Spring Birding On Pelee Island

​As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I split my time this spring between Pelee Island and various birding hotspots on the north shore of Lake Erie (Point Pelee, Rondeau, Long Point). Pelee Island holds a special place in my heart as I went on several childhood camping trips there with my grandparents, and these trips were instrumental in fostering my love of snakes. After going over twelve years between visits to Pelee Island, I finally returned in the spring of 2022. Normally I spend most of May at Point Pelee, but I was becoming a little disillusioned with how busy the park had become during the Festival of Birds, and I was hoping to escape the crowds and really focus on the birds. I have returned in the two springs since. This year I spent five nights on the island. Not nearly enough time mind you, but it was great to get away for a few days. 

Pelee Island sunset

During previous spring seasons, the chance of missing a good bird while being stuck on Pelee Island was enough of a deterrent for me. Indeed, this almost came to fruition last spring, when a Willow Ptarmigan appeared on the tip of Point Pelee while I was stuck on the island. I longingly stared through my scope towards Point Pelee with hopes that the ptarmigan would fly over to the island (it was not to be). But with some quick thinking and coordination with Jacob Stasso (also on Pelee Island at the time), we rode the ferry back to the mainland as pedestrians, and took Jacob's car to Point Pelee to chase the ptarmigan. Our mad dash worked, as we spent around 20 minutes with the celebrity bird until it took flight over Lake Erie and was never seen again in Ontario. 

Willow Ptarmigan - Point Pelee National Park (May 9, 2023)

But the risk of missing a good bird has mattered less and less to me as the years go by, probably due to all of the international travel that my wife, Laura and I have been fortunate to do. I've missed so many rare birds in Ontario over the last few years, and my Ontario bird list is less important to me as my world bird list has grown. Now, the allure of spending a few peaceful days on Pelee Island outweighs the risk of missing a new bird for my Ontario list. I imagine that I will spend a few days every spring on the island, if I can make it work. 

Black-throated Green Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

This spring, I timed my first trip to the island perfectly since a fallout of warblers and other migrants had descended on the island earlier that morning. Thanks to some intel from some friends of mine, I rushed down to Fish Point in the afternoon. I spent a magical few hours with the thousands of migrants - it was glorious!

Tennessee Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

This was one of the best concentrations of migrant songbirds that I had ever seen in Ontario. There were literally thousands of warblers! 

Nashville Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

Cape May Warblers were particularly numerous and I saw over 30 of them in a single tree. 

Cape May Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

I was on the lookout for rarities, of course. Though I couldn't find anything too unusual, it was nice to come across a few White-eyed Vireos, a Willet on the tip, and a Grasshopper Sparrow in the dune grasses. 

Willet - Pelee Island, Essex County

Grasshopper Sparrow is an uncommon but regular breeding species in southern Ontario, but I don't see too many of them during migration. This one thought that it was concealed within a brush pile, but with some manoeuvring I was able to obtain some clean images. 

Grasshopper Sparrow - Pelee Island, Essex County

Orange-crowned Warbler is another species that I don't often see during the spring migration. But the tip of Fish Point was crawling with them; I counted at least six! I love this next photo as it shows the subtle orange in the crown, something which can be tricky to observe in the field. 

Orange-crowned Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

Over the next few days I led a birding tour on Pelee Island with some visitors from Manitoba and Toronto. Luckily, the warbler show continued and we had a blast sorting through all the migrants. It was tough to know where to look - should I check out that male Magnolia Warbler at eye-level in all his glory, or put on my sunglasses to view the incredibly bright male Scarlet Tanager glowing on the beach, or look for the rare White-eyed Vireo singing away? A nice problem to have, that's for sure!

Scarlet Tanager - Pelee Island, Essex County

Speaking of White-eyed Vireo, I noted at least five individuals along the west side of Fish Point that morning. I don't think I've ever seen more than one at a time in Ontario previously. 

White-eyed Vireo - Pelee Island, Essex County

While we were looking at the aforementioned tanager, my ears caught the distinctive song of a male Cerulean Warbler. It took a bit of time to spot him, as there were too many other warblers up high in the same willow, but eventually I managed a good look. This declining species is always a treat to find during migration. 

Cerulean Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

Some other birders had beat us to the tip of Fish Point and found this Piping Plover. Thanks to intensive conservation efforts, Piping Plovers breed at several sites along the Great Lakes and a couple of individuals are seen along beaches every spring and autumn. Still, it is a rare bird in Essex County; one that I had seen in the county just a few times previously. According to this individual's jewelry, it was banded as a chick last summer at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. 

Piping Plover - Pelee Island, Essex County

While I was photographing the plover, an American Pipit flew in and landed on the beach. It was a rare opportunity to obtain some decent photos, since pipits are typically far away in a middle of an agricultural field. 

