Niagara to Grand Rapids: Day6

After arriving late on Friday, Saturday was our first full day in Grand Rapids and we spend the morning looking for birds in near by parks. We started out at Blandford Nature Centre where we found 5 wood ducks, 2 eastern blue birds a northern flicker and some fleeting glimpses of what appeared to be a scarlet tanager.We also found our first turtle of the year here.

We also spent some time exploring Aman Park near by. This Park was not quite as lively a Blandford but we did find some good birds here including 2 Pileated woodpeckers, a Louisiana waterthrush (the first one I have ever seen!), and more tufted titmice. The birds weren't all that co-operative for photos but all in all it was a good day.

The Louisiana Waterthrush looks similar to the Northern Waterthrush but can be readily ID'ed by its song

Niagara to Grand Rapids: Day 5

Thursday we spent the morning in Point Pelee and it was surprising how few birds were around.  There was really nothing there other that the usual residents maybe it would have picked up in the afternoon but we didn't have time to stick around and find out, we had to get to Grand Rapids MI.

From Point Pelee we traveled to Windsor as it was on the way and there were reports of a blue grosbeak in a park there. The Park was very difficult to find at the time due to construction detours and when we got there the blue grosbeak was no where to be found, so it was a bit disappointing. But we did find a Tufted Titmouse which neither of us had seen before. It was good to be able to say that we seen it in Canada still. From there It was on to Grand Rapids!

Niagara to Grand Rapids: Day 3 & 4

Wednesday brought an end to our stay in Niagara Falls and from there we continued south to Point Pelee. We mostly traveled on Wednesday made a few stops but it was pouring rain most of the day, the only bird of note was a yellow rumped warbler in Chatham were we stopped for a hike. The next day we got up bright and early to explore Pelee. We stopped first at the marsh board walk which was filled with ducks, northern shovler, blue winged teal, wood ducks, and Greater Scaup to name a few. We got here a little too early and there wasn't enough light to get many good photos:

 


Next we took the tram down to the point. I was hoping to find some early migrant warblers but they were few and far between. So I settled for a blue-gray gnat catcher and a northern mocking bird and the abundant ruby crowned kinglets.

We continued to explore the park the rest of the day and found some other interesting birds throughout the park. There were a few Pine warblers here and there but none were co-operative.

House Wren

American Towhees were everywhere

Field Sparrow on the beach

Horned Grebe

Finally at the end of the day I found a Nashville warbler as we were leaving the park.

Niagara to Grand Rapids: Day 2

On Tuesday we spent the day exploring the Niagara region, we took in some wine tours and did some more hiking.  In the afternoon we hiked down to the whirlpool site just down stream from Niagara Falls I didn't think that there would be too many great photo opportunities at the bottom so decided to leave my camera in the car. As we hiked down the very steep trail I was regretting that decision all the way down, and once we reached the bottom I realized I had no choice but to get my camera. There was a very co operative canvas back duck at the bottom. I have never seen one of these before so I ran back up and grabbed my camera. In the end it worked out and I got some good shots and I learned a valuable lesson.

Later on in the evening we went for a walk to look at the falls, and I ended up watching bank swallows for a bit too.

Niagara to Grand Rapids: Day 1

This past week my wife and I decided to take a trip across southern Ontario and end up in Grand Rapids Michigan and visit some relatives. Our first destination was Niagara Falls ON we took our time getting there and did some exploring on the way down. The first place that we stopped was La Salle Marina in Burlington to see if there were any interesting birds there. There wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, a horned grebe and a very curious juvenile red-tailed hawk were the highlights for me. But I didn't manage to get any really good shots of the grebe.

I couldn't resist this perfectly posing chipping sparrow

From there we continued on to a small conservation area called devils punch bowl. This is a very inconspicuous conservation area on the side of the escarpment; aside from the huge cross erected here by a near by church, it is just a grassy field when you pull up. But there are some very beautiful water falls here and quite a gorge out of side of the escarpment.

From the devils punch bowl we drove to the butterfly conservancy in Niagara falls. This was a pretty awesome place with tons of butterflies, well worth the trip. I put a few of my favorite photos here but they don't really do the place justice.

Once we had had our fill at the butterfly conservancy, we hiked some close by trails looking for spring ephemeral plants in bloom and exploring some more of the escarpment. There were Dutchman's Breeches everywhere, which I had never seen before, and lots of Trout Lilies, Blood Root and Bellwort too with some Spring Beauty's mixed in.

Dutchman's Breeches

Dutchman's Breeches

Spring Beauty

 

Campbellcroft snowy egret

There was a Snowy Egret found yesterday in Campbellcroft which was on my way today as I headed in to Toronto. When I got there the Egret was 10m from the road and actively feeding and it was snowing slightly.

Bancroft, ON

Snow still dominates the landscape in Bancroft and there are only a few areas of open water and open ground. Despite the almost solid snow and ice cover I still managed to find some interesting birds. A wood duck on the melted edge of a frozen lake, and hooded mergansers where in almost all open water and a Pileated woodpecker working away.