Point Pelee, Crane Creek and the Kirtland's Warbler May 12—20, 2008
Posted by Kim Eckert
Kim Eckert
Kim Eckert, with over 40 years of birding experience throughout the U.S. and Canada, has now been guiding birders or teaching bird identification classes for more than 25 o...Related Trips
After leading this tour for some 20 years, I would think there could hardly be anything new for me to experience in the areas we visit in Ontario and Michigan. (We also spend a day in and around Crane Creek/Magee Marsh in Ohio, but this was only our third time we've done this productive day, not the 20th.) So, it was certainly a profound surprise when we visited the world-famous Tip at Point Pelee National Park—and found no Tip!
This southernmost point in all of Canada, a natural magnet for northbound migrants each spring, normally includes a sand bar pointing south into Lake Erie. Depending on currents and wave actions, some years The Tip's sand bar curves a bit to the east, other years it bends to the west, and it can extend out a couple of hundred "metres" (remember, this is Canada) when lake levels are low. (I still remember such a year when we even saw a Ross's Gull loafing here amid the other gulls, terns, and shorebirds.)
But with Lake Erie water levels so high this time, the sand bar was entirely gone, with the waves now lapping up right next to the southernmost trees. (No Ross's Gull for us this year.) All the trees were still there, of course, still a magnet for warblers and other passerines crossing the lake. But during the time of our tour, it seems Pelee was having a hard time attracting much. The migration was very much delayed this spring, not only in southwestern Ontario but also in Michigan and the rest of the Midwest. Birding listserves, normally full of reports of warbler waves in mid-May, were uncharacteristically quiet due to a mostly cold and wet weather pattern.
Don't get me wrong, though, there were still plenty of warblers to see: you'll find 29 species on our list. But it was a struggle to find many of them, there were a few conspicuous misses, and we had to rely on places in Michigan (some I'd never been to after 20 years!) to round out our list with birds on their breeding grounds. Indeed, our struggles were often weather-related: witness the rainy day on Day 3, the high winds on Day 6, and the extreme cold on our Kirtland's Warbler day in Michigan. Thankfully, at least some of the male Kirtland's were back on territory, singing atop the jack pines for us.
We had even been in the right place at the right time at Point Pelee a few days earlier when we and many others saw and admired a migrant Kirtland's Warbler near The Tip. So, we had one in the bank with no need to worry just in case they were late getting to Michigan or the weather was bad during our search. (About the only cause for concern was not being trampled by the crowd of birders passing us by when word of the Kirtland's arrived!)
Point Pelee, nearby Hillman Marsh, and other areas in the vicinity held many other highlights for us as well. Most significant among these had to be Canada's first record ever of a Mottled Duck, several hundred kilometres (we're still in Canada) out of range, which had shown up at Hillman the previous week. At the same place we were able to find two Little Gulls among a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls, plus a nice variety of shorebirds, which helped push our shorebird total to an above-average 15 species. Among these was a most cooperative American Woodcock displaying right next door to our hotel in Leamington—though the looks we had were not new for me, co-leader Brennan said this was indeed the best view he'd ever had.
And there were many other memorable sights: the sick or injured and quite lost Black Vulture at Pelee which was caught and sent for rehabilitation soon after we saw it; a Ruffed Grouse strutting ceremoniously across a back Michigan road; the very nice views of such oft-elusive warblers as Golden-winged, Cerulean, and Yellow-breasted Chat; the two male Chestnut-sided Warblers locked in aerial combat over territory—they almost looked like two diminutive eagles locking talons as they tumbled to the ground.
In a way, though, perhaps the most telling sight of all during this cold spring was at Hartwick Pines State Park. On that dark and windy afternoon, with the temperature no higher than the mid-40s, an Ovenbird walked along the forest floor to a small snag, settled down on his chosen perch, and proceeded to simply fall asleep as we watched. He apparently had enough of the day's weather and decided to go to roost with hours of daylight still remaining.