American Pipit - Pelee Island, Essex County

While Pelee Island has some advantages, Point Pelee is famous for a reason and it is probably still the "better" birding locale. For one, Point Pelee is a lot larger, while most of Pelee Island consists of agricultural land with just a few protected areas here and there. Point Pelee also has Hillman Marsh, the onion fields and several harbours in close proximity, making it far far better for shorebirds, gulls and waterfowl. The sheer number of birders at Point Pelee also means that there are always birds to chase, if you are into that sort of thing. On Pelee Island, there is no sitting around and waiting for a Discord message to pop up. You have to find all your own birds. Personally I much prefer that, but there is something to be said about birding at Point Pelee where a lot of great birds are reported regularly. ​

Cape May Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

I would be remiss if I didn't mention any of the reptiles or mammals found on Pelee Island. Blanding's Turtles seem to have a healthy population here, and we lucked out with one beside the boardwalk at Lighthouse Point one day. 

Blanding's Turtle - Pelee Island, Essex County

We also spotted this young Lake Erie Watersnake at Lighthouse Point. This subspecies is found throughout the western Lake Erie archipelago and they are quite common along the shorelines of Pelee Island. Most individuals lack much patterning, enabling them to blend in well with the limestone shoreline. This particular one was strongly patterned, so much so that it looked basically like a Northern Watersnake, the subspecies that ranges throughout the rest of southern Ontario. 

Lake Erie Watersnake - Pelee Island, Essex County

The squirrels on Pelee Island are also worth looking at, as this is the only population of Fox Squirrel in the province (there are no Eastern Gray Squirrels on Pelee Island). Apparently these Fox Squirrels were introduced in 1890 or thereabouts. They seem to thrive on the island as they are quite regularly observed. 

Fox Squirrel - Pelee Island, Essex County

This spring, a pair of Great Horned Owls nested at Lighthouse Point and their nest was easily viewable not far from the beach. I observed the youngsters on a couple of occasions and was able to see how quickly they grew. These muppets were a big hit with both of my tour groups!

Great Horned Owl - Pelee Island, Essex County

Great Horned Owl - Pelee Island, Essex County

I visited Pelee Island for three nights the following weekend; my attempt to avoid the worst of the weekend crowds at Point Pelee. The birding wasn't quite as good as it had been during the previous weekend, but even without a "fallout" there were many interesting species to be seen. 

Chestnut-sided Warbler - Pelee Island, Essex County

White-crowned Sparrow - Pelee Island, Essex County

By far, the rarest bird of the weekend was a Loggerhead Shrike. On my first evening I was scoping the gulls on the tip of Fish Point when I met an old friend from university who I hadn't seen in 12 years, James Thompson. We chatted for a bit, and then he casually mentioned that  he and his girlfriend (Gen) had just found a Northern Shrike down the beach. This piqued my curiosity, naturally, and I suggested that perhaps Loggerhead is the more likelier option at this time of year, even though it is a rarity in southern Ontario.  James took me to the site where Gen was still watching the shrike, and a few minutes later it popped up out of a brush pile. It was indeed a Loggerhead Shrike.  

Loggerhead Shrike - Pelee Island, Essex County

Loggerhead Shrikes have a couple of very small populations in Ontario; namely, in the Carden Alvar and the Napanee Limestone Plain. This particular shrike could be on its way to one of those populations, or it could be an overshoot from further south. 

Loggerhead Shrike - Pelee Island, Essex County

Shrikes are famous for their hunting technique, as they will chase down songbirds and impale them on hawthorn spines, barbed wire, or any other suitable spike. Earlier, Gen and James had actually seen this shrike catch a warbler!

Loggerhead Shrike - Pelee Island, Essex County

Unfortunately, it was already getting late in the day and even though we put the word out quickly, I don't think that any other birders managed to see the shrike. The next day, it was gone. This bird represented the first record of Loggerhead Shrike for Pelee Island. 

Loggerhead Shrike - Pelee Island, Essex County

Fish Point is an excellent location to find rare birds as it is basically a mini Point Pelee, jutting south into Lake Erie. It is the premier birding spot on Pelee Island and I make sure to check it at least once a day, preferably twice a day. On subsequent days I couldn't find anything too unusual, though this Northern Mockingbird was a fun bird to find here. It stuck around for two days. 

Northern Mockingbird - Pelee Island, Essex County

American White Pelicans used to be a rare bird in these parts, but they began to colonize the western Lake Erie basin about a decade ago. They nest on some of the uninhabited islands/shoals and several hundred birds are now found each year. As such, pelicans are quite a regular site at Fish Point. If the conditions are clear you can see them resting on Middle Island, about 5 km to the south, but sometimes the pelicans will land at Fish Point where the views are much better. 

American White Pelicans - Pelee Island, Essex County

American White Pelican - Pelee Island, Essex County

Though songbird migration was rather slow on my final couple of days on Pelee Island, the shorebirds were just picking up steam. I spent a delightful final morning at the tip of Fish Point with my scope, counting the flocks of plovers and turnstones that came and went. A dapper Sanderling in breeding plumage was a nice treat and so I walked out to take a few photos.

Sanderling - Pelee Island, Essex County

Sanderling - Pelee Island, Essex County

And with that, another spring trip to Pelee Island had come and gone. I'm already looking forward to visiting the island again next spring!