May has arrived, and so have the songbirds!

What a difference a few days make. April was relatively slow for songbird migration, but it seems now that the first few days of May have arrived, so have the birds. There has been a very good representation of songbird migrants....not as good as it will be in a week or so, but quite rewarding to be out just the same.

The sand spits of the north shore of Lake Erie are prime places to see these avian arrivals, and Rondeau is my favourite. And there is a new trail! Well not really a new one, but a trail with a new name. It used to be referred to as the maintenance loop, as it was an unofficial walkway along the south side of the maintenance compound, with a loop that went south for a few hundred metres through an area that used to be a deer enclosure as recently as the 1960s, and when that was removed, part of it became a place to store unneeded material such as posts and parking barriers. It has been popular for a few years now for both birds and butterflies, and it is officially called Warbler's Way. You can access it from either Harrison Trail or Rondeau Road.

Warblers have been arriving in decent numbers, and I believe as of today, there have been at least 28 species recorded. I haven't been out as often as some folks, and have only seen about half that many so far, but that will change shortly. Some species are in very low numbers, as expected. I haven't caught up to some of the rarer ones, such as Louisiana Waterthrush and Golden-winged Warbler, at least not yet. Here are a few warbler species that I have caught on camera. The first three species have been fairly abundant.

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

 This next one, the Northern Waterthrush, has had a few around, and I watched this one feeding and singing at the edge of a slough along Warbler's Way.

Northern Waterthrush

Ovenbird

Palm Warbler

 

 

 

 

Of course there are lots of other members of the songbird group. Northern Cardinals are looking their most spectacular this time of year.

 Less colourful, but important in their own right are Gray Catbirds, which have just arrived in good numbers.....

 ....as are Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

 Members of the thrush family are quite melodious. Wood Thrush is probably the most melodious of the group, at least in my opinion, and it nests at Rondeau. I have only seen a couple so far and haven't got a photo yet. The Veery is quite melodious in its own right.

Veery

 Sparrows can be hugely abundant. White-crowned Sparrows have just started to arrive...

 ....on the other hand, White-throated Sparrows are going through in massive numbers. Sometimes it seems like the forest floor is moving, they are so abundant. It is not uncommon to see several hundred in just a couple of hours. There must be thousands of them at Rondeau right now, but that can change in a hurry as they quickly head on to their more northerly breeding range.

 Brown Creepers are subtlety marked and a few of them are often seen these days.

 You never know what you might find. I came across this along the west side of the South Point Trail yesterday.

Someone is likely not happy. If you hear a youngster fussing along a trail somewhere in the park, it might be because he or she is lamenting the loss of something important.