Art Prints

Friday, September 28, 2012

Presqu'ile Overnight Excursion 22-23 Sep. 2012


Group at Presqu'ile Provincial Park
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Sharp-shinned Hawk, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

It was still dark with the night’s chilly draft and drizzling rain sweeping over Ottawa, when a small, dedicated group of birders met at the Park & Ride off Hwy 416 and Bankfield.
The drive down to Prince Edward County revealed several species of birds with plenty more greeting us at the point.

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Double-crested Cormorant, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough
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Red-breasted Nuthatch, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough

We were lucky with the weather, only being bothered by a few very small drizzling showers.
We explored the woods at Prince Edward point finding only a hand full of warblers, a female Indigo Bunting and countless American Goldfinch. The Banding Station there reported capturing more than 75 of them every day.
Merlins were fairly common around the point, but the most spectacular scene was an aerial attack between a persistent Sharp-shinned Hawk against a Coopers Hawk.
From the point to our hotel in Trenton, we stopped several times observing many great birds.
All in all, we ended up with a day list of 70 birds that day.

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Prince Edward Point Light House
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Presqu'ile Park Light House, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough
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Mute Swans, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough

The next day started early with breakfast at 6:30am. And, the good weather followed us all day long.
Presqu'ile Park and the surrounding area gave us many wonderful bird sightings, ending the day with a list of 86 birds.
A total weekend trip list of 106 birds included 12 species of warblers, 5 species of woodpecker and 12 species of shorebirds.
This was one of the best late-summer trips to Presqu'ile in Always An Adventure's memory.

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Caspian Tern, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough
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Twisters at Sea, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough
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Group at Prince Edward Point

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Common Gallinule/Moorhen
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ruby-thr. Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Gray Jay
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-thr. Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

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Presqu'ile Park

Excursion organized by