Migrants nesting at Point Pelee Park
Point Pelee National Park’s excellent Festival of Birds “went out with a bang” with 20 species of warblers reported in the early hours of Monday morning.
The songbirds on their way through Pelee to the boreal forests and the shorebirds touching down to rest and refuel at Hillman Marsh on their way to their arctic breeding grounds draw in birding enthusiasts from around the continent.
But the birding doesn’t stop now.
Late migrants such as Blackpoll and Wilson’s warblers can still be seen and Pelee boasts a range of breeding species. These are birds that migrate north but are content to nest in the park. Birders couldn’t ignore this at the tip of the park where dozens of barn swallows industriously built nests with mouthfuls of mud and grass.
As I hiked around Pelee’s Woodland trail, prothonotary warblers were busy at nest boxes, American redstarts were making nests, and wood ducks were scouting nesting trees. I even saw tree swallows moving in on one of the prothonotary boxes. Back at the visitor centre I chatted with park naturalist Jem Najm about these nesting birds.
Najm said earlier this year Jody Allair of Bird Studies Canada had installed new and improved prothonotary nest boxes. These have slightly different dimensions, they look more natural, they are somewhat more sheltered, and they are a bit higher over the water so there is less competition from other cavity nesting species such as tree swallows and house wrens.
I also inquired about the impact of the fire that had occurred in March on the marsh at the north end of the park. The 125 ha where the big burn had occurred was obvious but it had been covered with fresh green growth. Although the flames came right up to the edge of part of the boardwalk, there was no damage to the infrastructure. A burn can even rejuvenate some habitats.
The marsh boardwalk is the most popular spot for visitors. It is a pleasant loop that will yield good views of nesting black terns, yellowthroats, swamp sparrows, marsh wrens, and other species through the summer. You can also rent a canoe here.
The parks has plans for a sesquicentennial celebration on July 1 with birthday cake and a familyfriendly scavenger hunt.
Even if you’re not at the park for Canada Day, summer is a tremendous time to visit. Programming ranges from photography to butterflies and the night sky. And apart from the always interesting birds, other fauna, flora, and habitats, admittance to Pelee and all other national parks is free through this year.
Nature notes
of the public to join in a free guided birding hike Wednesday along the Thames Valley Trail north of London. Meet the leader at 6:30 p.m. north of Thorndale on Plover Mills Rd. east of Valleyview Rd. near the bridge. For details, check naturelondon.com.
Festival of the Short Story, Kyo Maclear, author of Birds Art Life, will be co-leading a birding hike along the Maitland Trail near Goderich at 8 a.m. June 4 . Maclear’s very personal book, punctuated with bird watching stories, was published earlier this year. She will also be reading as part of the festival. For tickets and details, visit alicemunrofestival.ca.
banding of the one millionth bird at Long Point Bird Observatory on their Twitter account. Check out @LongPointBirdOb and #onemillionbirds. The LPBO, which is the oldest bird observatory in the western hemisphere, has been banding birds since 1960. Bird Studies Canada sprang out of the LPBO in 1998.
Day” in mid-May, I was fortunate to catch up with Jeremy Bensette, a Pelee-based professional birder. He pointed out several species for my list and also described progress that he had made on his Ontario-wide Big Year. He has already notched 285 species in 2017. The current record of 344 Ontario species in a year was established by Josh Vandermeulen in 2012.