Friday 8th May – Friday 22rd May 2009

A spring migration extravaganza! 

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The northern shore of Lake Erie is home to some of the most famous and exciting migration watch points in North America. Imagine standing on the tip of Point Pelee as wave after wave of tiny passerines literally land at your feet! With over 30 species of brightly coloured warblers to search for, as well as vireos, tanagers, flycatchers, thrushes, orioles and sparrows we literally just won’t know where to look first! Long Point and Rondeau are also superb areas we will visit, where an astonishing variety of northbound migrants can be found. As a picturesque ending to this tour we will spend the last three days in the wilderness of Algonquin Park, where the rugged scenery attracts such gems as Hooded Merganser, Ruffed and Spruce Grouse, Evening Grosbeak, Grey Jay, and Boreal Chickadee, as well as mammals such as Moose and Black Bear. Starting off beside the scenic splendour of Niagara Falls, this holiday is quite simply spectacular!

Our Tour Itinerary

Day 1
Fly from London arriving at Toronto in the early afternoon. We will then drive to our hotel by the spectacular Niagara Falls for our first night. (Please check for availability to fly from other local airports.)

Days 2 - 3
We’ll spend the early morning around Niagara Falls where we will soon see our first North American birds, such as Great Blue Heron, Bonaparte’s and Ring-billed Gulls, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle and Blue Jays amongst others. Any open areas with bushes are likely to produce our first stunning Yellow Warbler, whilst Black-capped Chickadee, Grey Catbird, or an Eastern Kingbird might set our pulses racing! The road alongside the falls is productive, where apart from the stunning views we can see the huge Purple Martin, as well as Northern Rough-winged, Tree and Cliff Swallows, and Chimney Swift. Leaving the falls behind us we head west to Long Point, a superb watch point, which given the right weather conditions can play host to hundreds of north bound migrants. Lots of brightly coloured warblers may include Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Black-and-White, Yellow, Wilson’s, Palm, Bay-breasted and many more. Other species we will look out for include Brown Thrasher, Northern Oriole, Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Ovenbird, Cedar Waxwing, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Grey Catbird. We will spend 2 nights nearby at Simcoe.

Days 4 - 10
After spending the morning around Long Point we will then head to Leamington our gateway to mass migration. Here we spend the next 7 nights which gives us a fantastic opportunity to explore Point Pelee National Park which has gained a world wide reputation for being one of the best places to be during North American spring migration, and given the right weather conditions can witness breathtaking falls of thousands of birds, with trees and bushes supporting every colour of songbird imaginable. Warblers may include Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Magnolia, Canada, Blackburnian, Mourning, Black-throated Blue, Cape May and Northern Parula, and if are fortunate we could find Worm-eating, Swainson’s, Yellow-throated or the skulky Connecticut. Kirtland’s Warbler can also occur as seen on our previous tour, saving the long tedious drive into Michigan for this rare species. Vireos should include Red-eyed, Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Warbling, Philadelphia and White-eyed, with stunning Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles and Blue Jays also present. Each day here can present different birds, where one day may see hundreds of raptors passing through, while the next waders take over. In the wet marshes, viewable from hides and boardwalks, we will search for American and Least Bitterns, Great Blue and Green-backed Herons, Red-winged Blackbird, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Pied-billed Grebe and Sora Rail. A nearby lake can be excellent for watching magnificent Bald Eagles catch fish to feed their growing young. We will also visit Rondeau Provincial Park, yet another good migration watch point where several interesting breeding species such as Prothonotary Warbler, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker and Eastern Bluebird occur. Great Horned Owls can sometimes be found and both White-tailed Deer and Racoons are common. The superb Hillman’s Marsh will be particularly good for views of waders, with flocks consisting of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary, and Least Sandpipers, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Short-billed Dowitcher. The surrounding trees attract smaller birds including such gems as Hooded, Cerulean, Kentucky and Mourning Warblers, American Redstart and both Yellow and Black-billed Cuckoo.

Our hotel is in the town of Leamington, close to Point Pelee National Park. This enables us to thoroughly explore this wonderful site at a very relaxed pace. The species passing through change day by day so we will search out new birds and any others previously missed, such as Yellow-breasted Chat, Brown Thrasher, the huge Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Indigo Bunting, Veery, Swainson’s, Hermit and Wood Thrushes and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. One of the most difficult families is the `Empidonax’ flycatchers, with Least, Willow, Alder, Acadian and Yellow-bellied all testing our identification skills. Meanwhile a whole selection of different sparrows is possible, including White-crowned, White-throated, Grasshopper, Savannah, Chipping, Lincoln’s, Song, Swamp, Field and Vesper, occasionally even Le-Conte’s or Henslow’s. Raptors on our list should by now include Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged, Sharp-shinned, Coopers and Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey and American Kestrel. You will be amazed by the beautiful little Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and with luck we could find a roosting Eastern Screech Owl or Whip-poor-Will, and both displaying American Woodcock and Common Nighthawk.

Days 11 - 13
We will drive north to our hotel in Huntsville, just outside the huge wilderness of Algonquin National Park. Here the scenery changes to boreal type habitat with hundreds of scattered lakes. The birdlife is subtly different with several species existing on the very southern limit of their range. There is an excellent network of trails, with atmospheric names such as the Spruce Bog Boardwalk and Mizzy Trail! Along the roadside wires we should find huge Belted Kingfishers, whilst by walking quietly through the forests we can find the shy Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-backed Woodpecker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Olive-sided Flycatcher, White-winged Crossbill, Purple Finch and Pine Siskin. Ruffed Grouse are reasonably common in certain areas, although Spruce Grouse can take quite a bit of searching before we spot one! The inquisitive Grey Jay is always a much wanted bird, and although they too can be elusive at this time of year, their habit of perching on the tops of pine trees is quite handy. The numerous lakes are always well worth checking for Black and Ring-necked Ducks, the stunning Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, and Great Northern Diver. Animals are well represented and should include Moose, Beaver, Chipmunk, several species of squirrel, and if we were very lucky Black Bear. In the evening it may be possible to hear the howling from one of the local packs of Timber Wolves.

Days 14 - 15
After some final birding we head back towards Toronto airport stopping at an area of grassland habitat where we can find Upland Sandpiper, Loggerhead Shrike, Wilson’s Snipe and Sedge Wren. Our evening flight will take us back to London arriving early morning next day.

Leaders: Steve Bird and Gina Nichol