Sunday 29 April 2012

Migration!

It's been six weeks since I've posted anything so this is a bit of a catch up.  Migration is well underway.  The first few photos are from March. I went on a tour of Holland Marsh to see what was around. My first Killdeer of the year, some Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, and assorted waterfowl (lots of Northern Pintails) were most of what I saw.  There were also half a dozen porcupines up in the trees.




For Easter, I went to Prince Edward County and stayed close to Sandbanks Provincial Park.  There were some early migrants:  Brown Creeper, Tree Swallows, Cedar Waxwings, White-winged Scoter, Osprey, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Not a whole lot of anything else except for a curious fox.



For the last three weekends, I've been out at the base of the Leslie Street Spit and along Regatta Road.  The first time, the wet (dry) woods were packed with migrants.  A couple of hours resulted in ten different species of sparrow. The second week produced my first warblers of the Spring:  Yellow-rumped, Pine, and Palm Warblers were all present in low numbers.  Both visits were good for birds but not great for photos.  This morning I went out again and it was less birdy but the light was pretty good and the Yellow-rumped Warblers were posing.

First a Junco from week one at Tommy Thompson Park:


Yellow-rumped Warblers:











Apologies for posting so many. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.
There were also many White-throated Sparrows:


And Regatta Road yielded Pine Warbler and some accommodating Tree Swallows:






It was a pretty good morning all told and, although it was slower than the last two weekends, I'm hoping it's just saving itself for the second weekend of May when I'll be at Point Pelee.  Spring is fantastic.