Birding in Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Sorry for the delay, but here are the photos from last Sunday when I was birding at Presqu'ile Provincial Park with Trent's ornithology class.

Waking up early and waiting for the school bus just after 6am.

Lake Ontario

 

Missed the opportunity of photographing a Pileated Woodpecker eating wild grapes.  This was the only shot I got.

 

Can you find a Yellow Warbler in this photo?

Male Goldfinch.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly.

Cedar Waxwing on treetop.


White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Nuthatch picking insects off the bark of the tree.

American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) wagging its tail as it walks.

Killdeers

Canada Geese landing

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) among all the Ring-billed Gulls.  Apparently, L. marinus is the largest member of the gull family.

Kite-surfing on the muddy-looking lake waves.

Now, this next series of photos is quite interesting.  As we were heading back to a spot for lunch, we saw a Merlin swooping and perching on a dead snag.  It had something between its talons, but it was a bit too far to see for certain.  I clicked away with my camera while the Merlin dissembled the prey and chowed it down, and when I reviewed the photos, it was a Mourning Cloak butterfly!

Eating the butterfly.

You can see a part of the antennae from the butterfly.

Unknown flowers.

Fringed Gentians!  I haven't seen them in more than two years!


We saw a baby Eastern Gartersnake.  Despite looking big in this photo, it was probably only 20-cm long.

Mute Swans flying across the lake.

There was a spit where we could walk on for at least a kilometer.  There were quite a few things that you will frequently encounter:


Huge dead Carps,

lots of woolly bearers,

dead birds, such as this cormorant and gulls.  Apparently most of them died from botulism.  Yikes.

Nice weather - windy but nice.

Painted Lady on a thistle.

White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) - very poisonous!


Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum)

Some waterfowls in the marsh area - Mallards, Green-winged Teals, and some Wood Ducks.

I spent most of this weekend grading lab assignments from the stats class.  Lots of work.