Walk Softly – It was a chilly day in May

by Geoffrey Carpentier

I had the good fortune to spend much of the winter in very tropical areas, with daytime temperatures often well into the high 30s. Arriving home, I was anxious for a different kind of warm though. I longed for the wonderful spring temperatures I grew up with, cool nights and lovely warm summery days. Well, it seems for 2026, at least, that didn’t happen. On May 21st, we had frost warnings, not unheard of but, certainly not anticipated nor welcome!

My birding buddy and I had been watching the weather forecast closely, trying to anticipate when we should do our ‘Big Day’ Bird-a-thon, in support of Birds Canada. We tried to match the winds (preferably from the south/southwest, as this generally carried migrants northward) with the likelihood of a big overnight movement of birds, to maximize our success. Our route was ambitious and took us from Clarington to Ganaraska, through all of Durham and into Kawartha Lakes, over the course of 24 hours. Yes, you read that correctly, we actually birdwatch for 24 hours, finding both diurnal and nocturnal migrants and nesting species. Well, again, nature had other ideas, and we’d just have to take what she offered, planning be-darned, as the weather and birds did not fully cooperate.

We started our journey on May 22nd, in Clarington, looking for birds near and on Lake Ontario, visiting several sites as far west as Second Marsh, in Oshawa. The day began chilly, with overnight temperatures of 5C, certainly adding a nip to the air. The birds were slow to begin their day, and the sunny side of trees yielded some activity, as they foraged for tiny insects also seeking the warm sides of the foliage. The lake was rough and very few waterfowl were visible between the swells. We would come back to this area in about 20 hours, to complete those surveys, but sadly, almost no migrants were present in the habitats we checked, as no nocturnal flight had occurred overnight, so species diversity was limited. We persevered and went to other important shoreline spots, such as Cranberry Marsh and Whitby harbour. Again, the dearth of birds was disappointing and unexpected. We then checked out key birding spots, further away from the lake, looking for and finding Peregrine Falcon, Mockingbirds, Chimney Swifts, migrant and Nesting Warblers, Sparrows and the like.

From here we headed north, to check out habitats in North Durham, such as Walker Woods. Our fortune changed, somewhat, and we found several species we had missed earlier in the day. Feeling a bit more invigorated, we headed to Nonquon and Sunderland lagoons to look for Black Terns and ducks and luckily found a few species of sandpipers which nicely augmented our list.

Satisfied, we couldn’t really add many more species in Durham, we drove north to the Carden Alvar near Kirkfield, which normally adds 20+ species to our total. After a full two hours of searching, we were more than dismayed, as no birds sang. The key to finding a lot of birds in a short time is, they must sing to announce their presence. As we persevered, we eventually added several more target birds, as bird song picked up. Having this success in our pocket, we headed back to Durham, where overnight we would look for owls and marsh birds, not much there, darn! At dawn, we were in the Ganaraska forest and were serenaded by Scarlet Tanagers, thrushes and several species of warblers. Our fortune had changed for the better. We finished our Big Day tour at Oshawa Second Marsh but were greeted with very tough conditions, high winds, waves and rain?! However, after two hours of careful lake watching, we were able to add most of the target species, augmenting our totals, and therefore we wrapped up our adventure with 150 species under our belts!

If you haven’t yet and still would like to sponsor me, in this year’s Great Canadian Birdathon, it’s not too late. To make an online donation, go to my personal secure Bird-a-thon link, at https://www.canadahelps.org/me/6QVgySJ or contact me by email, at geoff.carpentier@gmail.com.

Geoff Carpentier is a published author, expedition guide and environmental consultant. Visit Geoff on-line at www.avocetnatureservices.com and on LinkedIn and Facebook.