There’s Still Time for Some Great Spring Birding in the Bruce

The first weekend of the Huron Fringe Birding Festival came to a close Monday with a total of 182 species of birds seen or heard on the various events. Now we get to see how many more we can add to the total as the second weekend begins tomorrow (May 30 ). It will be interesting to see if we can break 200 species for this festival.

If you still have the urge to see a few birds, identify a few trees or wildflowers, or learn a bit of the history of the area there are still events available. Many are fully booked but you can register for a few that will give you an opportunity to meet some fellow nature lovers and learn from the knowledgeable leaders. We have some of the best event leaders in Ontario as you can see from their biographies at:

http://friendsofmacgregor.org/page/leader-biographies

Take a few minutes to read about them and then take a bit longer to register and come out and enjoy the event that they are leading. Act quickly as events are nearing capacity on a few of the days.

http://friendsofmacgregor.org/page/registration

Its been great weather so far other than 1 torrential downpour that caught several of us in the woods on a morning hike but soon we were dried out and all was forgotten as the birds just kept showing up.

These are a few of the birds we have seen during the first weekend and I’m sure many will be still moving through in the few days ahead, but we’ll also see some of the birds that are now starting to nest.

There were many bird squabbles as the colourful males were fighting over territory and not worrying much as to how close we were to the action. This Chestnut-sided warbler was one of those that had other males vying for the same territory.

Some species like this Bobolink travel over 6000 miles to grace us with their presence before they stake their claim, raise their family and then head back to Argentina during our cold winter. Its just hard to imagine what some of these small feathered friends go through to come and see us during the summer.

This Cape May warbler will head to the north of us to raise their family so this will be the only chance we have to see them in their bright breeding colours. In the fall they will head back south in much more reserved attire.

A bright spot in anyone’s Spring migration is the Scarlet Tanager as it returns to our area. This bird breeds in this area and it’s well worth the hike into the woods to hopefully see the brilliance of the male as it stakes out its territory.

There are still photography events, botany events, birding events and events where you can sit and wait for the birds to come to you, as you make new friends and chat about your festival highlights

Its one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario and I’m sure looking forward to an early morning start for another 4 days of Spring action in Bruce and Grey Counties.