August 21, 2021
It is just under a 3-hour drive to Presqu'ile from home, so we left just before 5 am for the 8 am rendezvous with Jean Iron at the Owen Point Trail parking lot.
Jean explained that all of the shorebirds we would see are juveniles from Canada's far north. They have crisp new plumage. The young would migrate together without any adults. Most of the adult birds in their worn plumage had already passed through in July and early August. Likely these young shorebirds had never seen humans until now.
We hiked down the Owen Point Trail to the beach, and set up our scopes beside the roped-off area to our south, where we could see a few Baird's and Least Sandpipers.
We resigned ourselves to these distant views and poor photos, when to our surprise, they came towards us and even passed right beside where we were standing.
The Baird's Sandpipers have long wings and black legs, while the Leasts have shorter wings and greenish-yellow legs.
We then turned our attention to the north side where some swimmers and sunbathers were starting to gather on the beach. Someone in our group spotted some Sanderlings near them. After scoping for awhile, we crept forward all the way to them to get these better photos.
When we turned back, we got a brief look at a Semi-palmated Plover.
We moved to the Park Store parking area a short distance away, and took the much longer part of Owen Point Trail out to the point itself, as far as we were allowed to go. Wow, was it worth it!
We saw a Short-billed Dowitcher, 8 Semi-palmated Sandpipers, more Least Sandpipers, 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, and a few Spotted Sandpipers (juveniles with no spots).
We also had fly-bys by many Common Terns, some harassing a Northern Harrier, and 8 Green-winged Teals.
That was the end of Jean's wonderful workshop, but not our adventure. We drove all the way to Lighthouse Point and had our lunch at a picnic table. We checked out the gift shop and surrounding trails, but both were disappointing. We drove to the Calf Pasture, and had a few sightings there.
We drove down Bayshore Drive, but it was pretty much a waste of time. So we left the park about 2 pm and headed for the Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve. Our target, of course, was Loggerhead Shrike, but first we spotted an American Kestrel and a Merlin.
We saw a distant Eastern Kingbird, but realized it was not our target bird.
We turned onto Nugent Road, and drove until the habitat ran out, then turned back for one more try. Incredibly, Bill spotted a Loggerhead Shrike very far back with his binoculars. We stopped and got out the scope. YES! It was too far for a decent photo, but we tried anyway. While scoping, Bill saw a second one and a third came in to interact with the first.
After that success, it was time to head to our B&B, the Daisy Hill in Odessa. There was a bit of a mix up, and our room was not ready, so we birded on the grounds, then ate our supper on the deck while waiting.
It was still blisteringly hot, so the cool shower sure felt good. After our long day, we were so tired, we went to bed before dark. Of course, we were up long before the other guests, had breakfast on the deck (prepared by Barbara) and did some more birding. A highlight was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the garden.
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