Not With A Rush But A Trickle, Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, Onatario

The cold weather we were hoping for never really materialised with the weather being unseasonably warm and pleasant and well above freezing.

The second American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) to be caught at
Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory

This strange and unusual temperatures meant that the trees never really turned the wonderful reds and oranges that Canada is envied across the world for, with many leaves just turning brown and shrivelling in the heat on the trees and falling off, on the upside the weather was good for finding reptiles and amphibians late into the season which will be detailed below.

Luckily we still managed to catch a few good birds, the stations second American Pipit Anthus rubescens was caught on the 24th September. Although these can often be seen flying over, often at lofty heights, rarely coming down low enough to get caught so it was a nice surprise to get in the nets.

White-Eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)

The 6th of October was a two bird day with a stunning White-Eyed Vireo Vireo griseus almost immediately followed by a Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna, a species which was much larger in the hand than I realised. The vireo even managed to make the front page of the Wellington Times!

Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)

Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

A Red-Shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus was spotted by David on the 13th of October and managed to get caught in one of the normal mist nets, after flying underneath the first set of hawk nets an impressive hawk and the last big hawk of the year. Due to the warmth many of the species we'd expected to move south spent the entire migration period further north!

The warmth also affected the number of owls we'd been catching, a bit of a problem due to the numbers of visitors we were now getting specially to see the owl banding. 123 people turned up for the Thanks Giving owl banding and typically we caught ZERO owls during the standard period whilst the next night we caught 4 owls with only four lucky visitors for the entire evening. A few Long-Eared Owls Asio otus were caught but only singles of both Barred Owl Strix varia and Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio. The Northern Saw-Whet Owl Aegolius acadicus total came in at 589, over a hundred less than the 2016 total but we did finish the season a few days early due to the weather.

Long-Eared Owls (Asio otus) roosting within
 the Wildlife Area

On the 14th Bethan flew out to join me. Allowing her to finally get to see the saw-whets she'd wanted to see and also getting to band a selection of late fall migrants. She also got to extract and band her first raptor, a Sharp-Shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus, not an common occurrence back in Britain but she managed to band a few in the end.

The highlight for me came mid morning on the 21st of October during a very slow day, although David had spotted one early in the morning by now I thought it was to late to catch one, although having seen plenty throughout the spring and early fall I'd almost given up hope. From down the path I could hear a woodpecker calling, slowly in my head I went through the calls of species I knew, it was too raucous to be a Northern Flicker, it could only be a Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus! A species I really hoped I'd get to see in the hand.

Half running along the track I met Robyn at the clearing and lucky for me holding a male Pileated! They really are quite something, after seeing the size of the holes they can cause in their search for carpenter ants I was a littler worried about my hands but it only managed a to cause a few small holes, the chisel sharp claws also caused a bit of damage but it was worth it and probably my personal highlight or the air boating, its hard to pick one thing in such an amazing trip!

Star catch! A Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

After the excitement it quietened down at the observatory with the final few weeks being filled with American Robins Turdus migratorius, Myrtle Warblers Setophaga coronata coronata, Kinglets, including one Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa which seemed to have some form of deficiency, causing it to have a very pale plumage. The biggest mystery of the season seemed to be the sparrows, much like the hawks, they seemed to be enjoying the warmth and didn't see any reason to move southerly very quickly.

With the warm weather it was no surprise that many of the reptiles and amphibians were out much later than normal, Northern Leopard Frogs Lithobates pipiens could be seen down by the edge of the lake in their thousands, many of them juveniles although a few huge adults could also be seen. Also present were Green Frogs Lithobates clamitans with their large distinctive tympani. With some careful searching Grey Treefrogs could also be found along the cliffs, matching the stone and tucked into crevices.

Green Frogs (Lithobates clamitans)

A few large Snapping Turtles Chelydra serpentina and Midland Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta marginata were present in the swamp although both eluded photographs until on the 7th October a tiny hatchling snapper was found along the path to the nets, its strange to think that eventually it will grow to be the size of a dustbin lid and capable of slicing through skin and bone.

A Tiny hatchling Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina)

Mammal wise it was pretty quiet. American Beavers Castor canadensis could still be seen in the dock, often busy collecting willow ready for the long winter. Coyotes Canis latrans could be heard calling on several evenings, sometimes eerily close whilst Saw-whet netting and Eastern Cottontails Sylvilagus floridanus were often seen in the net lanes at night.

American Beavers (Castor canadensis) in the harbour.

Raccoons Procyon lotor were seen occasionally, more often evident was what they had been up to the previous evening although I did get amazing views of one just outside Milford on the 2nd of October after it had crossed the road and came very close .

Raccoon (Procyon lotor) close to Milford.

There was one stand out mammal I was lucky enough to find, it was the first record for the observatory and I was a little wary of it after some of the stories I had heard about them, easily chewing through mist nets. The Northern Flying Squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus is a small nocturnal mammal found in forested areas in northern North America. With incredible sharp incisors I was glad when Dave offered to take it out of the net for me, I think it could have easily bitten through the four bird bags I'd formed into a rudimentary gauntlet.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

With the onset of Autumn plenty of fruits and berries were forming on the trees, by far the tastiest were the nuts of the Shagbark Hickory Carya ovata, which although tiresome to process tasted amazing. The stands of aster and goldenrod were particularly impressive this year mainly due to the high water levels and continuing warmth at the end of the season but my time at the Observatory was coming to an end and it was soon time for me to visit other parts of Ontario.