View allAll Photos Tagged PointPelee
Most birders will instantly recognise this image of a Gray Catbird. The light was fading very fast when I created this image so I decided to convert it to Black and White and raise the contrast.
Photographed in Wheatley Provincial Park in May 2017.
Long-eared Owl, Asio otus
I find this to be the hardest owl to photograph in Ontario. It is often very skittish and difficult to approach. These are wild birds from Point Pelee in winter. I used both a 1.4X and a 2X TC on a 500mm lens in order to shoot from a good distance away
Showy Emerald (Dichorda iridaria) moth as found.
Point Pelee National Park, Essex County, Ontario, Canada.
June 7, 2008.
This caterpillar of this particular Emerald (there are lots of species in this family) feed on Sumacs and Poison Ivy.
Photographs, Videos and Text ©Jay Cossey/Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO). All rights reserved.
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Definitely one of the highlights of my recent trip to Point Pelee for the spring migration was this Canada Warbler. These guys are stunningly beautiful and sadly are declining in numbers due to loss of suitable habitat. They have recently been assessed as "Threatened" by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
The Purple Martin photos posted yesterday and the 7 extra photos I have just posted tonight were all taken after our morning birding tour with Tom Hince had finished. This was Day 3 of our trip in May to Point Pelee in Ontario, and Tadoussac in Quebec. I guess I ended up posting rather a lot of photos of the Purple Martins, but they were so beautiful with their hanging gourd nests. Normally, I don't see Purple Martins in Alberta, except for once at someone's acreage near Chestermere years ago, and at the Ellis Bird Farm.
On Day 3, we had arranged for a guide, Tom Hince, to take us out between 6:00 am and 11:00 am, so it was an extremely early start, There were so many birders on the trails! Funny how so many birders are very tall people, so I often could not even see anything and missed a lot of the sightings. However, I was happy to see what I did see. After lunch, we made a second visit to the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area and this time, we went for a walk. This area is further north along the coast from Point Pelee. This is where we had seen a wonderfully creative barn with a Heron scene on the front of it, on a different day. Saw a few interesting things, including several Painted Turtles and a green frog. I will be glad to get as far as photos from later in the afternoon, when we walked the Homested Trail at Pt Pelee, thoroughly enjoying two or three beautiful old buildings as well as the nature along the way.
It feels good to get back to sorting through and editing a few more of my photos from a trip with friends to Pt Pelee in Ontario, and Tadoussac in Quebec, in May 2018. Will have to work on this in between an absolutely mammoth clearing-out of my home, partly because of the mouse/mice that have totally stressed out and drained me for the last seven or so months. Though I started off using mouse traps, nothing was caught, which is when I had to pay for a pest control guy to come - useless. Friends and I placed several simple, disposable traps recently and, hey presto, one mouse was caught (to my horror, ha). Since then, after my friends very kindly came and removed it, I have seen no sign or sound from any further mice, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I try to post in more or less the order in which my images were taken - this helps me remember things a little more clearly. I have a lot of images that I want to add to my albums for this holiday, many of poor quality or of little interest to others. I wil try and post a lot at night, when most people are probably off Flickr. Please bear with me.
Four friends (four of the six friends with whom I went to Trinidad & Tobago in March 2017) and I left Calgary airport on 6 May 2018 and flew to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There, we rented a van and did the long drive to Point Pelee for four whole days of birding. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Leamington, which is close to Point Pelee National Park. It fills up very quickly (with birders) and our rooms were booked months ahead of time.
Our four days walking at Point Pelee and area were very interesting and I, for sure, saw various things I had never seen before, including my very first Raccoon : ) Various friends had told me that the Warblers at Pelee were fantastic - so many and numerous species, and so close. Have to disagree with the "closeness" when we were there! I don't have binoculars as cameras are enough for me to carry around, so I know I missed all sorts of birds. Though my Warbler count was lower than my friends' counts, I was happy to at least get a few distant photos of some species. So many of my shots are awful, but I will still post some of them, just for the record of seeing them. Some photos are so bad that I doubt anyone can ID them.
We covered several different trails at Pelee, and also drove to a few places somewhat further afield, such as Hillman Marsh. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the magnificent barn at this Conservation Area! I was in so much pain that I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk across a grassy area to take a few photos. However, it was so unusual and beautiful, that I reckoned I could try and move forward inch by inch - or crawl (ha, ha) if necessary. Another place we enjoyed was Rondeau National Park. One amazing and totally unexpected sighting just outside Pelee was a very distant male Snowy Owl sitting in a fieldl!!
We walked every single day that we were at Pelee and the areas mentioned above, seeing not just birds, but a frog/toad, snakes that we suspect were mating, several Painted turtles, a few plants (including both white and red Triliums, that I had never seen growing wild before, and a couple of Jack in the Pulpit plants).
The Friends of Point Pelee have food available at lunch time that one can buy. They also have a shuttle bus that one can take from the Visitor Centre all the way to the southern tip of Pelee, which is the most southern part of Canada. They have birding walks with a guide each day (there is a charge), but we walked the trails on our own, except for one morning. On 9 May, we spent the morning from 6:00 am to 11:00 am on a birding walk at Pelee with guide, Tom Hince, whom we had contacted while we were still in Calgary.
