Viceroy at Pelee

Forgot about the nice fresh Viceroy butterfly (the monarch mimic) that we shot at Pelee last week! It was immaculate! Also lots of Buckeyes.

PELEE - MAY 13th

This morning I did chores and then headed down to the park in early afternoon to take a quick look for a reported Western Grebe. No luck with that but while scanning at Northwest Beach I was surprised to spot an adult light phase PARASITIC JAEGER!

I continued down to the visitor center and there I heard that the photo opps in Tildens were good. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon there.

One of the lowest and easiest birds to see was this TENNESSEE WARBLER. This is a bird that is quite hard to photograph as it normally stays way up in the canopy.




At first I had trouble with trying to get the right set up for photographing in these overcast conditions. Fortunately I ran into professional photographer and good friend Chris Dodds. He set me straight on the best setting and compensation and right away my results improved. This was a good thing because there were lots of great birds like this ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK to capture. Thanks Chris!





There were at least fifteen warbler species in Tilden's but I only managed to get decent images of about four species, including this BLACK-THROATED GREEN (a female).

PELEE - MAY 12th

After yesterdays complete wash out, I headed down to the park with another full group of visitors. It turned out to be the best day of the spring migration by far. We tallied 25 species of warblers, all 6 regular vireos, both cuckoos, a perched LEAST BITTERN, and many other great birds. The number of BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS was particularly impressive. I estimated that we spotted between 150 and 250 of these gorgeous songbirds. We also had huge numbers of NASHVILLE and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS as well.

PELEE - May 3rd

It was another GREAT day at Pelee with numbers still low but diversity and quality both superb. After overnight rain, it cleared and we were treated to a gorgeous sunny and warm day. We started at the Tip with the highlight certainly being no fewer than a dozen RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS! It was like the good old days when this bird was seen frequently at the tip. At one point we had SIX RED-HEADED and SIX RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS in the same tree!! Other tip highlights included perfect close low views of WHITE-EYED VIREO and a text book study of CLAY-COLORED SPARROW feeding in the open with two FIELD SPARROWS.

Our next stop was the Woodland Nature Trail. The northeast corner produced again today with top honours going to a close male HOODED WARBLER, a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (distant but clear views), two or three BLUE-WINGED WARBLERS (including one with yellow wing bars), and a really co-operative OVENBIRD. The big warbler highlight of the day was a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER found by my good friend Bruce DiLabio near the park entrance. We had several decent views of the rare southerner. Rounding out good warblers were the same male PRAIRIE WARBLER at our picnic lunch stop at the Dunes (along with a wide open YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO).

MAY ARRIVES AT PELEE

Finally caught up enough to get out and do some video and still shooting at Pelee and Ojibway over the weekend. While several birders described the birding as 'slow', I found that there was a good diversity of birds at both sites. In short, the birding was good, especially considering it was May 2nd. How quickly folks forget what the typical pattern is at this time of year! Every day cannot be a twenty plus warbler species day, though even that was possible today if you worked hard all day.

One of the most rewarding finds was a bird that had been staked out for several days in front of the visitor center - a Grasshopper Sparrow. I got great video of it foraging at distances as close as ten feet. I also snagged a bunch of stills. Here is one of the best.



When I examined some of my video and stills on a larger screen I noticed that the sparrow had an interesting tag along - a small tick embedded just under its right (from its perspective) eye. While most humans find ticks disgusting, they are a fact of everyday life for many birds and mammals which are the normal hosts for many tick species. Obviously this also makes birds vectors for the spread of ticks, and tick born illnesses. I wonder where this tick actually originated? Did it pick up the tick at Pelee or perhaps somewhere in the southern US where the sparrow wintered? Regardless it is a reminder of the rigors and realities of the natural world - tough, but still beautiful.


It was great to spend some time videotaping at Ojibway reserve and nature center in south Windsor. The feeder set up that Paul (Pratt) and staff have put together there is great. Birds were abundant and diverse and a huge flowering redbud provided a nice backdrop for the attendees. The park was full of song and one of the nice surprises while taping the 'regulars' was hearing a singing male Blue-winged Warbler. With a little effort I managed to get a decent image of the stunning bird.



I'm looking forward to another great spring at Pelee. This will be the 38th year I have spent a week or more birding here in spring and its always a fabulous learning experience. Always unique each time, and always a wonderful journey. I look forward to seeing my old friends on the trails and meeting some new ones as well.

Good Birding! Tom

Texas Wrap up

April 25th was the last day of shooting in Texas before making the tortuous drive back to Ontario. The trip was a great success with the last couple of days in northeast Texas being particularly productive. I had always wanted to get some good footage and stills of Prothonotary Warbler and this goal was fulfilled. Here are some of my best Prothonotary shots. I never get tired of this bird!






So now I have a few days off to catch up on correspondence, finish taxes, and prepare for our May birding packages. Pelee has already had some hot birds so it looks like it will be a great spring!

