It was another early start in Sarnia to be able to reach our field trip to Pinery Park by 8:00 am. We showed up for breakfast at 6 am only to learn that the weekend start was at 7 am! No breakfast for us! We made do with muffins from our stash and coffee from the machine in the lobby.
Our leader today was our own Jeff Skevington, ably assisted by Angela, son, Alexander and dad, Richard. Many of the 20 or so participants were really good birders. Jeff pointed out many flowers and insects, as well as birds. From time to time, he used the alarm call tape to call in the chickadees and warblers, thrushes & vireos. They came in, but did not perch in the open very often, so photos are few. Of particular note were a Rusty Blackbird, a Tufted Titmouse, and Pine & Blackburnian Warblers.
When the group hiked to Burley Campground, Bill ran out of steam and waited for awhile at a picnic table, then slowly returned to the car. First Angela, then both Barbaras came back to make sure he was ok. (The next day, he came down with a bug, so that may have been his problem). But the fact is, those hikes for anyone over 80 get harder and harder.
We waited quite a while for Tamara to return, but finally, she texted that we should go ahead and that she would get a ride with someone else. So, we did just that, stopping for ultra cheap gas on the rez.
We were at the hotel when we saw Jeff drive up and drop off Tamara. We rushed over to thank him for guiding and wish him well at the AGM in the evening.
At the banquet, we met many old friends – Dave Milsom, Jean Iron, Eric Baldo, Bev McBride, Mark Patry, Michelle Martin and Jeremy Bensette, to name a few. Henrique was the MC and Jean presented the birding achievements of the Distinguished Ornithologist, Doug McRae. Finally, Sarah gave a sparrow presentation in place of the gull talk by Amar Ayyash. Amar could not attend due to a family emergency.
We all thought that the banquet was excellent – good food and happy birders!
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