At the end of our stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things. We made several trips to see different places, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese. Breathtaking!
We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it was so much enjoyed! Of course, we anchored a distance away from the island and sat there and ate our sandwiches and took endless photos. It is forbidden to land on the island at nesting time.
Anne B, I can't thank you enough for organizing this holiday for us all and for inviting us to spend a week at your cabin. You worked so hard and it was so much appreciated by each and every one of us. Thank you for doing all the many hours of driving, too! Janet and Anne, thank you so much for compiling the lists of birds seen each day at various locations, and posted to ebird. These entries will be a huge help while I try and sort out where we were and when, and what species we saw. Miss your cookies and muffins, Janet, that you kindly made for us in Tadoussac, to go along with the wonderful meals that Anne planned and made for us : )
These photos were taken on May 9th which was day 3 of my adventure with four friends to Point Pelee.
On this day we had hired a guide for a few hours at Point Pelee. We caught glimpses of many birds that morning but I did not get any photos. The park was packed.
After lunch we went to Hillman Marsh for a little walk.
We then returned to Point Pelee to explore the Delaurier Homestead and Trail. This is where these photos were taken.
Thanks everyone for your views, comments and fave's! They are appreciated!
These guys are common birds in some parts but they are quite unusual in New Brunswick so it was a real treat for me to see them up close. I photographed this guy on my recent trip to Point Pelee.
Baltimore Orioles got their name from their bold orange-and-black plumage. They sport the same colors as the heraldic crest of England’s Baltimore family (who also gave their name to Maryland’s largest city). Unlike robins and many other fruit-eating birds, Baltimore Orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit. Orioles seek out the darkest mulberries, the reddest cherries, and the deepest-purple grapes, and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe.
At this exact moment, Pyper is the most southerly dog in Canada. We are visiting Point Pelee National Park, the most southerly point in mainland Canada (there is an island closer to the U.S. border.) This is the very tip of the point.
A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak hides in the trees at Point Pelee National Park, in Ontario, Canada.
this is from 6 years ago, my last visit to the end of Point Pelee National Park. In earlier years the point, sand went out into the Lake an one would enjoy a long walk.
The southernmost point of the Canadian mainland - Point Pelee National Park.
Polioptila caerulea
Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, Canada
April 2014
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Excerpt from Top 150 Unusual Things to See in Ontario:
At 42 degrees north latitude, Point Pelee is the most southerly part of mainland Canada and lies south of much of the continental United States....After the trees end, a bare sand spit leads another 1.25 kilometres into the lake. The point narrows until it becomes a pencil point and then fades into waves.
Near the tip of Point Pelee, which is the Southern most point in all of Canada, a flock of Black-bellied Plover feed on the shoreline.
This is an example of remembering what your equipment can do. I wanted to get a sharper photo of these swallows, but could not seem to get it. I totally forgot I could up my ISO to speed up my shutter. Thus a great possible photo is lost! Inspired by a photo by www.flickr.com/photos/ranfordstealth/with/9541508383/
Photos from a day trip to Point Pelee, the most southerly place in mainland Canada
Baltimore Orioles do not have the same cachet among birders as certain rare species of warbler. Nevertheless, they are very striking birds and in the right pose and light they are quite stunning.
I got several shots of the orioles on my recent trip to Point Pelee but this was my favourite.
An interesting fact about Baltimore Orioles is that young males do not molt into bright-orange adult plumage until the fall of their second year. Still, a few first-year males in drab, female-like plumage succeed in attracting a mate and raising young. Females become deeper orange with every molt; some older females are almost as bright orange as males.
Yesterday I took the family for a walk on the marsh boardwalk in Point Pelee. Lot's families were taking in the great weather and renting canoes from this place.
Dappled in the Sunlight and the Shadows of the Forest, a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak contemplates life at Point Pelee National Park.
These photos were taken on May 10th which was the last day of my adventure with four friends to Point Pelee.
On this day we arose early in hopes of seeing an elusive Woodcock. We heard one but could not see it.
Thanks everyone for your views, comments and fave's! They are appreciated!
A Male Black-throated Green Warbler arrives at Point Pelee National Park, in Southern Ontario, Canada.
Marshville Wetlands, Point Pelee
We didn't have time to rent a canoe to see the wetlands differently but had a walk on the boardwalk instead.
This is my sister's Reina de Salem doll ;) If you're wondering how I was able to borrow all those cute dresses from my sis, this is how! She made me photograph her doll for the price of borrowing her doll dresses lol!
At first I thought it was by chance that this cardinal had come to visit me at the campsite but soon discovered the real reason. He would attack the car mirrors in an effort to defend his territory from other male Cardinals. This was something I had never seen before and started scaring him off whenever I saw him to prevent him from injuring himself.
The Northern Cardinal is a territorial song bird. The male sings in a loud, clear whistle from the top of a tree or another high location to defend his territory. He will chase off other males entering his territory. The Northern Cardinal learns its songs, and as a result the songs vary regionally. It is able to easily distinguish the sex of another singing Northern Cardinal by its song alone. Mated pairs often travel together.
Copyright © 2010, Jason Idzerda
A Midland Painted Turtle basks in the Sun at Point Pelee National Park, in Southern Ontario, Canada.