SPRING AT POINT PELEE

  By Steve Ganley

Point Pelee Provincial Park is truly one of the great spring migration locations in all of North America. I had the good fortune to take my first trip there this past May and I was not disappointed. I am sure that some years are better than others, but birders from the west will be happy with what they see even if the locals try and tell you that it is a bad year. Migration takes a little longer to get this far north and long after southern Arizona’s migration had slowed to a trickle, things are just getting good at Point Pelee.

Point Pelee is a rather narrow, wooded peninsula that extends south into Lake Eire from Ontario, Canada. The migrating birds that are heading north through the central flyway come to the large body of water of Lake Erie and are reluctant to fly across it.  They stop at the southern edge of Lake Erie at places like Crane Creek State Park and Magee Marsh in northern Ohio which are also good places to witness spring migration. Depending on the weather conditions the migrants either pile up at Crane Creek waiting for a tailwind or they head north across Lake Erie. After crossing Lake Erie the first thing the birds will see is Point Pelee sticking out into the water and they head right for it. 

The tip of Pelee is where a lot of the action is first thing in the morning. The park runs a tram from the Visitor’s Centre to the tip of Point Pelee every twenty minutes starting very early in the morning. This is the most southern point in all of Canada. Often the trees and bushes are dripping birds. The newly arrived birds are tired and hungry and often allow close approach for photographs. I saw many birds just standing on the sand near the water eating bugs, one day it was about 15-20 Baltimore Orioles scattered along the shore and on another morning it was Eastern Kingbirds and even a couple of Black-throated Green Warblers. The very tip of Point Pelee is a sand spit and it is the resting place for large numbers of gulls, terns and shorebirds. From this vantage point you can also scan out into Lake Erie and see loons, cormorants and scoters flying by. There are flocks of Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin in breeding plumage and with some luck you might pick out a Little Gull in with the flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls.

Of course the real stars of Point Pelee are the warblers. These colorful songbirds are all over and the males are singing making it much easier to find them. The visitor’s center keeps a log of what warblers are being seen and on what trails. They also have a large map that they mark with a grease pencil what unusual birds are being seen and where. They also have guided walks several times during the day. A morning of birding with twenty species of warblers would not be that unusual. I found the Woodland Nature Trail that starts right out the back door of the Visitor’s Center is a great place to start. Don’t be surprised if you spend two hours just going around this loop trail once.  There are plenty of birds to see besides warblers on this trail. There are 

Vireos, Catbirds, Thrushes, throw in a few male Scarlet Tanagers, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays and Indigo Buntings and color seems to be everywhere. 

Some species migrate a little earlier than others and you can adjust your visit depending on what species you want to see the most. The birds often come through in waves. One day there may be lots of Magnolia Warblers and Blackpolls and on the next there may be lots of Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers. Every day there is a little different mixture of birds and you need several days to visit all of the locations in the park. There are subtle differences in habitats that make one place just a little better for one species over another. There are grassy areas that are good for sparrows; they have a marsh boardwalk that goes out into the cattails so you can look for rails and bitterns and there are numerous wooded trails that will hold flycatchers, thrushes, orioles and chickadees.

The basic logistics for a trip to Point Pelee are to fly into Detroit, Michigan and rent a car for the short drive into Ontario, Canada and then on to Pelee. I was a little hard core and took a flight that left Phoenix at 11:00 p.m. and with the 3 ½ hour flight time and three hour time change, I arrived in Detroit at 5:30 a.m. and after getting luggage and a rental car I was able to get to Point Pelee by 7:00 a.m. for a long day of birding. One thing that takes a little getting used to is the fact that it stays light out until after 9:00 p.m., even in May. You can bird all day, go eat dinner and still have three more hours of light to bird. 

 There are plenty of accommodations in the town of Leamington which is the gateway to Point Pelee. I found that all of the parks and businesses in the area took American money and with a favorable exchange rate things were quite reasonable. There are several other locations in the area that would be interesting to birders. Wheatly Provincial Park is about 10 miles east of Leamington and has a large campground and good birding. Rondeau Provincial Park is about an hour east of Leamington and has larger trees and there are a few species of birds there that you won’t find at Pelee. If you are going to be there for a week or more, take a couple of days and go north to the boreal forests of Algonquin Woods. There you may find Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadees and other species usually found much farther north. Another option is to go into Michigan and take a trip to either Grayling or Mio, Michigan for the Kirtland’s Warbler. This is about your only chance to see this rare warbler.

