Bassindale Birding : Marbled Godwit and Attempt for Mournings (June 8th

Summer birding is an awkward time for any lister. It's when the new birds for your year list are few and far between and the breeding codes become more and more useful. It's a time when most birders go into a summer slump, not pressing to go birding because, well, they've seen all they can. For me, it's a time to bridge the gaps in missed birds, and see some cool breeders around the area.

That being said my week was pretty slow. Monday was just getting out to Selkirk, seeing the few birds there that I could. Which consisted of Wood-Pewee and a handful of Yellow Warblers. The marsh birds like Swamp Sparrow and Marsh Wren are still calling loud and of course your Red-winged Blackbirds are making themselves known. That is what this time of year is about, listening to the locals and picking up those breeding bird calls to eliminate weird calls in the spring. The common birds were broken up by a possible breeder and hopeful for small population here. Grasshopper Sparrow, these cool short-tailed sparrow will make you just more towards a grasshopper or locust calling with their long trill call. A pair were singing in the field across from the park which at this time of year could mean nesters hopefully!

The main days I'd like to talk about is my little trip to a new spot for a life bird and an attempt at a second life bird.

Wainfleet Wetlands - 09-Jun-2020

Let's start with a trip to Wainfleet and my search for one of the biggest Shorebirds we have in the area. Marbled Godwit. I was at Windermere Basin, just checking out some of the waterfowl and the massive tern breeding colony there. With the scope at the ready for anything interesting and hope for a Black-crowned Night-Heron flying over. I'd been there for about 25 minutes when I got a discord notification, Marbled Godwit in Niagara County! I looked up the location, it was 20 minutes from where I lived... I had to check that out!

I hopped in my car and headed towards the Wainfleet Wetlands CA where it had been spotted. The whole drive I was hoping that it was still there, lots of times when trying to find shorebirds they don't stick around very long, especially this time of year.

Once I got to the CA I was astonished with how many vehicles were there. I was able to find a spot in the crammed parking lot with a lot of slow motions. I kept thinking These can't all be birders and man was I right. Most of the people there were beach goers, surprisingly enough, this so called wetland was actually reminding me of the beaches on the lake shore and not the boggy muddy terrain I'm used to. Walking down the sandy path there was a small cliff to the right, I decided that may give a little vantage to where the bird was described to be. I peered across the landscape to find the shrubs by the water, when I decided I'd found the spot my heart started to race. A lifer was within my reach.

Once I got to the shrub patch I stirred up about a dozen peeps, a flush and they were gone and unidentifiable. I turned the corner from the one tree and there is was... wading in the shallows, this was what I was looking for, a lanky brown bird with a long black-and-orange bill. It was feeding on small aquatic insects and just minding its own business, not bothered by the dogs playing in the water or the teenagers making a huge fuss over probably nothing less than 20 feet away. I snapped a few pictures and decided it was time to head out, leave this gentle giant alone. Just amazing.

That is one lifer many people need scopes to find within a flock of other birds, to see my first alone and within eye-shot of ID is amazingly breathtaking and I can't imagine I'll be forgetting that anytime soon.

Dundas Valley 11 & 12-Jun-2020

The days to follow were more of the typical June birding. Looking for any straggling migrators and hoping for some breathtaking birds. Unfortunately the only rare bird I found was just an out of season Redhead in Townsend. Besides that the days following the Marbled Godwit were fairly mundane, the only thing of note was my pursuit of a bird that for some reason is the only local breeding warbler I have never seen; Mourning Warbler.

For that I took a little trip to Martin Rd in Dundas Valley CA. Mourning Warblers are reported there quite often and I was hoping to find my first. Which I know is crazy, with all my birding experience I have never spotted a Mourning Warbler.

This is my first visit to Martin Rd, it is amazing mature woodlands and definitely great for birds.

I got tipped off of where they may be so I went to the trail along the way called the Hilltop Trail. A little clearing with a fallen log is where I started my look, heading down the path I could hear Pewee calling from back in the bush further and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo not too far away either, amazing to hear and see lots of American Redstart as well. Moving around the trails I was able to get some other good birds like Blue-winged Warbler and Grasshopper Sparrow. Both of the days I went for the Mourning Warbler it was a miss... I live another day without getting the last breeding warbler in the HSA area not seen.

New birds for the Year: