By JoAnn Grondin

The Egrets team consisted of team captain Cathy Lapain and member JoAnn Grondin.  We were also joined by two of Cathy’s sisters:  Peg Mills and Kenlyn Bryant. I started counting around 7:00 am by spotting one of the Bald Eagles that nest on Fighting Island and the Mute Swans that hang around the Island.   We met in Essex at 7:30 am.  Once Kenlyn’s van was loaded with all our supplies, we headed out on the backroads towards Point Pelee, watching the fields and ditches for birds.  The traffic entering the Point was not too heavy so we were able to enter the Point but unable to get to the main parking lot or the tip. Staff directed us to turn into Black Willow Beach.  This parking lot was full so we backtracked to the Madbin Jina area, across from DeLaurier.  

We spent some time there.  We birded from the parking lot and sitting at a picnic table; we also had our packed lunches there.  To start with, the birds flew in sections and we were able to get several species of birds.  From there we went across the road to the DeLaurier parking lot.  The sun was extremely hot by this time.  From here we tried the Blue Heron/Boardwalk area, finding a nice small shaded site to set up our chairs.  Then we tried the Sanctuary site before we left the Park.  Peg and Kenlyn were able to go for short walks to check out most of the sites where we stopped.

After Point Pelee Park, mostly by vehicle, we headed around the onion fields, having to get out of the way of a school bus on a very narrow road.  We drove past the Hillman Marsh area and then on to Wheatley Harbour.  We made our last stop at Kopegaren, finding more warblers on the Boardwalk. 

After arriving back in Essex, I had a bite to eat at McDonalds and arrived at my home close to 7:30 pm; I was exhausted.  Cathy continued to drive around and managed to find 4 more birds after she had a bite to eat.  She arrived at her home at 8:30 pm.

We would like to thank all the individuals who were able to sponsor us, both on line and by cash.  It was a very long day.  No rare birds were seen, but the long day was worth it with a total of 72 bird species.  The Bluebird Committee will benefit from the money that Birds Canada will return to us. Online donations can be made until the end of December.