PATAGONIA FIELD TRIP REVIEW
Patagonia Area, Sunday, April 21, 2002

By Richard Kaiser

 Although the Patagonia and Nogales area of southern Arizona is at a higher elevation than Phoenix, and so usually somewhat cooler, we can be grateful that this field trip did not occur one week earlier, when the high temperature in Phoenix reached 100 degrees. Instead, this weekend had some pleasant temperatures and light breezes. Warbler migration had started, some orioles and flycatchers had arrived, and Gray Hawks were establishing territories, so spring certainly was here.

Our small group of only seven birdwatchers made the loop via the Railroad and Creek Trails at The Nature Conservancy's Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve. The Railroad Trail's embankments at each end provide great views of the creek, with the water attracting many birds, and it was here we saw Bridled Titmouse, Black Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat, and Acorn Woodpecker, Continuing on down the trail, we heard and saw White-breasted Nuthatch, Summer Tanager, Wilson's Warblers, and Spotted Towhee. Great Blue Herons, a pair of Mallards, and a Belted Kingfisher were seen in flight. Flycatchers were quite prevalent, especially kingbirds, Vermilion Flycatchers (males and females), and what we best determined were Western Wood-Pewees. In previous visits here, I had never seen as many Gray Hawks (in flight) as we did on this field trip, and their cries were heard frequently. Under trees, scurrying amongst leaves, from the Creek Trail, were several flocks of Lark Sparrows. Unfortunately, the Great Homed Owl that my wife, Karen, spotted roosting in a tree from this same trail on Saturday was not there on Sunday. But we were able to observe two hummingbird nests very close over or to the side of the trail, on both days. Other 

birds sighted of very notable interest were Brown Creeper, Yellow Warbler, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and Song Sparrow.

The variety of birds at the preserve made us reluctant to leave, but for some of us, it was a first visit to the neighboring home of Wally and Marion Paton, where their feeders attract many species, especially hummingbirds. Broad-billed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds were the only ones seen, and common, at this time of year. Other seed feeders, or a pool of water, attracted Gila Woodpecker, Lazuli Bunting, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Inca Dove. Here were the only sightings on our trip of Black-headed Grosbeak, Bullock's Oriole, and European Starling.

From here, a few of us traveled south on Highway 82 towards Nogales, to the community and golf course of Kino Springs. Two ponds here are very famous in attracting birds. The new species at the first pond were Green Heron, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and Red-winged Blackbirds, but we also saw more Wilson's Warblers, Cassin's Kingbirds, Vermilion Flycatchers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. On Saturday only, I scouted the second pond by walking completely around it, and I'm glad I did, seeing here only, Barn Swallows, three Ruddy Ducks, two American Coots, one Killdeer, and ... seven Fulvous Whistling-Ducks!

My trip list yields to an impressive sixty species, although this includes a few "questionable" bird sightings, like Black Vulture and Chipping Sparrow. Still, it proves the "Patagonia Area" is one of the best birdwatching spots in Arizona. Do yourself a favor, and join the next Maricopa Audubon Society field trip here!

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EARTH JUSTICE: BECAUSE THE EARTH NEEDS A GOOD LAWYER
(continued from last issue)

Continued from page 16

Alliance for Healthy Air, Sierra Club, the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment and other groups to challenge her decision.

This is a far longer memo than I intended to write when I began, but I thought it important to lay out the facts that underlie our assessment of the administration’s environmental record after one year in office. As I have been writing I am struck by the penchant for secrecy that seems to mark so many of the administration’s appointees. Perhaps this is the result of their backgrounds in industries where business secrets are important; if so, they have carried this love of secrecy into government, where it is far less appropriate. The devious, disguised methods by which they try to roll back environmental regulations also suggest that they don’t think they have the public behind them - that people would be good and mad if they understood what’s going on. They would be, and they should be.

In all, I would say that Bush administration officials have used their first year in office to position themselves for rolling back environmental regulations but that for the most part it is too early to tell whether they will succeed. The events of last fall clearly took public attention elsewhere, but in the last month we have seen a renewed interest and awareness of domestic issues; that leads to a better informed public and always works to the environment’s advantage. Also, although we are already in the courts over many issues, many issues will not come before the courts, or be resolved by the courts, for another year or two, and it is there that many of these issues will ultimately be decided. You can be sure Earthjustice lawyers will be in court, too, doing our best to ensure that the judges hear the full story. We thank you for playing your part, too, in supporting that effort, and hope that we can continue to count on it

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