Well, it's been ten months without a trip report. Life got in the way again. My apologies.
This past Sunday's trip was a wonderful one. Nine Pipit members, plus Geordie and I, met at Birds Canada in Port Rowan (near Long Point Provincial Park).
Here we went for a lovely walk around the trails. Sandhill Crane calls filled the air, as endless flocks of Cranes flew over us throughout our walk. Notable bird sightings on this walk included a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
From here we went to Old Cut, Birds Canada's banding station. We also walked the trails here. The notable bird sightings occurred at the beginning of the walk, from the parking lot! Thanks to the keen spotting of Ben and Geordie, we saw a White-winged Crossbill and Pine Siskin, as well as a Purple Finch - all high up in a pine tree. Conditions were not favourable for viewing, and we all dealt with warbler neck issues, but these birds were a highlight.
After lunch at the corner store across from the Esso in Port Rowan, we drove around a little bit and looked for flocks of Sandhill Cranes. Although the skies were full of Crane flocks moving around, the largest flock we saw was only about 50 birds. Still, these large and subtly beautiful birds were a treat to see and hear.
We then left Long Point, and drove to a location north of Paris where Short-eared Owls have been repeatedly reported. Almost as soon as we parked and exited our cars, we saw a Short-eared Owl hunting along the side of the road. We had spectacular views of this hunting raptor - flying it's mothlike flight, making sharp turns as it wheeled to drop down to capture a rodent. So beautiful.
A number of folks took photographs, I'll add them to this post as they come to me.
Likewise, I'll update this with our eBird Trip Report, once all the eBird lists come in from our official eBird-er of the day.
Until next time, my friends, it is always a good day when we get together. Thanks all for making it a really rewarding and fun outing.
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