Long Point Day 8

Long Point; The Tip

Sadly the tip was shrouded in fog from first thing until early afternoon. Ringing was not too bad, with a small fall of Least Flycatchers and Lincolns Sparrows, helping to keep things ticking over. In the afternoon once the fog had cleared there was a large emergence of gnats which helped keep the flycatchers nice and active. As a result we finally had our first Eastern Wood Peewee of the trip.

In the afternoon Paul and I did a bit more ringing, specifically targeting a Pine Siskin that had turned up at the feeder. We also caught a Northern Waterthrush in the Heligoland Trap, which was a species I had wanted to ring since we had arrived.

Ringing: Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, Northern Waterthrush, Lincolns Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, 

-Black-throated Green Warbler

-Chestnut-sided Warbler

-American Goldfinch

-Nashville Warbler

-Field Sparrow

-Western Wood Peewee

-Northern Waterthrush

-Pine Siskin

-Magnolia Warbler

-Grasshopper Sparrow

Highlights

Northern Waterthrush - The Waterthrush in question had being lingering at the tip for a few days, with Paul telling me that it had never moved closer to the nets or ever looked like getting caught. However, on our first attempt we were easily able to push it into the trap, and had the bird within five minutes. It was nice to be able to ring one of these myself, such a cracking little bird.  

Pine Siskin - Whilst not the most exciting bird, it was nice that we were able to set up our own trap to target it, and then the fact that it worked! We used a ground trap full of seed and took away the feeders in the hope that we could encourage the bird into the trap. Surprisingly it did not take long at all, and within the hour we had the bird in the bag. The only downside is that it interrupted Paul and my game of chess.

Grasshopper Sparrow - The rarity of the day arrived in the evening. Grasshopper Sparrows behave very similar to Grasshopper Warblers in that they skulk and don’t really show. Fortunately this individual was seen first on the path, and we were then able to track it as it skulked through the vegetation. I ruined most of photos by accidentally setting my shutter speed way too high, but got a few nice record shots.

Species List:

Long Point; The Tip: Eastern Wood Peewee, Double-crested Cormorant, Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-breasted Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, American Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Tree Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Blue Jay, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Starling, Blue-headed Vireo, Warbling Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Wilsons Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincolns Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Northern Parula, Grasshopper Sparrow,  Racoon, Painted Terrapin, Red Admiral,