Thanks for another nice video. I’m a solo tent camper and the both of you are tent campers. I camp at Rondeau in the spring and fall. I camped at Rondeau just a couple weeks after you were there. It’s interesting to see the trails that you hiked and I also hiked. Still hope that one day we will meet on the trail. You mentioned going to New Jersey. I’ve been to New Jersey numerous times before I was a birder. I’ve always wanted to go to Cape May. I’ve been to Spring Lake. Look forward to those future videos. It’s nice seeing the open fire and cooking over the fire. I do the same. I do use my butane stove on the table. Bird Watching Beer is unique. I try and stop at the local craft beer breweries for these unique beers. Fire at the end of the day is the best. Good Luck in New Jersey and Minnesota. Take care and Thanks again
Thanks so much. We just started camping last year. I'd had some less good experiences growing up, camping in terrible weather at not very nice campsites. But we are enjoying picking it back up and it has been a fun, enjoyable time so far. Rondeau was probably our favourite trip so far.
Next time you do Erieau Marsh Trail, drive to the end of Erieau, via Mariners Road. You quite often get shorebirds (waders and Terns) roosting here, including around Rondeau West Front Lighthouse. Will look out for your Sax-Zim Bog video. I’ve got my eye on this place for Golden-winged Warbler and Connecticut Warbler, but its a long way from the UK 🙂 Note last autumn was crazy in the UK for North American birds. I saw Britain’s 3rd and 4th Magnolia Warbler in the same day and dipped on a Canada Warbler! Later in October I also saw a Veery in Scotland, on Shetland!
Thanks for the tip, we'll take a closer look there next time. I don't know if you saw, but I got Golden-winged earlier this year about an hour outside of Toronto. Connecticut would be awesome. A friend of mine was sure he heard one a couple of days ago, 30mins outside Toronto, but he couldn't find it. I heard about some of those warblers landing over there. It looks like it got a bit chaotic with some bad behaviour around where the Canada Warbler was seen.
@@BritHikesOntario Yes saw your G W Warbler video 👍🏼 I had a singing Connecticut 30 mins north of Kingsville in May. Someone told us where it was and it was singing from a dense thicket just a few yards away, but we couldn’t see it. So frustrating! The local birders around Lake Erie are using the Discord app to record instant rare sightings and it’s how we found out about the bird.
This year I bought myself a cot. I used to sleep on the ground on a hiking air mattress. The cot is so so much more comfortable. I bought a Naturehike cot. It can be set up low to the ground or higher up. I set mine up higher. Very easy to crawl out of bed. The cot is light, comes in a bag, and is easy to set up. Tent camping is a lot of fun. Nice that you cooking over an open fire. Hope to see you on the trail someday. Take care. Ron
Hi Stu and Sarah. Just wanted to comment that I really like your channel. I live in Hamilton so I have visited many areas in your videos. I also love 4:25 Rondeau and visited there and Erieau and Hawk Cliff last week. Please keep it up. I look forward to your next video and wish you luck on finding 300 birds. David Chapman
Thanks for taking the time to comment, David. It's much appreciated and gives us encouragement to continue. Rondeau is probably my favourite southern Ontario Park. We go at least once every year, usually more. Happy birding and thanks again.
Another lovely enjoyable video. The baby turtle stole the show though! Soo cute! More trips sound like a great idea, Sax Zim Bog is somewhere I’d love to go. If you don’t get your owls then maybe next year include Alberta (or Owlberta as I like to call it) in your count area. The place is positively littered with owls!
We've been wavering on Sax-Zim Bog because Toronto winters are long enough without a week away! But we decided that if we don't just do it while we have the chance, we may never. So we're going! Will add Alberta to my list. I really should see more of Canada, anyway.
Tim Horton’s is our favourite since we birder in Ontario in the 80s. Loving the inclusion of bugs and other wildlife. I feel your pain regarding the challenge. I set myself the challenge of 200 this year in UK county of Norfolk. I’m stuck for the last 3 weeks on 195.
A lot of my pain was for that Hooded Warbler at the end 😅 Good luck with your challenge. It's a good time of year for something unusual to maybe pop up.
Great video! Lots of good warblers - even if they aren't new ones! Too bad Hillman was a bust - I know I'm usually disappointed by it in the fall. Have you ever been to Hawk Cliff to see migrating raptors? I've heard it's a great spot and might try to check it out this year yet.
That was actually our first time at Hawk Cliff. There was a viewing area over a meadow with a line of trees. Sounds like some of the regulars have names for the various parts of the tree line to shout to each other as reference points, because they were labeled on some of the signage there. We didn't spend much time there, though. We wanted to checkout the woods. I've never been to Holiday Beach, much closer to Windsor, but I've heard that's a great spot for raptor migration.
@@BritHikesOntario I've been to Holiday Beach once - it is a pretty great spot. I may also get out there this year. But I live in Waterloo for school, so Hawk Cliff is a more doable day trip! Would love to see a Golden Eagle or something cool like that this year.
