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Nature Link

With Blake Mann

An evening in Rondeau Park, May 10

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

I spent this past weekend at Rondeau Provincial Park "power birding". The first annual Rondeau Cup Birding Competition was held, and I decided to give it a run. There were only a few participants, but it was a fun and interesting 24-hour period. The idea was to start sometime Friday afternoon, and end twenty-four hours later. It was to see how many birds one could scrape up in the official Rondeau birding area circle.
I managed to come up with 123 species, which gave me second place. The winners were good friends of mine, Steve Charbonneau and Mac McAlpine. They started at noon Friday. By noon Saturday, they had come up with a remarkable 153 species. That was excellent considering the low numbers of birds that were around at the time. We had to work to find birds. Of course, sheer luck had lots to do with it. You just had to be in the right place at the right time. I even had three birds that they did not have. As well, a few other birds were reported, not seen by either team. That alone indicates the diversity of bird species around at the time.
The culmination of the event was "An Evening in the Park" on Saturday. The event was organized by the Friends of Rondeau. In my opinion, it was a first class event. It included an excellent dinner with wine, followed by the presentation of the Rondeau Cup. The winner(s) received a personal plaque, and their name(s) will be engraved on a permanent plaque that will be on display in the Visitor Centre.
The evening also included an entertainment portion. Ethan Meleg (formerly of Leamington), now at Bruce Peninsula National Park, presented a slide program on bird photography. At only 30 years of age, he is a professional photographer who really gets "down to earth" when photographing out in the field. He described his early years, and how he got interested in nature and photography. He never really took part in sports as a youngster, but found a natural passion for nature. Ethan also displayed his "cannon" camera, weighing about 48 pounds.
The final part of the evening included a bucket raffle where various items were donated as prizes. The profits went to the Friends of Rondeau for future events and projects.
I am sure this will become an annual event where some friendly competition can take place, and some socializing will occur at the end of the day.
The following day (Sunday), Steve and I found yet some other birds that we did not record on Saturday. They included some elusive warblers like Kentucky, Hooded, and Mourning.
Next weekend will be the peak migration period for passerine birds.
The attached photo is of a Prothonotary Warbler, a Rondeau specialty. It is an endangered species in Canada. I took this photo a few years ago along one of Rondeau's many sloughs.