Point Pelee National Park 2017

I had the pleasure of joining a group of Sault Naturalists for a birding trip to Point Pelee National Park from May 7-11.  I was able to turn it into a work trip, with the idea was that I would increase my knowledge of birds and observe the conservation and recreation efforts of the park and hopefully use this new knowledge during my work with the conservancy.  Our group was one of a select few groups who had the pleasure of camping at the actual park, giving us a break on travel and parking each day.

Over the course of the three and a half days that I spent birding at Point Pelee, I was able to observe 168 different bird species within the park's birding area.  This included 55 species that I had never seen before.  Some of my personal favourites were Scarlet Tanager, Great Crested Flycatcher, Great Egret and Red-headed Woodpecker.  However, my top favourite was definitely seeing a red morph Eastern Screech-Owl, which is a bird we do not get up here in the Algoma area.

Another significant bird that our entire group saw was a Whimbrel.  I reported it to eBird at the time, not knowing that this was the first Whimbrel to be seen in Ontario this year.  Apparently, my report was seen right away and tons of birders flocked to the Wheatley Harbour to see this cool bird.

I also got to see some pretty cool warblers.  There was a Kirtland’s Warbler reported down a little foot path and the crowds running to see it were insane.  This warbler is one of the rarest in North America, with only a few thousand of them around.  I got a quick but great view of it with binoculars and a very crappy photo before I had to move along.  Park staff was making people move along after they had seen it in order to try to control the massive crowds.  Another neat warbler was the Prothonotary Warbler.  Apparently, these are not seen very often at Point Pelee, but there were at least six individuals around, which is unheard of.

Besides birds, I also got some see a few other interesting wildlife species.  I saw my first ever Cottontail Rabbit, Virginia Opossum, Blanding’s Turtle, Map Turtle and Gray Ratsnake.  These were in addition to some familiar species like Raccoon, Midland Painted Turtle and White-tailed Deer.

While I have not explored a lot of Canada, Point Pelee National Park is definitely one of the most beautiful and interesting places that I have been to.  While there was not much of an actual tip due to high water levels, being able to stand at the most southern point of continental Canada was pretty cool.  Their trail system is excellent and leads through a variety of habitats, including mature forests, swampy forests, open fields and marshes.  The ecological rehabilitation work that Parks Canada has done and is continuing to do there is outstanding.  They have returned a majority of the park back into natural ecosystems from when they first acquired the land.  While I’m not sure if any of the things I learned about the park’s trails and ecological rehab will be able to directly translate into my work with the Kensington Conservancy, I definitely got some ideas that could be used in the future.

In the end, it was a very successful trip.  The group was able to beat their previous record of 174 species seen among the group, so that was exciting.  The weather was fantastic, there was only a little bit of rain overnight on the last night.  Every year, they give out a pin to everyone who gets 100 species, but for Canada 150, they had a special pin for those who got 150 species, so I was able to get both.  Some of the highlight photos are below!

Prothonotary Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Scarlet Tanager

Trumpeter Swan

Eastern Kingbird

Barn Swallows

Whimbrel

Red-headed Woodpecker

All species recorded on the trip:

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

Mute Swan - Cygnus olor

Trumpeter Swan - Cygnus buccinator

Wood Duck - Aix sponsa

Gadwall - Anas strepera

American Wigeon - Anas americana

Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata

Northern Pintail - Anas acuta

Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca

Greater Scaup - Aythya marila

Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis

Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata

Black Scoter - Melanitta americana

Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator

Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis

Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo

Common Loon - Gavia immer

Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus

Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus

Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Great Egret - Ardea alba

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola

Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola

American Golden-Plover - Pluvialis dominica

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus

Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Dunlin - Calidris alpina

Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla

Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos

Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus

American Woodcock - Scolopax minor

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria

Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca

Willet - Tringa semipalmata

Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes

Bonaparte's Gull - Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis

Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus

Caspian Tern - Hydroprogne caspia

Black Tern - Chlidonias niger

Common Tern - Sterna hirundo

Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri

Rock Pigeon - Columba livia

Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura

Eastern Screech-Owl - Megascops asio

Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus

Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris

Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon

Red-headed Woodpecker - Melanerpes erythrocephalus

Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius

Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens

Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus

Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus

American Kestrel - Falco sparverius

Merlin - Falco columbarius

Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus

Alder Flycatcher - Empidonax alnorum

Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii

Least Flycatcher - Empidonax minimus

Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus

Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus

White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus

Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons

Blue-headed Vireo - Vireo solitarius

Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus

Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus

Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata

American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos

Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis

Purple Martin - Progne subis

Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor

Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia

Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica

Cliff Swallow - Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis

White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis

Brown Creeper - Certhia americana

House Wren - Troglodytes aedon

Winter Wren - Troglodytes hiemalis

Sedge Wren - Cistothorus platensis

Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris

Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula

Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis

Veery - Catharus fuscescens

Gray-cheeked Thrush - Catharus minimus

Swainson's Thrush - Catharus ustulatus

Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus

Wood Thrush - Hylocichla mustelina

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis

Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum

Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos

European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris

Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum

Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla

Louisiana Waterthrush - Parkesia motacilla

Northern Waterthrush - Parkesia noveboracensis

Blue-winged Warbler - Vermivora cyanoptera

Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia

Prothonotary Warbler - Protonotaria citrea

Tennessee Warbler - Oreothlypis peregrina

Orange-crowned Warbler - Oreothlypis celata

Nashville Warbler - Oreothlypis ruficapilla

Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas

American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla

Kirtland's Warbler - Setophaga kirtlandii

Cape May Warbler - Setophaga tigrina

Northern Parula - Setophaga americana

Magnolia Warbler - Setophaga magnolia

Bay-breasted Warbler - Setophaga castanea

Blackburnian Warbler - Setophaga fusca

Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia

Chestnut-sided Warbler - Setophaga pensylvanica

Black-throated Blue Warbler - Setophaga caerulescens

Palm Warbler - Setophaga palmarum

Pine Warbler - Setophaga pinus

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata

Black-throated Green Warbler - Setophaga virens

Wilson's Warbler - Cardellina pusilla

Yellow-breasted Chat - Icteria virens

Grasshopper Sparrow - Ammodramus savannarum

Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina

Clay-colored Sparrow - Spizella pallida

Field Sparrow - Spizella pusilla

Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis

White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys

White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis

Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis

Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia

Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii

Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana

Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Summer Tanager - Piranga rubra

Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Pheucticus ludovicianus

Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus

Rusty Blackbird - Euphagus carolinus

Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula

Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater

Orchard Oriole - Icterus spurius

Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula

House Finch - Haemorhous mexicanus

Purple Finch - Haemorhous purpureus

American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis

House Sparrow - Passer domesticus