple Finch - 2
House Finch - 100+
Pine Siskin - 10+
American Goldfinch - 1000+
House Sparrow - 1000+
Mute Swan - 2
Wood Duck - 100+ (incl. 50 at the bruce mines lagoons on the way down)
Gadwall - 10+
American Wigeon - 1
American Black Duck - 2
Mallard - many
Blue-winged Teal - 15+
Northern Shoveler - 3
Green-winged Teal - 10+
Ring-necked Duck - 2
Lesser Scaup - 3
Common Goldeneye - 2
Hooded Merganser - 1
Common Merganser - 10+
Red-breasted Merganser - 20+
Ruddy Duck - 9
Wild Turkey - 100+
Common Loon - 20+
Pied-billed Grebe - 10+
Double-crested Cormorant - 500+
American Bittern - 10+
Great Blue Heron - 100+
Great Egret - 2
Turkey Vulture - 300+
Osprey - 15+
Bald Eagle - 10+
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 5+
Broad-winged Hawk - 10+
Red-tailed Hawk - 100+
American Kestrel - 50+
Merlin - 10+
Virginia Rail - 2
American Coot - 10+
Sandhill Crane - 5+
Black-bellied Plover - 300+
Killdeer - 100+
Spotted Sandpiper - 30+
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Whimbrel - 10
Ruddy Turnstone* - 15+
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 10+
Least Sandpiper - 3
Dunlin - 3
Wilson's Snipe - 5+
American Woodcock - 10+
Wilson's Phalarope* - 1 very pale male unfortunately
Bonaparte's Gull - 20+
Ring-billed Gull - many
Herring Gull - many
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Great Black-backed Gull - 30+
Caspian Tern - 10+
Black Tern - 5+
Common Tern - 5+
Forster's Tern - 5+
Rock Pigeon - many
Mourning Dove - many
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 5+
Black-billed Cuckoo - 2
Eastern Screech-Owl - 3
Common Nighthawk - 15+
Whip-poor-will - 2
Chimney Swift - 100+
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 20+
Belted Kingfisher - 20+
Red-headed Woodpecker** - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 50+
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 10+
Downy Woodpecker - 100+
Hairy Woodpecker - 60+
Northern Flicker - 100+
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 60+
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 20+
Acadian Flycatcher** - 5+
Alder Flycatcher - 30+
Willow Flycatcher* - 50+
Least Flycatcher - 15+
Eastern Phoebe - 20+
Great Crested Flycatcher - 100+
Eastern Kingbird - 100+
Loggerhead Shrike* - 1
Yellow-throated Vireo - 6
Warbling Vireo - 40+
Philadelphia Vireo - 2
Red-eyed Vireo - 250+
Blue Jay - 500+
American Crow - many
Common Raven - many, some down in the south too
Horned Lark - 50+
Purple Martin - 150+
Tree Swallow - 500+
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 100+
Bank Swallow - 500+
Cliff Swallow - 100+
Barn Swallow - 250+
Black-capped Chickadee - many
Tufted Titmouse - 10+
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 10+
White-breasted Nuthatch - 50+
Brown Creeper - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 50+
Sedge Wren - 2
Marsh Wren - 10+
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 50+
Eastern Bluebird - 30+
Veery - 100+
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 30+
Hermit Thrush - 2
Wood Thrush - 100+
American Robin - many
Gray Catbird - 150+
Brown Thrasher - 50+
European Starling - many
American Pipit - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 250+
Blue-winged Warbler - 1
Golden-winged Warbler - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 10+
Nashville Warbler - 20+
Northern Parula - 5+
Yellow Warbler - 1000+
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 100+
Magnolia Warbler - 50+
Cape May Warbler - 5+
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 10+
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 30+
Black-throated Green Warbler - 50+
Blackburnian Warbler - 20+
Pine Warbler - 10+
Blackpoll Warbler - 20+
Cerulean Warbler** - 6
Black-and-white Warbler - 100+
American Redstart - 500+
Prothonotary Warbler** - 2
Ovenbird - 200+
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Kentucky Warbler*** - 1
Mourning Warbler - 30+
Common Yellowthroat - 300+
Hooded Warbler - 5+
Wilson's Warbler - 2
Canada Warbler - 5+
Yellow-breasted Chat - 1
Scarlet Tanager - 100+
Eastern Towhee - 50+
Chipping Sparrow - 500+
Clay-colored Sparrow - 50+
Field Sparrow - 100+
Vesper Sparrow - 10+
Savannah Sparrow - 500+
Grasshopper Sparrow* - 10+
Song Sparrow - 500+
Swamp Sparrow - 100+
White-throated Sparrow - 10+
Northern Cardinal - 250+
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 100+
Indigo Bunting - 250+
Bobolink - 100+
Red-winged Blackbird - many
Eastern Meadowlark - 50+
Brewer's Blackbird - 10+
Common Grackle - many
Brown-headed Cowbird - 500+
Orchard Oriole - 5+
Baltimore Oriole - 250+
Purple Finch - 2
House Finch - 100+
Pine Siskin - 10+
American Goldfinch - 1000+
House Sparrow - 1000+
Number of Species: 176
Blue-winged Teal at Carden Alvar
An Eastern Kingbird that perched right beside the road
Tree Swallow
The Bobolinks never came very close
Purple Martins in Erieau
Eastern Wood-Pewee at Rondeau
A Mourning Warbler that came right in at the Visitor Centre
Northern Cardinal in my campsite
A baby Grackle in the campsite across from mine
Mourning Dove on the campground road
Baltimore Oriole picking bugs in the campground
A chipmunk hoping for food
House Wren on South Point trail
A Red-headed Woodpecker family on South Point trail
Killdeer at South Point
Spotted Sandpiper
Driftwood at South Point
Northern Shoveler at the Blenheim Lagoons
Part of a flight that included 300+ Black-bellied Plovers and some Ruddy Turnstones at the Blenheim Lagoons - these were the only ones that stopped in
I made a small puddle in a dusty parking lot at Rondeau and these were the results:
Yellow Warbler
Orchard Oriole
Barn Swallows gathering nesting material
Yellow Warblers
I didn't have a wide-angle lens with me, so this is a composite of my campsite (92MP original resolution!)
A raccoon with an injured paw in Rondeau
The Yellow-throated Vireo nest I found near my campsite - turns out it's the first confirmed nesting record for Rondeau!
Yellow-throated Vireos
Willow Flycatcher in Rondeau
Afternoon at the Blenheim Lagoons - this is in the back of the truck with the vents open!
Ebony Jewelwing in Strathroy
If you've seen the movie "300", you'll understand
A mural in Port Stanley
Semipalmated Sandpipers, Dunlin, and an unID'd shorebird in Port Stanley
The Dunlin was still there the next day
Caspian Tern
Some of the many Bank Swallows on the beach
Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2nd summer
An interesting shot I got out of the truck window at 90km/h without looking!
Field Sparrow near Port Rowan (was looking for a Lark Sparrow without luck)
Pileated Woodpecker
Vesper Sparrow
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