Four More Weeks, Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, Ontario

With the weather continually warming but it still seeming to rain a lot (eventually with some consequences), it was soon starting to feel a bit more like the spring I knew.

Blood moon rising over Lake Ontario

With this mixture of weather came the midges Chironomidae spp., bad news for us, these huge swarms  covered everything, it's almost like driving through rain when trying to get to town but its good news for the birds, high in fat these tiny insects allow the birds to rapidly put on weight, becoming little butterballs allowing them to continue their northerly migration, many back to the boreal forest which covers vast swaves of the northern landscape.

Blackburnian Warbler, Setophaga fusca one of the stars of the show

Day by Day the numbers of sparrows were now getting less and less, many of these species with only the local breeders being heard and seen by the end of the month but replacing the sparrows were what I had really come to see, the New World Wood-Warblers Setophaga spp. in Spring.

This really is a spectacle worth the travel, many of the species I had seen last fall, they were ugly in comparison to what they now looked like. Prime examples of this were Blackpoll Setophaga striata, Chestnut-Sided Setophaga pensylvanica and Blackburnian warblers Setophaga fusca, all of which looked amazingly different to their drab autumnal selves. Some species change very little, Orange-Crown Vermivora celata, Chestnut-Sided Setophaga pensylvanica (my favourite fall warbler) and Black-Throated Blue Warblers Setophaga caerulescens don't feel the need to change and look much as they do all year round.

A jewel, an adult male orange morph Scarlet Tanager, Piranga olivacea

The most noticeable difference to the fall is the noise, no simple confusing chips now, the birds had found their voices and were belting out a cacophony of song. Confusing songs and whole new learning curve and eventually I managed to learn the most obvious and distinctive.

The Lighthouse, now with additional water

By mid-May the woods were a riot of sound, colour and smells. Birds of all colours had moved up from the south, Scarlet Tanagers shared trees with Baltimore Orioles, looking like last years left over Christmas decorations. Dormant seeds had sprouted into ephemeral spring flowers and Bursting buds bathed the forest floor in soft spring light but still the water levels on the lake kept rising.

In the end the water levels were the highest recorded on Lake Ontario for a 100 years, causing flooding in many low lying areas, the net lanes often had water running through them and the swamp was filled to the brim. A westerly breeze caused huge problems, the fisherman lost their dock, the cottage opposite lost several foot of shoreline and eventually the lighthouse became stranded and surround by water.

The change in flora was also noticeable, the Dutchman's Breeches and trout Lillies gave way to Woodland Phlox Phlox divaricata, which enjoyed the wet weather and formed a mauve carpet all through the woods. Canadian Columbine Aquilegia canadensis grew along the paths. One of my favourite flowers and a key nectar species for hummingbirds in the spring, A truly lovely species to find.

Canadian Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis

Eastern American Toad, Anaxyrus americanus americanus

More fauna was also becoming more noticeable, especially snakes which could often be seen basking on in the shrubs and on the paths. Northern Water Snake Nerodia sipedon sipedon had taken to basking in the dogwoods above the flooded pools around the harbour area. A Raccoon Procyon lotor was found sleeping in one of the larger trees on the 4th of May. Eastern American Toads Anaxyrus americanus americanus started showing up early in May and could be found occasionally for the rest of the month.

Male Golden-Winged Warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera

A number of notable species were caught, including many I wasn't really expecting to be extracting out the nets.

An Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus was caught on the 10th May, a male Golden-Winged Warbler Vermivora chrysoptera on the 11th and a female banded on the 23rd.

An Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus on the 15th, Mourning Warbler Geothlypis philadelphia on the 16th, Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus on the 20th after several days of two being present on the site.

Yellow-Breasted Chat, Icteria virens

A Yellow-Breasted Chat Icteria virens on the 21st, Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina on the 22nd, Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius and finally an Olive-Sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi on the 26th. In the end a very busy month!

By far the most special was what most people would class a boring species, a corvid but not your ordinary crow. A week prior to being caught Dave had thought he had seen a Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus. Similar looking to the related American Crow, it has a distinct nasal call and is generally much less shy. He was right and a few days later it was confirmed. Now we had to catch it, eventually after a couple of days feeding on some stale crisps left by some children it was caught in a bow net. This is the first case of the species being banded in Canada and a species Dave had never banded, not a common occurrence in the slightest!

Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus