Jamaica Day 1: Arriving in Jamaica

After a week of packing and moving, a weekend of birding and camping I finally head to the long awaited Jamaica. Getting there in the off-season is long indeed. Being there 3 hours early as recommended for international flights from Pearson airport in Toronto meant waking up at 2:30am.  I managed to sleep on the plane which is quite unusual for me.

The layover in Miami was quite long and although the airport has a lot of window shopping to offer (window shopping only because I can't afford to buy any of the billions of shiny things in the stores) I just wanted to sleep. Their benches ALL have arm rests and there was no hope of that unless I settled for sleeping on the ground. The next flight took me to Montego Bay, Jamaica where I waited for Aurora to arrive 4 hours later. This wait involved many games of cards and a few Jamaican Pattys.

There were swallows, boat-tailed grackles, butterflies around despite the tropical storm that had blown in. This is definitely rainy season in Jamaica. The hour long drive to Negril showed how important blue crab migration is to so many people. Trucks, cars and vans packed with people drove slowly up the road and we saw people with bags full of blue crab.

When I arrive in Negril and go to unpack and there was a sheet of paper in my luggage informing me that TSA (US border services) had gone through my bag.This was my first layover in the USA and also the first time this as ever happened.

A new lifer at the tip of Canada!

Chris Ho on her first birding trip

With sleep restored I woke up for yet another sunrise in Southern Canada.  Today I went down to the tip to be rewarded with a new lifer bird for myself. The eared grebe was a great first bird of the day and I watched it for a long time as I eat my breakfast at the tip. Again at the tip there were foresters, greater scaup, double crested cormorants and common mergansers. Chris Law, Chris Ho and I walked the west beach footpath back to the visitor centre.

We saw:
House wren (1)
Brown thrasher (3)

Brown thrasher

Surf scooters (20+)

Surf scooters

 Common mergansers

My lifer was the eared grebe that was hanging around and fishing down by the tip around 7-8ish in the morning. The bright red eye contrasts well against the light yellow 'ear' behind it. I watched quite contently as this bird had it's breakfast by diving underneath those chilly waves. The fish it caught that morning were usually longer than it's head but easily slipped down the throat.

Eared grebe

 

 Ruby-crowned kinglet

Ruby crowned kinglet

 

Yellow rumped warbler (+18)

Yellow rumped warbler

Nashville warbler (1)*
Red-winged blackbirds
Common grackles
American robins
Herring gull
Foresters terns
Greater scaup (60)

Greater scaup

Mallard ducks (2)
Mourning doves
Tree swallows (4)

Tree swallows

Hermit thrush (6)
White-throated sparrow (3)
Brown headed cowbird (3)

Brown headed cowbird

Canada goose
Great blue heron
Great horned owl (2)

Great horned owl juv

Yellow rumped warblers (18+)

Yellow-rumped warbler

*heard only
Also seen was a slow moving five-lined skink. The chilly morning made it very easy to catch photos of this cold-blooded creature.
At the owl nest we saw more yellow rumped warblers heard two nashville. I suspect there were other warblers around but couldn't positively I.D any in the short time we spent there.

Trillium

Five-lined skink

Another Day at Point Pelee

It is very nice to return to Point Pelee where I got to live and work for four months in 2009. The park holds a lot of memories and it was nice to walk the trails looking for birds once again.

Sleep deprivation caught up with me this morning. I arrived at the tip around 10am and met up with Josh who had been there bright and early yet again. Today we spent a long time at West Beach walking the sanctuary trail. Josh, Chris, Steve Pike

 I saw:

Yellow rumped warbler (50)

Yellow rumped warbler

Palm warbler
Chimney swift
Barn swallow
Tree swallow
Rough winged swallow
Double crested cormorant
Turkey vultures
Great horned owl (3)
Wood ducks (2)
Woodcock
Yellow bellies sapsucker
Downy woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Blue headed vireo
Hermit thrush (8)
Black and white warbler
Song sparrow
Chipping sparrow
White-throated sparrow
Brown-headed cowbird
Surf scooter
Common loon
Eastern phoebe
Ruby crowned kinglet
Red-winged blackbird
Northern cardinal
Nashville warbler *
Pine warbler*
White-eyed vireo*
Blue-grey gnatcatcher

Blue grey gnatcatcher

Angry bird!

*heard only

Other sightings:
Five lined skink
Dead fox snake
Jack in the pulpit
Giant leopard moth caterpillar

Pensylvanian wood roach

Giant leaopard moth catterpillar

Jack in the pulpit

Sunrise at the Southern Tip of Canada

Josh Vandermeulen, Chris Law, Matt S-M and I were up hazy eyed and ready to see some birds as we took the road to Point Pelee National Park only to stop for a breakfast sandwich at Tim Hortons in Leamington.  We parked near the visitor centre where we spotted a sharp shinned hawk before walking down to the tip. There is usually a tram running that drives people there but we were a bit to early for it. At the tip we saw a hermit thrush, common loon, common mergansers, double crested cormorants, Bonepart's gulls, Forester's terns, barn swallows, tree swallows, and an Eastern phoebe. We heard a gnatcatcher but didn't track it down.

