Where Did June Go?

How time flies... here it is almost July already. I'm going to be back lamenting about fall warblers again before you know it.

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit an old friend who just bought a house near Peterborough. Her property is lovely, it has a big chunk of wetland running through the center of it and some isolated areas of rocky meadow beyond that. It had also never really been birded before, so you can imagine me rubbing my greedy little hands together in anticipation as I drove there for the weekend. In the wetland we found a nesting pair of Sandhill Cranes, which was actually a new one for me. Also the expected array of Swamp Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, and Red-winged Blackbirds. Elsewhere on the property we heard Veery, Alder Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Eastern Meadowlark, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler... etc. Lots and lots of birds, many of them either confirmed or probable nesters. The highlight of the trek, though, was a Prairie Warbler singing from that isolated meadow area I mentioned. I didn't get eyes on it, sadly, but its song was a dead match for the recording on my field guide app. Rare species for the area, woo!

Last weekend I participated in the Bruce Trail's 50km challenge (as part of a relay team; I am not in good enough shape yet to try all 50km by myself). My leg of the trail went through a large area of open habitat - hayfield, probably? But as-yet unmown while I was there. So it was grassland bird central up there: Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, and both Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows. I don't often get to hear all of those species practically all at once, over such a large area, so it was a treat.

Well, to be honest, the entire Dufferin Hi-Lands section of trail is a treat, that is a lovely part of the province and I can't wait to go back for my own end-to-end hike of it this year. I don't usually mix birding and hiking on more than a superficial level, because I'm usually trying to keep a pace and don't want to break momentum to dig out my binoculars. But I may have to at least keep a log of what I hear while on the trail next time, I'm curious as to just how many species I can get.