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April 1999
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May 1999 Sightings in the Windsor Area

Tuesday, May 25: Two Fish Crows were seen again on Monday at the tip of Point Pelee. They did not fly off the tip and may still be present in the park. Warblers and other migrants were scarce on the weekend due to poor weather conditions.

This is a good period to look for late migrants such as Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Cedar Waxwings, Blackpoll Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Conneticut Warbler as well as Yellow-bellied, Alder, Willow and Olive-sided Flycatchers.

Friday, May 21: It has been an exciting week for rarities at Pelee. The Ross's Gull was seen Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday two Fish Crows and two Misssissippi Kites attracted large groups of birders. On Thursday Paul Pratt discovered an Eurasian Tree Sparrow visiting a bird feeder at Paula's Fish Place just north of Pelee. The sparrow is another first for Pelee and only the second record for Ontario. Another Mississippi Kite was seen today at Pelee.

Tom Hince had a Chuck-wills Widow sing about thirty times right beside the entrance sign at Wheatley Provincial Park on Thusday evening. The precise location is as follows: from the only traffic light in Wheatley (corner of Hwy.3 and Kent Rd. 1), go east on Hwy 3 approximately 1 km to the turn off to Wheatley Provincial Park (signed) - this is called Klondyke Rd. Turn right onto Klondyke following the road for about another kilometre (estimated) to where the road curves fairly sharply to the left (as you start to enter a wooded area). The bird was calling from this general area at dusk. Around 9:15 pm would be a good time to listen.

Monday, May 17: An immature Ross's Gull was found this morning at the tip of Point Pelee. The bird was still present this afternoon. This is the first record of Ross's Gull for the Pelee area!

A male Cerulean Warbler was singing from the tall oaks behind the Ojibway Nature Centre this morning and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen on the Prairie Path Trail (Fred Urie).

Giant Swallowtails were seen yesterday at Devonwoods C.A. along with the first Silver-spotted Skippers of the season. Other butterflies seen today include Spicebush and Black Swallowtails, American Painted Lady and Juvenal's Dusky Wing Skipper.

"Junebugs", those robust brown coloured beetles found around porch lights and screens at night have begun to emerge from lawns around the city. These common beetles are the adult stage of the well-known "white grubs" that feed in the soil on the roots of lawn grasses and other plants. It normally takes two or three years for the larvae to mature.

Friday, May 14: An excellent assortment of warblers (24 species) were found at Ojibway and Black Oak Heritage Park today. Highlights include Golden-winged, Blue-winged, N. Parula (3), Blackpoll (3), Mourning, Ovenbird (+30) and large numbers of Chestnut-sided, American Redstart, Tennessee, Nashville and Magnolia Warblers. Fred Urie also found 23 Indigo Buntings at Black Oak. Only a single Cape May Warbler was seen today. This species has been very scarce this spring.

Fred Urie found a Pipevine Swallowtail at Ojibway Park today. This southern butterfly is rarely seen in Windsor.

Tuesday, May 11: Randy Horvath reports 16 species of warblers found at Little River today including a Yellow-breasted Chat in Bertha Bush. 14 warbler species were seen in Memorial Park along with a White-eyed Vireo (Fred Urie) and 15 warbler species were seen at Ojibway. Fred Urie also had 17 different warblers at Devonwood Conservation Area including a male Kentucky Warbler. Scarlet Tanagers are becoming easier to find with birds reported at Oakwood, Ojibway and Devonwood.

Yesterday at Ojibway Matt Best and Rebeckah Blewett saw several Veerys, Catbird, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and two White-tailed Deer.

Friday, May 7: Kirk McCarthy had a pair of Indigo Buntings, White-crowned Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird and a Catbird along the Titcombe bikeway this morning.

Some of the wooded parks in Windsor are attracting a good variety of migrant warblers. Fred Urie had Tennessee, Bay-breasted, Nashville (common), Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Ovenbird, Black-and-White, Blackburnian and Yellow Warbler this week in Memorial Park. Devonwood Conservation Area is another good spot to look for migrants.

Monday, May 3: A 40 acre wild fire spread through the northwest corner of the provincial nature reserve this afternoon. The warm sunny weather of the past week allowed the fire to spread quickly through the dry grass. No adverse effects are expected from this accidental fire.

Many early flowering plants can be found along paths through the unburned portion of the prairie nature reserve such as: Yellow Star-grass, blue-eyed grass, violets, Early Meadowrue, Bastard Toadflax, Wild Oats, Hoary Puccoon, Wild Strawberry, Sweet Grass and Pensylvania Sedge. The spring's first Baltimore Oriole and Juvenal's Dusky Wing Skipper were seen today (P.D. Pratt).

Dave D'hondt reports the following species near East Riverside: Horned Grebe (2) May 3, Bobolink (2) May 3, Forester's Tern (many) May 3, House Wren and Carolina Wren May 1, Greater Yellowlegs (6) May 1 (sitting in pond off of Lakeview St.).

Highlights from Ojibway's birding trip to Hillman Marsh C.A. on May 1 included Sora, Willet, +250 American Golden Plovers, Marsh Wren and Mockingbird. The American Golden Plovers were in a field opposite the south side of the marsh.