Hi Leslie,
Our first stop WAS at the visitor centre and while everyone else took the shuttle to the tip I consulted one of the staff who suggested I walk the West Beach Footpath towards the tip. Great choice! I didn't bring my DSLR and I don't have bins but there was still lots to see, even though the dense foliage probably hid the more interesting birds. Lots of red winged BB's and yellow warblers close up and a few birds I couldn't id. Along the path I encountered a fairly large bird (don't think it was a wild turkey) that appeared to be trying to lure me away from it's nest with the 'broken wing' routine; I got a couple of pictures but stayed on the path in case there WAS a nest close by.
I also saw lots of butterflies but not a single swallowtail or monarch anywhere to be found. I suspect there are better areas than where I was for viewing butterflies at Pelee, especially later in the season. Maybe this will be the year I get to see the monarch migration but so far the numbers reported everywhere have been very small. We stopped at the Cattail Cafe on the way out so I took a short walk on the marsh boardwalk but, except for lots of rwbb's, it was pretty quiet.
