Bayfield Field Trip, October 14, 2017

Bayfield/Varna Field Event-Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017

It was cloudy and threatening rain when 15 members of the Stratford Field Naturalists left the Kiwanis Centre and headed for Bayfield. Our first stop was at the Bayfield River Flats, a newly acquired piece of land by the Huron Tract Land Trust. There we saw a Great Blue Heron fishing in the river that was having a lot more success than the local fishermen lining the banks of the river. After spotting several species of warblers, golden crowned and ruby crowned kinglets, etc. we moved over to the other side of the river and explored the trails through the established forest. The highlight there was seeing hermit thrushes and a brown creeper.

Lunch was enjoyed by the group at The Docks in Bayfield.

After lunch the group did a short tour of the beach and dock area in Bayfield before continuing on to the Varna Trails. At one point of the trail we spotted close to 20 turkey vultures in one tree. By mid- afternoon it started to threaten rain, so we finished the hike and headed back to Stratford. Steve Thorpe, our official bird counter, reported that we saw 29 species of birds on our trip.

Species Seen As Reported By Steve Thorpe

Canada Goose

Mallard

Great Blue Heron

Double Crested Cormorant

Turkey Vulture

Bonaparte's Gull

Herring Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker