Thanks to Mr. Murray and students for this interesting report! We'll soon add these students' artwork to this page. Please come back later and see the beautiful songbirds they have illustrated!
Before reading the news from these Canadian students, pull out a map of Ontario. Find Long Point on the northern shore of Lake Erie and see if you can answer this question:
Challenge Question # 122:
"Why do you think Long Point is a major hotspot during migration? That
is, why might this be an important stopover for migratory birds?"
(To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.)
To: Journey North
From: Class 708/808
Dolphin Senior Public School
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Long Point Bird Observatory Field Trip
Wednesday, May 15, 1996
We departed by school bus at 7:00 a.m. so that we had a reasonable chance of getting to Long Point before 10:00 a.m., which lies 160 km south west of our school, on the north shore of Lake Erie. The temperature when we left was about 10 C and, contrary to the weather forecast, the sun was shining.
We arrived just after 9:30 at Old Cut Field Station, which is where one of 3 bird banding stations operated by LPBO is located. It is the only one which is open to the public and has a visitor centre. The temperature was pleasant, about 12 C. The sky was clear and had been clear all night, with a southerly breeze. This meant lots of migrating birds!
We divided the group of 24 into two groups. The first group of 12 went to the banding station and the second out to collect birds from the mist nets.
The following species of birds were banded by the first group:
1 Blue Jay (over wintering bird?)
1 Red Breasted Nuthatch (over wintering bird?)
1 House Wren
2 Swainson's Thrush (long distance migrants from S. America that
are in population decline)
2 Grey Catbirds
2 Yellow-Rumped Warblers (1 male and 1 female)
2 Common Yellowthroats (1 male and 1 female)
3 White-Throated Sparrows (1 female, 2 not determined- this species is
about 1 week behind on the average migration period and would be
headed much farther north)
1 Orchard Oriole (male)
2 Ruby-Crowned Kinglets (females)
The second group banded these birds:
1 Least Flycatcher (female)
1 Purple Martin
1 Grey Catbird
1 Winter Wren (over wintering bird?)
1 Hermit Thrush
3 Black-Throated Blue Warblers
1 Lincoln=B9s Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow (male)
1 Brown-Headed Cowbird
1 Blackburnian Warbler
In addition, we observed the following birds while at LPBO:
1 Purple Martin
1 Northern Cardinal (over wintering bird?)
1 Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
Later in the day we saw a Northern Oriole at Backus Woods Heritage Conservation Area, the largest uninterrupted tract of Carolinian Forest in Canada. There, we learned more about the Long Point environment and its history, and the relationships between birds and their habitat. The Northern Oriole had found a section of the Carolinian Forest that had just leafed out, and was, no doubt, in search of insects there. We visited one of the few large Tulip Trees in Canada. These species are probably familiar to many, but none of us had ever seen one before.
Birds at Backus Woods:
1 Northern Oriole
1 Great Blue Heron
1 Barn Swallow
2 Canada Geese
Students and teachers were overwhelmed by our first hand contact with migrating birds. We feel that the Internet and Journey North are great, but there is nothing quite like first hand experience to bring the whole idea of migration to a focus!
Mr. Rod Murray and Students
Dolphin Senior Public School
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
rodmurr@astral.magic.ca
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How to Respond to Challenge Question # 122:
1. Send an e-mail message to: jn-challenge@learner.org
2. In the Subject line write: Challenge Question # 122
3. In the Body of the message answer this question:
"Why do you think Long Point is a major hotspot during migration? That is, why might this be an important stopover for migratory birds?"
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