Over the last week, Mary and I had the opportunity to visit several “hot spots” for the Spring Migration on Lake Erie. This included the Magee Marsh (perhaps the best known spot and certainly the most visited), the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Maumee State Park in Ohio, as well as Pelee National Park and Rondeau Provincial Park in Ontario. For us, the most prolific site was the “tip” at Point Pelee. While there, we experienced a “reverse migration” in which birds gathered at the tip and actually left the tip, heading south again across Lake Erie. At this time, there were thousands of birds gathering at the tip, and flying and landing on low trees and on rocks and on the beach. Experienced birders reported that they had never before experienced such numbers of migrating birds at Point Pelee. It is not clear what the reasons for the reverse migration are. Only some of the species seem to have “overshot” on their way north. Most are still short of their ultimate breeding grounds. Some speculate that the birds have been following the shoreline of Lake Erie, and are thrown off by the geography of the point. If in fact they are following the shoreline, the “point” directs them southward. Whatever the reasons, it was certainly an exceptional experience, and one I am not likely to experience again!
Northern parula
