Sunday September 03, 2006 6:00 am Windsor, Ontario. Day 19 of our trip to Virginia. Sunrise 6:59 Sunset 8:04 Hours of daylight: 13:05

A. Morning Musings

6:00 am It is still very dark outside. It is + 14 C and overcast. The forecast high is + 20 C with a 40% chance of showers in the afternoon. While visiting our friends I happened to see an American Goldfinch and am looking forward to today as Point Pele is one of the great bird watching sites in North America. As an added bonus, the fall migration is underway so I am eager to see what we will see. Carl is a superb bird watcher and he knows the area so we have everything going for us.

The last few days have been devoted to touring Colonial Williamsburg and driving through the rain so there has been little opportunity for any reading. Fair enough. But the entire trip has been a delight. I am a little surprised at how well we are doing. Neither of us is getting tired or wanting the trip to be over.

B. Plan

We plan to visit Point Pele this morning and try to do some bird watching.

C. Actual/Notes

9:50 PM Another full day. We were over at our friends at 8 am and from there drove out to Hillman Marsch and then to Point Pelee for some birding. We stopped for a few minutes at a birding shop where I bought a binocular harness and two books.

• A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors (2003) Brian K. Wheeler & William S. Clark
• Sparrows of the United States and Canada (2003) David Beadle & James Rising

We identified the following birds:

• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Kingbird
• Wood Ducks
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Great Egret
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Great Blue Heron
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Ring-billed Seagull
• American Goldfinch
• Cardinal

Here are a few photos:

Woodducks	Great Blue Heron
Birdwatching at Point Pelee	Broad-winged Hawk
American Goldfinches	Detroit

We returned to their place for a light lunch and break before visiting another nature park. Then we had a great home cooked dinner and went downtown to see the sun set over Detroit. Now for a little sleep before tomorrow.

D. Reflection