DAY 5 Monday, May 25, 2015
Brant Tract, Paisley, Blind Line
and
Fun, Frog, Frolic
Bird of the day: Mourning Warbler
Huron Fringe Birding Festival:
DAY 5 Monday, May 25, 2015
Brant Tract, Paisley, Blind Line
and
Fun, Frog, Frolic
Bird of the day: Mourning Warbler
We woke up to a light rain at 4:45am this morning. Out came our
rain gear. As our first outing was at 6am, we decided to skip
lighting our Coleman stove for breakfast and to test out the
Festival (Tim Horton's) coffee and muffins. When we arrived at
the Visitor Centre, Colin and Hilda came to say goodbye. It did
seem like it would be a rainy day. Off they went home and we
finished our breakfast and checked in with our group.
| Other Morning Coffee & Pastries 5:30am Coffee and pastries are available in the Visitor Centre. |
Judith advised us to car pool in large 4 wheel
drive vehicles as we would be going on a bumpy, muddy road.
Another couple generously invited us to travel in their truck.
| Morning Brant Tract, Paisley & Blind Line Judith King A38 6:00am to 11:30am Explore the Brant Tract with its mixed woods and stream by travelling along an old road to the bottom of the valley. Paisley will showcase bird feeders and several species of swallows. The Blind Line parallels the Saugeen River and passes through fields and mixed forest. Species: Grasshopper Sparrow, Clay-coloured Sparrow, Cliff Swallow, Bobolink, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Difficulty: EASY -- Walking leisurely on groomed and maintained trails. Walking shoes are recommended. You should be able to walk up to 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) without any problems. Bring Drinking Water, Car-Pool <100km, Outdoors |
Judith was right - the Brant Tract Road was
both very bumpy and muddy (and buggy). Although it was no longer
raining, everything was drippy. Interestingly a murder of crows
was nearby very loudly harassing an owl (our guess) for about
half an hour.
As the light was low and we were looking into the forest, bird
sightings were dark images. Barbara used her pointer a few times.
Only when the birds came out could we see some colour. We saw a
Song Sparrow, Brown Creeper, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American
Robin, Great Crested Flycatcher and Gray Catbird. We heard plenty
of Mourning Warblers, but had trouble seeing them. We also heard
an Eastern Wood Pewee.
Bill worked hard to get his Mourning Warbler. Judith commented
that we had come to the right place, as there were quite a few of
them.
As we were leaving, the forest and sky brightened a bit and the
white trilliums glistened.
Now we were off to visit Paisley, a nearby town. A Baltimore
Oriole and an Eastern Bluebird greeted us. A House Wren was
nesting.
We drove to a dike where we watched flying Bank Swallows
cavorting. Judith scoped the far bank of the river to show us
their burrows.
Lastly we stopped on the Blind Line, a country road, where we saw
a Bobolink, Horned
Lark, Northern Harrier, Wild Turkey and a
Grasshopper Sparrow.
As it started to rain, we headed back to the park.
Today we had time for a leisurely lunch at our campsite. After
lunch we donned our rain gear again (just in case) and hiked over
to the Visitor Centre for Kerry's presentation on park frogs. We
met in the festival tent.
| Afternoon Fun, Frog, Frolic: Observing Frogs at MacGregor Park Kerry Jarvis A40 1:30pm to 4:30pm Searching for frogs in the park can be a lot of fun! Join Kerry as he looks and listens for several species of frogs, and of course the American Toad. If you have them, bring close-up binoculars and camera. Species: American Toad, Spring Peeper, Wood Frog, Northern Leopard Frog, Green Frog, Eastern Gray Treefrog Difficulty: EASY -- Walking leisurely on groomed and maintained trails. Walking shoes are recommended. You should be able to walk up to 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) without any problems. Bring Drinking Water, Car-Pool within Park, Outdoors, Suitable for Beginners |
Kerry provided a lot of information about
frogs. He had us complete a frog questionnaire and handed out a
Frog Facts sheet. This prepared us for a hike in the park to find
frogs and other aquatic life. Two little boys in the group were
happy to carry nets ("above your head").
Check out these photos of our findings:
While checking out the Dwarf Irises we noticed a Great Egret and
a raft of Red-breasted Mergansers out on the lake. Among them was
a male Common Goldeneye.
A lovely sky at the end of the day - and a rainbow!
