- May 18
Yard birds were few and far between.. highlights were Pine Warbler and a displaying (!) Cooper's Hawks. I did pick up my first Swainson's Thrush of the year at Kiah's Marsh.
........
- May 19
It was spitting rain when I got up at 6:00am, but I went outside anyway to check for migrants. I had flyover Common Mergansers and some southbound Yellow-rumped Warblers, but besides that it was rather quiet.
In the afternoon I was out in the yard and saw a large flycatcher drop out of the sky and land in a dead tree.. an Olive Sided Flycatcher! I've only had olive-sided a few times here, and only in the fall, so I was happy to add it to the yearlist.
In the evening I went out to listen for nocturnal flights calls, of which I heard none. An Eastern Whip-poor-will kept me company though. I was just about to head in the for the night when I heard something totally unexpected.. Virginia Rail! A yard lifer and awesome bird to get here.
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Virginia Rail
- House Wren
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- American Redstart
Yard yearlist at May 19th - 134
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| - Olive-sided Flycatcher |
..........
- May 20
Finally some new stuff! The weather looked promising (warm with SE wind overnight), so I was out in the yard at 5:30am. It was a nice morning for birding and the next few hours produced some good birds. I added 6 species to the yard yearlist and saw 66 species in total. Highlights listed below;
- 2 Mourning Doves
- 1 Common Loon
- 1 American Bittern
- 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher (most likely the same bird I had the previous day)
- 2 Eastern Kingbirds
- 1 Veery
- 12 Bobolinks
- 13 Baltimore Orioles
- 16 Nashville Warblers
- 3 American Redstarts
- 3 Northern Parulas
- 2 Blackburnian Warblers
- 3 Yellow Warblers
- 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
- 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers
- 3 Scarlet Tanagers
- 2 Indigo Buntings
That was it for birding on the 20th, though I did have a Bank Swallow in the evening
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Eastern Kingbird
- Bank Swallow
- Northern Parula
- Yellow Warbler
- Scarlet Tanager
Yard yearlist at May 20th - 139
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| - American Redstart |
 |
| - Yellow Warbler |
 |
 |
| - Nashville Warbler |
 |
| - Baltimore Oriole |
 |
| - Indigo Bunting |
 |
| - Scarlet Tanager |
..........
- May 21
Did a 16 hour big sit in the yard to raise money for Birds Canada. I did a separate blog post for that, so here's the link; Click here to read about the sit
Long story short.. 91 species, 7 new species for the yard yearlist, 1 sun burnt birder...
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Eastern Screech-owl
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Chimney Swift
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Northern Waterthrush
- Bay-breasted Warbler
Yard yearlist at May 21th - 146
- May 22
Due to big day exhaustion I slept in until 10am.. not much birding all day, well nothing of note anyway. Highlight was a Common Nighthawk in the evening.
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Common Nighthawk
Yard yearlist at May 22nd - 147
 |
| - Common Nighthawk |
..........
- May 23
It feels like July.. stinking hot morning and no obvious migrants. I guess highlights were Broad-winged Hawks and Eastern Kingbird. Later in the morning I got a Canada Warbler at "Kiah's Marsh"..
In the afternoon a singing Field Sparrow visited the yard, so that was a nice surprise.
 |
| - Field Sparrow |
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Field Sparrow
Yard yearlist at May 23rd - 148
.........
- May 24
Left my yard for some birding around South Bruce.. So not much to report. In the evening I had a few decent birds in the yard including; Lincoln's Sparrow, Cape May Warbler, Northern Paula, Canada Warbler and Scarlet Tanager.
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Canada Warbler
Yard yearlist at May 24th - 150
.........
- May 25
Yard felt like July and was dead again. I'll just link my checklist.. Yard list linky
..........
- May 26
Yard was super quiet.. again. Had my first Alder Flycatcher of the year at Kiah's Marsh, but that was it for highlights.
.......
- May 27
Another hot, birdless day. Again, I'll just link my list.. Here
Also had a nighthawk in the evening.
..........
- May 28
The day started off like the previous day, hot and lacking new birds, but then it rained for a hours and strong south wind pushed up the peninsula. After lunch the rain stopped so I went out for a skywatch, as it was just one of those days where it seems anything could fly over. A few minutes after I went out a Peregrine Falcon drifted over, which is always an awesome bird to see. Then bam!........ Purple Martin flying north! Yard lifer and the first one in Bruce this year. While martins aren't that uncommon in Southern Ontario, they have declined drastically in Bruce and are now a rare sight in the northern part of the county.
Things quieted down after the martin, so besides 2 nightjars in the evening, that was it for the day.
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Purple Martin
Yard yearlist at May 28th - 151
..........
- May 29
Another slow day, highlights were a flock of Cedar Waxwings and a Common Nighthawk in the evening.
I did have some decent birds around my neighbour's house.. that list Here
..........
Spring migration is nearing it's end now and I'll be lucky to add 5 birds to the yardlist before July, so I probably won't be posting as often.
There's still hope for rarities though and of course anything could turn up! Maybe I'll get a Swallow-tailed Kite or Neotropic Cormorant fly over...👀
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