Huron Fringe Birding Festival:

DAY 3 Saturday, May 23, 2015

Birding MacGregor's Boundary
and
A Lot to Naturalize


Bird of the day: Golden-winged Warbler



Today we had morning and afternoon birding outings and the festival banquet to enjoy at the end of the day in Southampton. Colin and Hilda spent an excellent day birding the South Bruce Peninsula with Todd Pepper.

Before our morning trip with Ottawa birder, Justin Peter, Bill checked in with the early morning bird banders who were banding birds from the mist net. He got an excellent view of the bright yellow and black Canada Warbler.



At 7:00am Justin's group left for birding around the park.

1d

First we drove to Lake Huron at the north side of the park. We checked out the water and hiked along the road. We saw a Song Sparrow, Red-breasted Mergansers, Chestnut-sided Warblers and a Green Heron perched on a tree beside the road where we had parked. We had brief views of a Merlin. A Black and White Warbler and a White-throated Sparrow were heard. We drove further down the road to the corner of the highway and had a good view of a Scarlet Tanager, American Goldfinch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole and Black-throated-green Warbler. As the sun rose higher it shone on spring flowers. We watched carefully for the common poison ivy.



Next we travelled to the east side of the park. Soon we were hiking a loop trail. Justin has excellent hearing for bird sounds and can differentiate birds easily. He asked what we would like to see and Bill requested a Blue-winged Warbler and Golden-winged Warbler. Although we heard these warblers a few times and Justin tried hard to call them out, they did not appear, except for a fleeting glimpse of the latter. However, we did have good views of Indigo Bunting, Cedar Waxwing, Turkey Vulture and Black-throated Green Warbler. Finally, at the next stop, we did have good views of a Golden-winged Warbler and a fly-past Pileated Woodpecker. It was a beautiful morning to be out birding.



We visited a Ducks Unlimited nature reserve with a pond viewing tower. As well as a Painted Turtle and Northern Leopard Forg, we saw a Common Yellowthroat, an American Redstart on her nest and an Osprey. Other birds that we saw but could not photograph, were a Pied-billed Grebe and a Gray Catbird.



We travelled along the main road, making a few stops searching for the elusive Blue-winged Warbler. We heard him again, but he remained under cover. We returned to the park Visitor Centre where our morning ended with a hike along the MacGregor Point boardwalk.



As we had a very short turn around time before driving to Southampton for our afternoon event, we decided to have a BBQ lunch at the park, hosted by the Southampton Rotary Club. We joined a young birder and his grandparents at a picnic table.

1y

After lunch we met up with our afternoon group at the park and headed out for Kerry Jarvis's house in Southampton.

Kerry was very hospitable, welcoming us to his fire pit area, serving us juice and homemade cookies. He explained his approach to naturalizing a lot, using three essential ingredients for attracting wildlife - supplying food, shelter and water. He answered many specific questions. He demonstrated a squirrel-proof bird feeder. Then he gave us a tour of his lot. His nature-friendly garden features mulch (no grass), walkways, different heights, native plants and several bird houses (including one for a screech owl). A White-crowned Sparrow hopped about. It was a relaxing and informative afternoon.



Next we drove over to the church where the banquet was held. We arrived early so took the time to hike - the church was beside Southampton Fairy Lake path. Of course we looked for birds and saw an American Robin and a Northern Cardinal as well as a Painted Turtle.

Many birders attended the banquet. We were treated to an excellent, and entertaining, presentation on loons by Doug Tozer. As it got dark, we drove Colin and Hilda to Port Elgin and then it was back to our tent for us. Another early morning tomorrow... rain in the forecast...