Visitors flocking to Point Pelee
Free admission under Canada 150 makes popular park even busier
TAMAR HARRIS
Birds aren’t the only thing migrating to Point Pelee National Park this spring.
Point Pelee attracts birdwatchers from around the world during the spring migration season — but this year, free national park admission for Canada’s 150th year made an always-popular season even busier.
“Spring birding is a longtime tradition at Point Pelee,” said Sarah Rupert, a birding expert who works in the park’s promotions office. “Where the park is located, we’re on major migratory bird routes. This is one of the best inland locations in North America to see spring songbird migration.”
Point Pelee National Park is part of a peninsula extending into Lake Erie just outside of Leamington.
This year, the park has welcomed more than 80,000 visitors — a 25 per cent increase from an average year. “We knew with the popularity of the Discovery Passes for Canada 150 that we would be seeing a lot of visitors to the park,” said Monique Oltrop, the visitor experience manager.
During the month of May, the park hosts Festival of Birds to coincide with the bulk of the spring migration.
The park has seen just short of 60,000 visitors this May, up from their usual 40,000.
“I think there was a lot of curiosity about the Festival of Birds, so people took the opportunity to come out and find out what birding was all about,” Oltrop said.
Point Pelee has about 393 bird species. Around 250 appear during the spring migration.
“I’ve had people (who have never really gone birdwatching before) remark to me, ‘I never thought birds came in so many different colours here,’ ” Rupert said. “Because they’re used to seeing things like house sparrows or mourning doves in their backyard.
“And then they see a blackburnian warbler for the first time — which is bright orange and black, (it) just looks like its face is on fire, the orange is so vibrant — when they get that for the first time, it’s just mind-blowing. It just hooks you in so fast.”
The park did a special 150 species challenge this year, in honour of Canada 150. Birdwatchers who sighted 150 birds earned a pin.
George Schiefer, a local birdwatcher, said he comes to the park almost every day.
“Right now I’m trying to get the 150,” he said. “I’m at 125.”
Schiefer said he’s spotted an indigo bunting and a grosbeak so far this year; two rare birds not often seen in the area.
An especially popular bird this week is the endangered prothonotary warbler, a small yellow songbird.
Two pairs are currently nesting along one of the park’s trails.
“People have been just delighted to see them,” Rupert said.
For birdwatcher Claire Fournier, the migration season is a “treasure hunt.”
“It’s basically a challenge every day,” she said. “The benefit is, you walk in nature and you can hobnob with people from all over the place. People all over the world, actually.”
The park offers a variety of birdwatching programs for visitors, ranging from hikes to lunchtime information sessions.
“The idea is to really get you out there, learning how to look at birds,” Rupert said.
“That’s something that can be a little bit intimidating for the beginner especially: ‘How do I even start identifying birds?’
“That’s what we’re really trying to do with people, is provide them with opportunities to get out there and get exposed to the wonderful world of birding.”
Birding hikes are two hours in length and cover about a kilometre of trail.
You walk in nature and you can hobnob with people from all over the place. People all over the world, actually.
“All of us … who have done hikes currently or in the past, all have this passion,” Rupert said. “And we really want to share that passion with others.”
The Festival of Birds wrapped up on Monday, but park officials say that just because the festival is over doesn’t mean the bird migration is, too.
Spring migration continues for another two weeks before the nesting season kicks into gear.
“There’s always something to do,” said Rupert. “I always say, you can bird every day of the year in this park.”