Warblers, Warblers Everywhere

I’ve just returned from a few days away. Where? To the heart of songbird migration in my province of Ontario, Canada – Point Pelee National Park, situated at the most southern land tip of our great country. Four days away, immersed in nature, woodlands, lakeshore walks and the cacophony of songbirds returning to start families. It was absolutely amazing. See the images at the end of this post.

Timing is everything for these trips and yet you often have to plan months in advance to ensure you can find accommodation at your chosen time. The annual Point Pelee Bird Festival is an incredible event, where bird lovers from all over the world gather to look up through binoculars or camera lenses or both to welcome the returning hoards of songbirds and to experience those amazing songs.

I attended the festival last in 2022. At that time, I was part of a workshop group for bird photography, so the dates and activities were not chosen by me. I learned quite a bit from that experience, including the difference between a workshop leader and a field guide. I explained those differences in a blog after that trip, if you are interested.

I also learned that to thoroughly enjoy the experience, I had to go at my own pace, with sufficient stops for rest and sufficient places to rest. Even then, I could not walk all day with heavy camera equipment. I learned to lighten that load, by getting rid of some gear altogether and going for smaller and lighter versions of other pieces. Even that was not enough though, and I had to make some additional changes for this trip.

But first, timing. Most birders will attend the first week of the festival which in total runs for three weeks. Why? It is much colder usually. The birds will be exhausted and cold from their travels and will likely be sitting still more frequently, especially in the early morning. And there will be fewer leaves on the trees, making the viewing easier. It is amazing what an explosion of spring foliage can happen in just a couple weeks. Temperatures can rise significantly and trees leaf out almost overnight. If you don’t plan well, you might definitely hear a beautiful song, but see nothing except the foliage.

I decided that I would wait and go in the second week this year. Why? Being out in the cold trying to operate camera equipment ain’t really my thing anymore. And I had no interest in the huge crowds that appeared each morning of the first week, making any repositioning for a better view very difficult. And, I wasn’t even really interested in mornings either, when the light is bad and my level of consciousness is at its worse. Some would say with these choices, I was taking a real chance on a bad outcome, but it could not have been better.

We had a really cold winter. That delayed the resurgence of greenery quite a bit this spring. Breezes off the lake were also very cool and kept things comfortable as I walked. We also had a lot of rain, and there was a lot during the first week of the festival. The second week promised to be sunny and a perfect temperature of between 12-15 degrees C each day. The cold winter also delayed the return migration and I saw few reports of migrants in that first week. The second week was a boom. A bonanza. A true joy. Each day, the reports of more birds arriving and being seen kept coming in. I was ecstatic and could not wait. But it was pure luck that all these things came together.

I mentioned that I made some additional changes to my approach this year. There were two: I would visit the tip once where all the real birders hang out, then leave it alone. Instead, I would walk the woodland trails further north in the park, at my own pace, taking as long as I needed. Secondly, I would walk with a rolling walker. Say what? I am not immobile, but my back, knees and now my left foot are causes for growing concern. Turned out that taking a rolling walker that could come along on the trails with me was the best decision I could have made.

The walker carried my camera equipment and supplies perfectly in its large basket and gave me a seat when I needed it. I did have to assemble and disassemble my monopod each time, but I could plant myself in a promising location and have a full view of the area, camera in hand, waiting for the action. There are two strategies in birding, I’ve discovered: the “walk and hope you cross paths with a beauty” strategy, and the “stay put and wait” strategy. I did both. It was perfect.

I came to learn some of the behaviour of birds that helped my strategies:

• the closer to the migration arrival zone is the trail, the more likely you are to find a mix of beautiful subjects;
• the presence of still water in a pond or a stream is a good place to set up;
• open glens where the path is a bit of a distance from the treeline gives more shelter and reassurance and you might see more activity; and
• if you can avoid being in a group with a lot of others and be quiet, you might be rewarded. It is surprising though how many of the beautiful subjects actually flew close by to check me out – they must be very used to this invasion of humanity to greet them each year but appreciate some quiet from humans when they can get it.

Even though I travelled without a dedicated group on this trip, being surrounded by avid birders and photographers means that you have lots of others to share the experience with. And they were eager to help and answer questions. In fact, finding not one but two nesting pairs of Prothonotary Warblers happened only because of their advice. And I really enjoyed walking solo, with no pressure to keep up with others and no guilt about stopping for a bit. Lots of people share the experience together. I’m happy to as well, as long as we can each do what we need to do to be happy. But I noticed lots of people were also walking solo, likely for the same reasons as me.

I should mention the camera and lens combination that kept me going. It was the Canon R5, original edition, with the RF100-500 lens + 1.4 teleconverter. In bright light, this worked superbly. In shadow or on cloudy days, focus sometimes hunted more than I wanted. A trick learned a while ago was to refocus elsewhere on a brighter object, then come back to the target. This often worked well. And with 45 megapixels, even the highest flyer can be cropped in closer for a good look in post. A couple images at the end for your viewing pleasure. Of the 979 photos and videos taken on this trip, 292 were keepers – a 30% rate. Not bad for me.

Every trip has its ah-ha moments. There were two here for me:

• it is possible to be an outdoor enthusiast while using a walking aid
• there should be no hesitation in using whatever instruments make the experience more enjoyable

Taking care of my physical needs and limitations allowed me to fully experience the moment. There were several times where I just sat and listened to the sounds (recording below); several times where I just watched the birds going about their lives; several times where I looked at my surroundings and thought just how lucky I was to have this beautiful country to live in. But as I said, timing is everything. This same location is one of the steamiest, warmest places in Canada in the summer. Woodland bugs had not yet fully emerged to eat me alive and the lake breezes kept away those that had. And the birds just happened to pick the second week of the festival to ramp up their arrivals. They will be gone in a short time. All that said, it was truly a spiritual experience. I hope I can do it again next year.

A sample of the wildlife I saw:

And the rare Prothonotary Warbler, in this case, a male/female pair tending to their nest. The nesting box is extremely well hidden, and at least 50 feet away from the path. Thanks to the avid birders who told me where to find it. It took me 15 minutes to spot it, scanning the marshland from the path, but it was worth it. I didn’t have the right shutter speed for the final image of the female in flight, but I love the ethereal nature of the image regardless.