May 18th, 2015

We spent this past weekend, the Victoria Day long weekend, in Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. There was still ice on our bay, and several kilometers out into Lake Huron, just three weeks ago.  It’s gone now, but that cold water has a great influence on the local weather.  We had single digit morning temperatures with fog and drizzle, followed by sunny afternoons in the mid 20’s.

The spring bird migration funnels up the Peninsula – at which point the birds must fly over the open water of Lake Huron/Georgian Bay to reach Manitoulin Island and the North Shore – can be fabulous if the weather co-operates.  We weren’t disappointed – in the mornings bird movement was slow with the fog and drizzle so they kept to the ground.  But under sunny skies there was a feeding frenzy as the midge flies and mosquitoes got active in the tree tops.  The birds have to fuel up after their previous night’s flight, and in preparation for the next push northward.  Some have wintered as far away as South America, and although for some the long journey ends right here on the Peninsula, many others won’t be “home” until they reach the Boreal Forest, the Hudson Bay Lowlands, or the Arctic islands.  The breeding season is short and several of the shorebirds will turn around and head south again in mid-to-late July!

 

Sometimes we cover some ground birding, but often if you find a little hot-spot and just stay put, the birds stream past you and we’re calling out to each other: “black-thoated green”, “yellow rumped”, “Blackburnian” as the tiny, colourful wood warblers identify themselves by sight or sound.  We tallied 57 species over the weekend without much effort, birding from the deck over dinner, while out cycling, and from bed in the morning as the dawn chorus gets underway.

We’ve had a number of spring butterfly sightings here at home, and we had three species on the Bruce this weekend – the tiny blue Spring Azure, an American Lady, and this Red Admiral that, itself, has migrated up from the US.