Long Point fall birding rich in variety

Birding in the Long Point area during fall migration bears much fruit. After all, 400 species of birds have been recorded in the area. There is a wonderful diversity of habitats as well.

Heading south on Hwy. 59 onto Long Point, I will usually pull off at the viewing platform at the Big Creek National Conservation Area. Scanning this area, you should see some herons, ducks and raptors. Last weekend I saw great blues, a black-crowned night-heron, and Sandhill cranes. A Northern harrier flew in the distance, a bald eagle flapped by, and migrating sharp-shinned hawks were on the move. My best duck species here was wood duck.

I then drove on to the Long Point Bird Observatory known as LPBO on Long Point’s Old Cut Rd. Through the trails here you might see thrush species, kinglets, late warblers, woodpeckers, brown creepers, and other song birds. Try to be here in the morning when the mist nets are up and scientists are banding birds. Stu Mackenzie, Bird Studies Canada’s migration program manager for the LPBO, said that the Observatory will be active well into November.

Birding in Long Point Provincial Park is also excellent. Late warblers and vireos may still be flitting in the poplars and pines now. I saw five woodpecker species here including red-headed woodpecker and yellow-bellied sapsucker.

The Carolinian forests in the area can be very productive. You can check out Backus Woods just north of Port Rowan or the woods at Turkey Point Provincial Park. On an Ontario Field Ornithologists field trip, hike leaders Brett Fried and Erika Hentsch located a beautiful male hooded warbler on the strength of a single chip note at the Spooky Hollow forest.

The field immediately south of the Bird Studies Canada offices is often productive as is the pond to the west of the building. An immature bald eagle soared above me as I scanned the water for waders and ducks.

What some birders don’t know is that the provincially-owned tip of Long Point is accessible for bird watching. A middle part of Long Point is an inaccessible National Wildlife Area so you have to take an hour-long boat ride to get to the end of the world’s longest freshwater sand spit.

Because this land is a unique Lake Erie landing pad, it attracts a remarkable array of birds. For this very reason there is another Long Point Bird Observatory banding station out here. I joined some other Ontario Field Orni- thologists on an outing led by Bird Studies Canada’s Mark Conboy. We saw lots of warblers, shorebirds including Baird’s sandpipers, gull species, and migrating raptors.

Even on the ride out to the tip, there were interesting sightings including 1,200 cormorants and a flock of greater scaup. Long Point Tours at longpointtours.com is one of the companies that will run zodiacs out to the tip.

Before heading back to London, I checked out the Port Rowan Wetlands at the end of Hunter Dr. running north off Lakeshore Rd. I was pleased to find common gallinules here. I also found green heron and Northern shoveler at this location.

Nature notes

• Members of the public are invited to join in a free Nature London-led birding hike Sunday at Ross Park and along the Thames River in north London. Meet the leader at 2 p.m. in the Ross Park parking lot east off Richmond St. just south of the bridge. For info Google naturelondon.com.

• In a mid-September address to the Ontario Field Ornithologists Steven Price, President of Bird Studies Canada, articulated his organization’s ambitious yet achievable goals for the coming years. They include focusing on 50 bird species of conservation concern using Motus tracking receivers across the hemisphere, increasing the number of caretaker groups working with Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, boosting citizen science and urban birding appreciation, and promoting innovative conservation solutions. The details are online in BSC’s 2017 annual report. “The Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative is an example of the power and importance of international partnerships.” Price said. g.paul.nicholson@gmail.com twitter.com/NicholsonNature

PHOTOS BY PAUL NICHOLSON/SPECIAL TO POSTMEDIA NEWS Sanderlings were among the interesting shorebirds seen at the tip of Long Point last weekend. The parade of fall migrants flying south through Norfolk County will continue into November.

This banding station on the left — one of three that are part of the Long Point Bird Observatory — is at the tip of Long Point. In 1960, this was the site of North America’s first bird observatory. It is now equipped with Motus antenna technology that...

The second edition of the best Norfolk County field guide, Ron Ridout’s A Birding Guide to the Long Point Area, is available for sale through the Bird Studies Canada offices in Port Rowan and at the Long Point Bird Observatory.