Truly a soggy weekend for our annual trip to Pt. Pelee National Park. Despite the rain, Friday was the most productive with 38 species spotted in just over 3 hours. Saturday, Sunday, and this morning (the wettest day) yielded less than what we've seen in other years. But we are always thrilled when birds such as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Scarlet Tanagers are literally close enough to touch.
The highlights of the many Warblers spotted this visit, would be the Mourning Warbler, Canada Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler. Not seen by me, but reported by others, were Worm-eating and Prothonotary Warblers.
This year we were able to see two different Screech-owls and an Opossum which was a big thrill for the younger set. Actually, it was a thrill for me as the only other one I saw was belly up on the side of the road.
Just as an aside, I noticed a lot of birders using walkie-talkies to pass along important birding locales to their cohorts. It's not so much the use of them, but it's that loud electronic "chortle" when signing off that irks me (and others). Admittedly, these were more popular among the birding "paparazzi".
Overall, the numbers were down and the foliage was pretty-well advanced. But it's still a great spot to see many birds and often much closer than you might expect.
