Day 2 at Pelee – Nov 11, 2012

... This was the “warm” day for sure!!! Temps were well above 15 C in the afternoon when the sun broke through... Some highlights:


Tip watch in the morning was fairly slow.. Had some Pine Siskins overhead and a juv Lesser Black-backed Gull make a flyby.. 5 Sanderling flew in and landed. Getting late!!!  A surprising number of birders were present, which worked in our favour when Marianne spotted a Black-legged Kittiwake flying south along the west shore, and not very far away! I think that was my second for Pelee... Maybe third...

I did a mega walk from the tip, through the Loop&Post Woods, The Sparrow Field, The redbud trail, down through the VC to the group campground.. Then some seasonal foothpaths through all the main picnic areas from Black Willow to Sleepy Hollow and the dunes etc... I then switched back, walking the west beach trail all the way back to the tip! 

Noteworthy sightings were slim, but I did manage a Common Redpoll (perched) and an Orange-crowned Warbler.. I probably “worked” at least 5+ Carolina Wrens and 8+ Cardinals that were being very secretive to little reward (other than a CARW pic with my record photo camera) 

Best I could do... 

I also did a decent walk around Hillman Marsh, but was surprised to see a lack of ducks. The only fun came from a group of 50 Green-winged Teal that allowed for close-ish study... I was also surprised to see that the shorebird cell was flooded, although totally overgrown so no ducks were visible (or present) ... One noteworthy sighting there was 3 Yellow-rumps that were acting like tardy vagrants feeding in the weeds over the water... No mega’s though.. 

Had a Northern Shrike at the “memorial forest” near the end of my Hillman Hike... Haven’t seen many at Pelee... 

I drove the onion fields a bit, to little of note... I saw a Coyote walking up to 2 Sandhill Cranes, and braced for excitement – up until the cranes lazily flew away... 

I tried several other spots, including Wheatley Harb, but the birding was just getting darn slow. About 80 Hooded Mergs at Sturgeon Creek... Nothing at Seacliffe beach or marina... 

What can you do?! Fun day though... 

Mudflat Turkeys, pointed out to me by Josh Vand...