Hermit thrush

Young raccoon

A walk around DeLaurier trail gave us towee, cardinals, more swallows, chipping sparrows, blue-winged teals, house wren and a brown headed cowbird. Great blue herons were seen flying over.

Tree swallow

Sora

 In the northern part of the park the nesting great horned owl was seen close by the nest guarding a growing baby.West Beach proved to be a slower spot that day where we saw a flicker and a downy woodpecker.

Adult watching over their nestling

Fledgeling in the nest

Point Pelee isn't only a great place for birding though. Many butterflies were seen  throughout the day. Red admirals, cabbage white, spring azure, little yellow and question marks were seen around the park. There were a lot of reptiles hiding under logs.  A few five-lined skinks were seen with Dekays brown snake and a melanistic garter.  I was presently surprised to see the native species of wingless termites under a log.

Chris law and a five lined skink that though he was a good place to hide on (This was not posed at all! Believe it!)

Spring azure

Five-lined skink

Dekay's brown snake

Josh with a young melanistic (lacks colour pigment) garter snake

Dutchman's breeches

  We also witnessed a sad part of the circle of life where a raccoon eat a brown snakes tail off.  These creatures I will admit are very cute and can be very beneficial as scavengers that clean up the environment however, we have killed off most of their predators and the number of raccoons are supported by agriculture and city waste produced by humans. This means that there are too many of these creatures to feed and many turtle eggs, snakes and other things get eaten.

Josh at Hillman Marsh Conservation Area

We left the sad sight behind and went to Hillman's marsh. There were hundreds of  foresters terns, a few common terns, yellow warbler, barn swallows, tree swallows, rough winged swallow, greater scaup, mute swam, canada geese, field sparrow, white-throated sparrow, killdeer and goldfinch. Just a spot in the distance we saw what we suspected was a bald eagle. Driving back to Wheatly this was definitely confirmed as I shout to stop the car. The bald eagle was carrying a decently sized stick for a nest.  This fascinating bird was a great way to end our birding excursion for the day. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends around the campsite at Wheatly.

Mute swan

Killdeer

Camping at Wheatly Provincial Park

The past four years of University I have celebrated the end of the school year by going camping with a few friends from Guelph.  We have so far gone to Pinery, Bon Echo, Sandbanks and this year we decided on Wheatly.  All of these parks are amazing places and each year we have had a great time. However, Wheatly posed a new interest being that it is one of the closest places to camp near Point Pelee National Park. This was the draw for me and my friends this spring. We were hoping a few birds might have migrated early due to the warm weather we have had.

On arrival to Weatly we were welcomed to our site in Two-Creeks Campground by the calls and flutters of barn and tree swallows. Every so often carp would splash the water. A belted kingfisher, foresters terns, downy woodpeckers, Canada geese and mallard ducks were also seen in the few hours we had before sunset.

Walking through the park we saw a lot of spring wild flowers that had survived the warm-cold  weather and surprise frosts after days wearing shorts. My two favorites were the trilliums and trout lilies.

Wooly Violet

The cold crept in as the sun set and we huddled around the fire. We were in for a cold weekend!

Back home

So after a long move from Guelph to Ottawa I haven't had much time to go out since exams. Today I was unpacking and visiting family. When I arrived at my grandparents house in Winchester I was pleasantly surprised to see a brown creeper climbing a tree in their yard. I was kicking myself again for leaving my camera in Guelph for the camping trip I am going on this weekend. This was the first brown creeper I have seen this year. However the camping trip will be going to Wheatly Provincial Park where we will be birding there and at Point Pelee nearby.

Spring flowers aren't out as much here as they are in Guelph but many of the shrubs are already flowering including a prune bush that is usually blooming on my birthday (May 8th).  

Ottawa Orchid Show

Today was the Orchid Show in Ottawa. I have been going to this with my mother (a botanist and orchid lover) for the past few years because it conveniently falls just before mothers day each year and I can always find her something she likes if not have her pick out her own flowers.

These shows involve orchid displays, artwork related to orchids, flower arrangements and orchid dealers who sell them at the show. Each year I see new things and there are usually some very rare orchids that are difficult to get to bloom.

So without further waiting.... Here are some gorgeous flowers.

 Phalaenopsis are probably the most common orchid in terms of house plants. There are many large varieties that are quite easy to grow. I walked out with this little phalaenopsis.

Mini Phalaenopsis

 Seeing green flowers is somewhat unusual in most plant families however many orchids can have white to greenish flowers fairly often.

 The bucket orchid is one of those species which rarely bloom and are hard to grow. They also only bloom for a day before they start closing up so this one was perfectly timed for the orchid show.

Bucket Orchid (Coryanthes)

Sedirea japonica are one of the fragrant orchids. They smell wonderful despite being quite small. It was very tempting to walk away from the show with one of these as well. 

Sedirea japonica

Cynodes cooperii

Cycnodes cooperii

This Cynodes cooperii is testament to the unique relationships orchids have with their pollinators. I have no idea what creature pollinates this orchid or how but it does appear to be quite unique and specialized in form.

Lycaste skinneri

Krull's scarlet

Cymbidium devonianum