Thanks Richard, appreciate it. I think we will get there. With those two trips coming... AND... we've recently picked up a couple of really awesome birds, both lifers and one of them super rare. No spoilers 😉
Love the longer video's! You had some luck with the Warbler's. I was limited in my trailing due to work and getting my house fixed up. The only Warbler's I have seen this late are the Bay Breasted, Tennessee and Red Start. I have a bad hip but just watching you guys I think I'll take a break and go to my favorite trail. You never know unless you get out and look. We're having a dry spell here in Michigan too. The 2 trips you're planning on should get you to 300. I'll miss you guy's in Minnesota. It would of been fun to meet you both. I learn so much from the video's. I like how you used the exploding orange when you visited Florida it was so cute. Till next time.
Thank you Susan. We're fairly happy with our warbler haul this year. We would have liked to have bagged the Hooded, which was a real near miss. And we had a close call with getting a Cerulean. Otherwise, we're happy. I seem to struggle with the summer a bit, I find it hot and humid. So there's a few easy birds we should have gotten but they've already left (Eg. Bank Swallow). I hope you can find the motivation to get out on the trail, if you feel physically able. Getting yourself out there is the hard part. Once there, it's often good for the soul. All the best to you 👍
Hey Nathan, thanks. Gray-cheeked is possible here, too. Normally further north so I didn't name it because I'm not sure we will have the chance to look for one now.
Thanks, but one of our main rules for the challenge is: We both have to see it and we have to get it on camera. Makes it more entertaining for the viewer than us just talking about what we saw, but I appreciate your faith in us!
Very much enjoyed the extended video guys, looks like reaching your target could go down to the wire, still, it's keeps everyone interested to the end, maybe a Great Grey Owl on new year's eve!
Beautiful birds, their colors start to fade because they are getting ready for migration and it is so beautiful to see them getting ready for a long journey 🐦♥️
I've heard stories of Prothonotary Warblers just perched on the boardwalks at Rondeau. Always tough to know where to go during peak migration. So many good places, even in Toronto, with only 2-3 weeks of peak! Not sure what we will do next year during that period. Our teams are meeting this weekend! Always a game I dread because you've been a bit of a bogey team for us, apart from last year. Hopefully your season will pick up (aside from against us!). You've got a decent manager. Just don't seem to replacing some of the outbound players...
@@BritHikesOntario Hi Stu, yeah I had a wonderful sleep-deprived day at Rondeau in May 2008 the day after my arrival into Toronto - one of my best days ever birding that even eclipsed several days at Pelee - we visited Spice Bush Trail, Bennet Road and Tulip Tree Trail - I recall enjoying crippling views of male Prothontary Warbler down to five metres, male Cerulean Warbler, Worm eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, 2 Northern Waterthrushes, 2 Ovenbirds, 2 stunning male Black-throated Blue Warblers, 3 Black-throated Green Warblers, 2 male Blackburnian Warblers, male Magnolia Warbler, several Black and White Warblers, male Chestnut-Sided Warbler, loads of Yellow Warblers, as well as male Pileated Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, a few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Least Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, a few Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Swamp Sparrows, Northern Flicker, several Baltimore Orioles etc I was in heaven, everything was fresh out of the paint shop! One of my best days birding ever! We had the same issues with a key at Blenheim Sewage Works but Aylmer Reserve was quite good and also had nice Eastern Bluebirds around Port Stanley Lagoons. Can't quite recall where each of those places was. Ontario is quite big. Also recall coming across a dozen Bobolinks in a field somewhere along Charing Cross Road. I was staying with a couple I knew well in London. Villa doing well now and its good to see to be honest, one of the big 6 clubs for me. As for my beloved Wolves, I fear we are gradually (if not rapidly) heading back to the Chump. But losing love of footy a bit with VAR and my season ticket is £750 which is pricing people out sadly. Empty seats this year will become the norm I fear at Molineux. Today I expect nothing other than a resounding defeat. Good birding!
Great video! My best guess on the warbler at 20:52 is an immature female cape may because of the thin white wing bar and blurry streaking. Best of luck with your challenge!
Hey Leigh, they're both great spots. I personally prefer Rondeau all-round (including the nearby spots you'll have seen us visit). With Long Point, the best spots (in my experience) are outside the actual park. A short trail with mist nets outside the banding centre and several marsh areas on the way in.
Great episode guys. As a fellow Brit I enjoy watching you looking for American birds as I have visited the States numerous times but still struggle with IDs sometimes, especially heard only birds! I think the bird on 20 mins in is a first year Cape May but please don’t rely on me 😂
Thanks for the tip, Wayne. I'm not sure we will have time (only 3 days). I've been there in the past, though. Before we did videos. Mostly for the feral horses back then.
Nice choice to head down to Cape May and over to Minnesota. Without a couple trips there's not much chance you'd make it with the remaining prospects in Ontario.
While I'm lugging camera stuff around, Sara is invaluable at the research side of things, which I appreciate. She keeps a log of everything we see (regardless of whether it is on camera) and maintains our eBird checklists. There's not a huge divergence. I've only missed three birds. Hooded Warbler in this video and a couple of birds in Florida. Crested Caracara and Northern Bobwhite. I'm working on updating a lifelist which I would like to put on my website at some point...
