Odyssey to Lake Erie
Long Point Birdathon trip report
Every Spring birds and birders migrate to the shores of Lake Erie to see and participate in a natural phenomenon, Spring Migration. Birds are always moving around, but in March songbirds, shorebirds, raptors, gulls, waterfowl move from their wintering grounds, southern states for short distance migrants, South and Central America for the long distance migrants. I have often wondered why the south shores of Lake Erie are a magnet for migrating birds, I asked Google and this is what she said.
"Lake Erie's coast is a premier stopover for migrating birds because it acts as a massive geographic bottleneck and a safe refueling station. Millions of birds pause here each spring and fall to rest, feed and wait for favourable weather before continuing their journey. The "Wall of Water' effect has an impact. For tiny songbirds migrating northward across the continent, Lake Erie presents a daunting open water barrier. Before attempting the crossing, birds naturally concentrate along the southern shoreline to rest and await optimal weather conditions. The Lake Erie basin is incredibly rich in insects and native vegetation making it the perfect pitstop to rebuild fat reserves before pushing on. Peninsulas and Island Chains. Landmasses extending out into the water, such as the Point Pelee and Long Point in Ontario and Magee Marsh in Ohio, serve as natural funnels that concentrate vast numbers of birds into a small observable area. The Lake Erie Island archipelago also provides a visual navigation guide and safe stepping stones for birds crossing the open water.
As I write this it is midway through spring migration. We have already seen most of the warblers and other songbirds arrive. One of my fav songbirds just arrived today, the Willow Flycatcher and I was happy to see this little guy in my patch.
Point Pelee National Park with its long 1 km tip into Lake Erie, with about 7 km spit jutting out, Long Point with its very long tip (40 km) and Rondeau PP with its marsh shoreline and wonderful habitat are meccas for birds making their long trip back. I have had the pleasure of visiting these 3 places over the last week or so and it has been exhausting yet exhilarating!
I spoke of Point Pelee NP in my previous blog post, but I was pleased to have an even more enjoyable time at Long Point attending their Birdathon and Rondeau which was far less crowded!
Mother nature sets the tone for any of these visits and this was the case for these adventures. Point Pelee was extremely foggy and cool in the morning with warm temperatures and a thunderstorm to end the day. Long Point was lovely under noon when light rain continued into the afternoon, making for good views of birds. Rondeau started out warm and by mid day it was hot! Migration has been slow all in all, but the rarities have been present. We have had a cooler and wetter than normal spring and the birds may have bypassed this area to move onto their breeding grounds via Magee marsh, which has had major fallout of birds.
The birds seem to be following a later schedule with the Baltimore Orioles , Orchard Orioles and Scarlett Tanagers arriving over the past 10 days. The vireos and flycatchers have followed shortly after. The warblers that have arrived are the Prothonotary, Chestnut sided, Orange Crowned, Bay Breasted, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Cape May to join the Nashville and Tennessee. We have yet to see the Blackpoll, as well as the slowly coming in Black throated Green and Black throated Blue. I have yet to see one of my personal favourites, Indigo Bunting, but they should be arriving shortly.
These 3 places are very popular in sw ontario and Global community, sometimes having a friendly competition, with Rondeau being called the 'other Pelee' and you don't even mention Pelee at Long Point. Holiday Beach in Amherstburg is also a very good spring and fall migration location, which I haven't visited yet, maybe I'll go on my upcoming holidays? One of my favourite places to go in the autumn to watch the raptor migration out at Hawk Cliff which is on the north shore of Erie and is known for being one of the best places to view migrting raptors in North America.
If you get a chance, whether you are a seasoned birder, a casual birder, you want to add to your life list, or you just like getting out in nature, go south and enjoy!
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