Mid-Spring in Northumberland & Prince Edward County
It’s been a very strange spring here in Ontario. The weather has been cool with an incredible amount rain. There has been many flooded areas as the ground has been over saturated. The rivers are running high and lake water has risen to record levels.
The rain and lack of sun made for a very short woodland wildflower season. The flowers seemed to bloom late and were short-lived as the forest canopy filled in quickly after.
The migrating songbirds didn’t seem to stick around long after arriving. I think the weather has made an impact on the insects along the great lakes and the birds seem to arrive and move on quickly.
The beaches and shorelines are all flooded because of the high waters of Lake Ontario. Both Presqu’ile and Sandbanks Provincial Park beaches are a sliver of what they usually are or, as in most areas, completely flooded. The shorebirds at the local parks also didn’t stick around in the usual staging areas, probably due to lack of available food and areas to forage.
In the middle of May, we spent 3 days wandering in the woods and another 5 days looking for migrants in Prince Edward County. Because of this abnormal spring, we had to work extra hard to get any decent images, getting up before dawn and walking between 17 and 10 kilometres per day. But it was so nice to be out in nature and enjoying the great outdoors.
Our areas of pursuits included Peter’s Woods Nature Reserve, Proctor Park Conservation Area, Goodrich Loomis Conservation Area and Presqu’ile Provincial Park in Northumberland. In Prince Edward County, we camped at the Sandbanks Provincial Park and visited Prince Edward Point, Point Travers, Macauley Mountain Conservation Area, Point Petre and many areas in between.
We were lucky to see a wide variety of birds including many that we have never identified and/or photographed before. Some of the notable species include: Cape May Warbler, Canada Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Fish Crow, Black-billed Cuckoo and Dunlins.
Well, there’s still plenty of spring yet to unfold and we are really looking forward to enjoying nature and more of our outdoor adventures. Birds nesting and singing, butterflies & dragonflies emerging, orchids and asters blooming. It’s a very exciting time.
