Bassindale Birding : Looks like the birds were keeping out of the heat...why wasn't I? (25-May-2020)

29°C... What was I thinking on going out? Well, more or less that I was hoping the birds were going to be good even with the heat, but most of the birds were staying away, like I should have been!

Back to the Prov. Park - after a good morning the other day I was hoping to find the Canada Warbler that was hanging around and get a better picture. The front loop seen a little Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was hopping through the trees but not too much else through the rest of the loop unfortunately, I'm thinking the heat's gotten to them. The bridge was abnormally quiet as well, the Red-winged Blackbirds were all staying out of the sun, and not a single Common Grackle was hanging around either.

The other side of the bridge was pretty quiet for the most part as well, that was until I got to the marsh! Coming from the cattails was a Virginia Rail! The call was only cut by a pair of Marsh Wren calling from within as well. Part of me hoped the Rail would stick around for breeding, and then I could possibly find it in my kayak a little later in the year!

All the marsh birds were really great but the real pleasure was a little bit of a brain teaser... a little warbler with some odd black breast markings on a wash of yellow. This says 1 of 3 warblers; Canada, Magnolia, or, the least likely and the one that would have been insane, Kirtland!! First... looked at the eye ring, all 3 birds have it but only the one has a complete eye ring (Canada). It's broken, bye bye Canada. Then moving to the breast streaks, not uniform at all, very blotchy. This doesn't help too much, and Merlin's suggestion was a Kirtland, but I couldn't buy it, a Kirtland Warbler would be too rare. So move on to asking for some help. After a couple of minutes the conclusion; Magnolia. The reason? It was the wing - the white on the wing was in a unique pattern, definitely a little detail to look at again for future reference!

After my little run in with the odd bird, I kept pushing through the rest of park, sweating hard and my feet killing me! Nothing through the willows or the pines, crazy how the heat effects the rest of the birding world!

The lake was a lot cooler to be around and the birds were feeling it as well. Lots of gulls out a little farther into the lake and a pair of Tern flying over the lake, much better than the lack of birds through the rest of the park, and the Swallows circling around and dipping and diving around the water made my day. Nothing takes your breath away like the shear acrobatics of a Swallow.

The final bird I found was a bird I thought I had completely missed coming through, a Great Egret! This big white Heron only migrates through here and breeds farther north, and usually through early to mid May, but this one seems like it was a little lost, moving south and in late May?? Weird, but definitely a nice little flyover!

Did get a new bird of the year though:

Great Egret (192)

Bird of the day: Virginia Rail - This sly bird is hard to find but very easy to hear. In most wetlands you'll hear this bird and they breed in this area, so it makes it even more fun, and an interesting hopeful find during a kayak trip!

53 Species - 283 Individuals