Black-throateds

Black-throated Green Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler were two of the commonest warblers.

Humbugs

Another crowd pleaser, Black and White Warblers, were common and seen daily. There’s something mesmerising about they way they move up trunks and long branches. Somehow I never got around to taking many photos. Next time.

One from JP -

Blackburnian Warbler

Staggering birds, probably the ultimate North American warbler. Despite being quite common it’s impossible to tire of them. Seeing three males togetherin a small pine was memorable, as was one on the beach and another glowing against the black water of a woodland pool. I only saw a couple of females. A male bathing in a bird bath was the last bird I looked at before we left - perfect.

And one of JPs many stunning shots - 

Canada Warbler

We were just ahead of the main push of Canada’s, so I only saw four. Thankfully one of them wasparticularly showy. This one was always a favourite, and was ultimately responsible for my change of heart over twitching Ireland in 2006.

Cape May Warbler

A personal favourite through association, it’s name instantly inspires nostalgia for the halcyon days of my time in that New Jersey paradise. The species’ status for me was elevated even further by the superb Shetland twitch in 2013. Despite that, my memories of males were all of a slightly underwhelming bird when compared to its congeners. How wrong I was, males were breathtaking, if rather variable, and the females were subtly pleasing. Even more surprising was just how common they were at Long Point, with multiple birds seen daily and five males in a single tree at one point. The first British record was of a singingmale in Paisley in 1975, what a sight that must have been. I remember reading about it when I was probably in my teens, never would I have expected to have had so many excellent encounterswith this species, and on both sides of the Atlantic. Birds, eh?

Yellow warbler

The commonest warbler by far, as well as migrants there were many on breeding territory providing a near constant background of song and chasing each other around. 

 

Long Point, Ontario 5th - 15th May 2019

It has been a long time since I did any birding in North America, aside from a few snatched hoursin Florida and Missouri on family holidays. Spring migration on the Great Lakes is the stuff of birding legends, perhaps more so for me since the Cape May years and listening to the beguiling tales from the Brits who’d spent time there. So when Cape May pals Laurence Pitcher and Graham Gordon invited me, along with Jamie Partridge, on a 10 day trip to Ontario it seemed a no brainer and would be a welcome distraction from the complexities of personal life and the business.

Long Point was the chosen destination, situated on the north shore of Lake Eerie a couple of hours from Toronto. It’s less well known here in the UK than Point Pelee, but much quieter and so far more suited to us.

Our home for the week, a great Airb’nb owned by local birder Adam Timpf. It was ideally placed immediately across the street from the Long Point observatory banding area known as Old Cut, and only a couple of hundred years from the State Park camp ground. Adam has kindly stocked the bird feeders and we were immediately greeted with a yard full of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Blue Jays and, more interestingly Northern Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Red-breasted Nuthatches and our first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. There were White-crowned, White-throated and Chipping Sparrows, along with a single Dark-eyed Junco, one of only three I saw. Tree swallows were everywhere, which along with Purple Martins, were a constant joy. These species were to be come familiar sights, but that initial rush of arrival is always fun.

It was great to be back seeing birds that feel likeold friends. Of course wewent for a short stroll inthe last hours of daylight, and our first migrants appeared. A smart male Hooded Warbler glowing in fading light in Old Cut was a great start, although my favourite (and surprise) moment was superb views of a displaying American Woodcock doing it’s thing against a backdrop of ‘booming’ American Bitterns. I didn’t tire of either species during our stay.