TEXAS DAY 3-5

The last few days have been hectic to say the least. We left Port Aransas two days ago and have been on South Padre Island the past two days. Both days provided good shooting, with today bringing in a small fallout. We are still hoping that more birds will drop in tomorrow with continued North winds. Regardless, its almost certain that what is here will stay put. That should mean another day of good opportunities with many orioles and buntings and a good selection of warblers.

Below is a kind of funky image I took at the Convention center - a well known spot for observing migrants on South Padre. It gives a sense of both the bird and the photographer.





Now here are a couple of photos of the bird close up - a gorgeous male Black-throated Green Warbler that seemed oblivious to all the attention it was receiving!




The fallout that arrived this afternoon brought a small group of male Painted Buntings which were incredibly tame at times. I spent most of my time videotaping them at distances as close as six to eight feet. At one point I had to back away from the bird as it fed closer and closer! I did take a few still images and here is my favourite.



Lastly here is a pic of a Palm Warbler that was lingering for the last two days. Not the brighest warbler in the book, but still a neat little bird.

TEXAS DAY 2

The day started off slowly with poor light and strong winds. We didnt get shooting until nearly ten but Paradise Pond was even better than yesterday with nice bright overcast conditions. The buntings were still in place with a new selection of companions like this first spring male Orchard Oriole.


The Painted Buntings were more wary than the numerous Indigos, but finally came close enough for some decent images.





After the dull light of yesterday the bright overcast today allowed for much higher success rate with images, and much sharper captures. This male Indigo was a significant improvement over yesterdays work.




In late afternoon we headed south towards Corpus Christi and then had dinner at Chilis in Kingsville before continuing to Harlingen for the night. Tomorrow we head for South Padre Island hoping that we have the same standard of success there... who knows?

TEXAS DAY 1

Last night Ethan and I met up and had dinner with our good friend Bruce DiLabio. Then early this morning we headed for some coastal migrant traps to see if a cold front and some light rain had brought any birds in. This was day 1 of our shoot in Texas and it started off REALLY well. Two birds I really wanted to shoot here were Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting... and boy were those co-operative today!





In the afternoon the weather became 'unshootable' if there is such a word. Prior to that another fun bird was a male Dickcissel.


So we are off to a GREAT start and looking forward to more in the days to come!

WOOD DUCKS by the back door

April Fools Day started off with some fun. As I was having my morning coffee I was distracted by movement in the box right beside the deck. It turned out to be a female WOOD DUCK investigating the nest box. Perhaps because this box is so close to the back door (only 25 feet) they have never used it. However they did nest in this same box when it was by the pool deck about five years ago (an equally busy location). I watched her peek in the opening repeatedly while I worked on my crossword puzzle.


I decided to add a third owl/duck box this year in the hopes that either woodies or owls will nest in one. We will see. The screech owl is still in the middle box every morning and has been singing from there during the day at times. Lets hope that means they are hard at work!

While I was looking at the female wood duck I noticed some movement about fifty feet farther away and to the right. It was the male, who was clearly 'guarding' her as she checked out prospective nest sites. Once she flew off, he followed in close pursuit. Neither of these images is great because it was taken through the glass door at a bit of an oblique angle but you can certainly see what they are... and it was a nice way to start the day off.

SNOW & ROSS'S GEESE at PELEE

Finally the weather was good enough this morning to do some video work. I'm continuing to shoot stock for my upcoming HD "Birds of Point Pelee"(to be released later this year or early 2010). While shooting expected migrants like Red-winged Blackbird and American Robin I was surprised to hear a large flock of Snow Geese heading towards me. I had enough time to grab some quick video clips and a few images. The photo below shows most of the birds. From all my images I estimated the flock at a minimum of 256 individuals - an exceptional flock for the Pelee area and certainly the largest "white" goose flock I had ever seen here.



I clicked off a number of still frames with tighter framing and below you can see a crop of one of those images showing that the flock was composed of both Snow and Ross's Geese. In the image below it appears to me that there are three adult white Ross's (two upper left, and one bottom right) and four adult white Snow Geese (middle). However I have had the benefit of examining the images full frame on my monitor!


The last shot is an enlargement of the bottom right two birds above. The difference is pretty clear between the Snow Goose on the left and the much shorter necked, smaller billed Ross's on the right. Pretty cool!


When I got home I saw Dean Ware had bumped into what was certainly the same flock of birds later in the morning at Hillman Marsh. He was able to verify similar counts on both the Snow and Ross's numbers. Its amazing to think of the status change of these species in just a few decades.

SCREECH OWL SURPRISE

This morning started off with a nice surprise... an Eastern Screech Owl right by the back window! I have two screech/wood duck boxes in the yard. In the back one (about 150 feet from the living room window) there is a regular screech owl most days. However, today at the close box (only about 30 feet from the living room window) there was a second owl. Lily had mentioned she had seen one in this box a few days ago, but after looking for it several dozen times without success I presumed it had moved on. This morning I was greeted by this intense stare glaring from the close box. I managed to get a couple of pics and decided not to move any closer. I hope he settles into this home for a while!