On August 26th I joined Eastern Ontario Birding’s trip to Presqu’ile Provincial Park. The owner of EOB, Jon, is a friend of mine and got more than he bargained for when he agreed to pick me up at 5:30 am – as soon as he pulled up in front of my house a police car pulled up beside him to ask if he knew anything about a complaint that had been called in. Jon told the officer he was there to pick up a friend to go birding, and the police officer told him that he believed him (the eBird sticker on his car probably hadn’t gone unnoticed, and lent credibility to his statement). The police car drove off just as I was heading out the door, but we saw it stop with two other cruisers on Grassy Plains. Emerald Meadows is a quiet neighbourhood, and I certainly didn’t hear anything at 4:30 in the morning, but it made for a strange start to the day.
The rest of the trip was nice and quiet. We picked up one other person before taking Highway 7 down to Belleville, which was a much more relaxed and scenic drive than the busy Highway 401. Jon said that this route takes 50 km off the trip, with only about 10 or 15 minutes added due to the slower speed limit and the necessity of passing through towns such as Tweed and Kaladar. However, this gave us more places to stop than the limited On Route gas and restaurant mega-stations for coffee and bathroom breaks. We saw one Green Heron, several Great Blue Herons, one Red-tailed Hawk, and a flyby cuckoo on the way. We also stopped to check out a dead juvenile Broad-winged Hawk on the side of the road. Too many birds and animals lose their lives to vehicle collisions – the large number of dead squirrels, skunks, and unrecognizable squished things I saw on the trip was heart-breaking.
We arrived in the park at about 9:00 and met three other people for a total of six people in our group. Our targets were mostly shorebirds, including the large flock of 30+ Baird’s Sandpipers and a Red Knot that had been seen the day before, though of course I was also hoping to see some large late-summer dragonflies as well and had brought my net. I’ve had great luck seeing Black Saddlebags at Presqu’ile; it is an uncommon migrant in Ottawa.
After a morning of birding along Owen Point, we headed to the picnic tables at the day use area on the eastern shore of the peninsula. There is a wildflower meadow here that has been good for butterflies and perching dragonflies in the past, and I thought it would be the best spot for insect watching in the park. As soon as I finished eating I grabbed my net and headed to the lawn adjacent to the meadow. I saw two gliders, a Common Green Darner, and several Black Saddlebags zipping by overhead, but none were flying low enough or in a predicable enough pattern for me to catch. Then I noticed several Black Saddlebags buzzing close to the limbs of a dead conifer, and was surprised to see several of them perching on the bare twigs!
There were so many of them perching that I was reminded of the way the Spiny Baskettails all perch together on the same branches at Mud Lake after they emerge (I missed them this year as they weren’t out when I went on Victoria Day). I went over to tell Jon, who was looking for this species in particular for his life list, and pointed out one perching low enough to the ground that we had a spectacular view of its upper side. This sighting really made his day!
Unfortunately, there weren’t many flowers blooming in the meadow, probably because of the recent lack of rain, so it wasn’t great for butterflies. I saw several Clouded Sulphurs but no Orange Sulphurs, azures, or Giant Swallowtails, all of which I’d had here in the past. Instead, the best place for insects turned out to be the parking area by the Calf Pasture. I saw Eastern Pondhawks, Halloween Pennants, Blue Dashers, and a Widow Skimmer flying over the water and managed to get photos of most for Presqu’ile Provincial Park’s iNaturalist project.
A White-faced Meadowhawk was perching in the open fields just down the road from the parking area, where we went looking for flycatchers and open country birds.
To me, a visit to Presqu’ile in late August is as much about the insects as the birds, and I was glad that the others found them interesting. I enjoyed all the butterflies and dragonflies that I saw, especially the perching Black Saddlebags – something I never see in Ottawa!
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