Thanks to everyone who posted news of the Point Pelee birding scene
so far this fall. I did finally decide to go today and, as anyone
familiar with Point Pelee would guess, it was amazingly quiet for
passerines. No surprise there. I agree that Point Pelee can be very
hit or miss, especially in the fall. I guess I was thinking of the
possibility that with last night's stormy weather something
interesting may have blown in. And, maybe something did. The high
winds made it difficult to even hear chip notes; that is with one
exception. There was a Merlin on the DeLaurier Trail and when it was
soaring a chorus of cardinal chips went up and were accompanied by a
few warbler chip notes. On two or three occasions a Sharpie circled
overhead and each time this would also send up some passerine
chipping. The seasonal trails I walked were very overgrown with
brambles and fallen trees. It gave me the impression that no one had
walked these trails since the spring. I did not see the Red-necked
Phalarope in the Sanctuary Pond.
Hillman Marsh, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. Someone
posted that there was no shorebird habitat. But that definitely is
not so. The front marsh has beautiful habitat and had shorebirds in
it. In addition to the molting Hudsonian Godwit (I think my closest
look ever at a H. Godwit), there were both yellowlegs, both
dowitchers (a young guy birding with his girlfriend helped me confirm
the Long-billed), and a Pectoral, Stilt and two Solitary Sandpipers.
Killdeer, too, of course. During the time I was there a sharpie
circled the pond and sent everyone briefly into the air, an Osprey
flew overhead and a N. Harrier circled the trees on the opposite side.
Thanks again, to everyone who responded.
Best,
Cathy Carroll
Dearborn, MI
