With north winds Point Pelee was much slower and we only saw a small fraction of the migrants we had at Crane Creek. But the trails were lovely and we did see a good scattering of migrants, including our only Olive-sided Flycatcher, a rare migrant in the East. Most of the birders’ attention was focused on the Black Swift, which appeared for some 20 minutes the day before our arrival. This and another at Long Point (to the east) were the first documented records for eastern North America.
We did spend one evening at De Laurier where we watched displaying American Woodcocks and finally saw Common Nighthawk. We won’t soon forget the many Wild Turkeys which have recently become established on their own here. At nearby Hillman’s Marsh we saw a large number of shorebirds, including hundreds of Black-bellied Plovers, many of the males being stunning in their full breeding plumage. An immature Little Gull was also notable.
