The migrants were a bit slow coming in this April, just like the warm weather.
Nevertheless, I brought my Essex County year species total to 117, which is 7 ahead of last year’s count. I’m starting to feel pretty good about my chances of reaching 200 this year.
Here were some Essex County highlights:
- A lifer Vesper Sparrow in Ojibway’s Tallgrass Prairie.
- Lifer Wilson’s Snipes at the Essex Lagoons while birding with Jeremy B.
- An unbelievable amount of Brown Creepers at Point Pelee (I counted 30, but there probably were many more.)
- The continuing Snowy Owls in Essex. They could be still here in MAY!!
I spent a few days in Indiana for a friend’s wedding, and I did do a bit of birding there, though the species I saw there obviously don’t count for my Essex County totals. I was able to find 2 lifers as well as 9 FOY species. The two lifers were: a Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow-throated Warbler (which I was very happy to get, since Yellow-throated Warblers are hard to find in Essex County–none were found last year). The FOY birds were: Wood Thrush, Bobolink, Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Carolina Chickadee, Sandhill Crane, and Pileated Woodpecker.
May is upon us. Good birding to you!
