On Saturday I had the pleasure of resuming a spring tradition that had been put on hold last year due to COVID. Dad and I caught the first ferry to Amherst Island (630am) to try to see as many birds as possible before catching the 1pm back! This was the fourth year we have done this and each year we have been able to see more than the previous year: 2017 (100 species), 2018 (103 species), 2019 (104 species) and this year we managed to blow our record out of the water with 108 species!
I was not optimistic since the weather has been pretty stagnant for migration and the warblers have been few and far between lately, but it turned out to be a great day!
What we lacked in warblers we made up for in marsh birds, getting both the bitterns, Sora, Virginia Rail, etc. One new bird we had for the event was an Olive-sided Flycatcher that sang it's distinctive 'quick three beers!' song from a high perch. Another surprising bird we had was a late Rough-legged Hawk - the second time we have had this species on the count.
We were sitting at 98 species after leaving the Martin Edwards Reserve around 11am, and I genuinely thought we were sunk, since the last few birds are exponentially harder than the early ones! However, we managed to pick up a few new birds near Stella (Rock Pigeon, House Finch, and Northern Cardinal, which are easy to miss on the island if you aren't paying attention!). Northern Harrier brought us to 104 and Ovenbird was the tie breaker along Emerald 40ft Road! Our 108th species was a pair of Green Herons that flew by. We made it to the 1pm ferry with about a half hour to spare.
The best thing about birding is that you can bird the same spots year after year and find new things! We have set the bar high for next year, but we are up for the challenge!
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
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| Young male Orchard Oriole |
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| Eastern Wood-Pewee |
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| Semi-palmated Plover |
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| Wilson's Phalarope |
Although I was happy to tally this young Peregrine Falcon, it probably was the reason we had so few shorebirds at the reserve! They were all scared off by public enemy #1!
This Least Bittern in flight across the pond at the reserve was a lucky break after missing the species early in the morning!
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| Tree Swallow |
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| very distant Rough-legged Hawk |
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