Welcome to Ontario. You should had just gone on the trail anyway that asked for a permit. If the office cant be open 365 days a year well then we dont need to show proof of permit. People should not have to pay to enjoy nature. Shameful and a !Money grab!
If I wanted to become serious birder, I'd surely lose my mind learning all the warblers! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for another nice video. I’m a solo tent camper and the both of you are tent campers. I camp at Rondeau in the spring and fall. I camped at Rondeau just a couple weeks after you were there. It’s interesting to see the trails that you hiked and I also hiked. Still hope that one day we will meet on the trail. You mentioned going to New Jersey. I’ve been to New Jersey numerous times before I was a birder. I’ve always wanted to go to Cape May. I’ve been to Spring Lake. Look forward to those future videos. It’s nice seeing the open fire and cooking over the fire. I do the same. I do use my butane stove on the table. Bird Watching Beer is unique. I try and stop at the local craft beer breweries for these unique beers. Fire at the end of the day is the best. Good Luck in New Jersey and Minnesota. Take care and Thanks again
Thanks so much.
We just started camping last year. I'd had some less good experiences growing up, camping in terrible weather at not very nice campsites. But we are enjoying picking it back up and it has been a fun, enjoyable time so far. Rondeau was probably our favourite trip so far.
Great watching! I want to get out birding now!
Next time you do Erieau Marsh Trail, drive to the end of Erieau, via Mariners Road. You quite often get shorebirds (waders and Terns) roosting here, including around Rondeau West Front Lighthouse.
Will look out for your Sax-Zim Bog video. I’ve got my eye on this place for Golden-winged Warbler and Connecticut Warbler, but its a long way from the UK 🙂
Note last autumn was crazy in the UK for North American birds. I saw Britain’s 3rd and 4th Magnolia Warbler in the same day and dipped on a Canada Warbler! Later in October I also saw a Veery in Scotland, on Shetland!
Thanks for the tip, we'll take a closer look there next time.
I don't know if you saw, but I got Golden-winged earlier this year about an hour outside of Toronto. Connecticut would be awesome. A friend of mine was sure he heard one a couple of days ago, 30mins outside Toronto, but he couldn't find it.
I heard about some of those warblers landing over there. It looks like it got a bit chaotic with some bad behaviour around where the Canada Warbler was seen.
@@BritHikesOntario Yes saw your G W Warbler video 👍🏼 I had a singing Connecticut 30 mins north of Kingsville in May. Someone told us where it was and it was singing from a dense thicket just a few yards away, but we couldn’t see it. So frustrating!
The local birders around Lake Erie are using the Discord app to record instant rare sightings and it’s how we found out about the bird.
This year I bought myself a cot. I used to sleep on the ground on a hiking air mattress. The cot is so so much more comfortable. I bought a Naturehike cot. It can be set up low to the ground or higher up. I set mine up higher. Very easy to crawl out of bed. The cot is light, comes in a bag, and is easy to set up. Tent camping is a lot of fun. Nice that you cooking over an open fire. Hope to see you on the trail someday. Take care.
Ron
Yeah, we soon learnt that a good bed makes a huge difference. And so does a good fire and dinner 😊
Take care, Ron 👍
Hi Stu and Sarah. Just wanted to comment that I really like your channel. I live in Hamilton so I have visited many areas in your videos. I also love 4:25 Rondeau and visited there and Erieau and Hawk Cliff last week. Please keep it up. I look forward to your next video and wish you luck on finding 300 birds.
David Chapman
Thanks for taking the time to comment, David. It's much appreciated and gives us encouragement to continue. Rondeau is probably my favourite southern Ontario Park. We go at least once every year, usually more.
Happy birding and thanks again.
Another lovely enjoyable video. The baby turtle stole the show though! Soo cute! More trips sound like a great idea, Sax Zim Bog is somewhere I’d love to go. If you don’t get your owls then maybe next year include Alberta (or Owlberta as I like to call it) in your count area. The place is positively littered with owls!
We've been wavering on Sax-Zim Bog because Toronto winters are long enough without a week away! But we decided that if we don't just do it while we have the chance, we may never. So we're going!
Will add Alberta to my list. I really should see more of Canada, anyway.
Tim Horton’s is our favourite since we birder in Ontario in the 80s. Loving the inclusion of bugs and other wildlife. I feel your pain regarding the challenge. I set myself the challenge of 200 this year in UK county of Norfolk. I’m stuck for the last 3 weeks on 195.
A lot of my pain was for that Hooded Warbler at the end 😅
Good luck with your challenge. It's a good time of year for something unusual to maybe pop up.
Great video! Lots of good warblers - even if they aren't new ones! Too bad Hillman was a bust - I know I'm usually disappointed by it in the fall. Have you ever been to Hawk Cliff to see migrating raptors? I've heard it's a great spot and might try to check it out this year yet.
That was actually our first time at Hawk Cliff. There was a viewing area over a meadow with a line of trees. Sounds like some of the regulars have names for the various parts of the tree line to shout to each other as reference points, because they were labeled on some of the signage there.
We didn't spend much time there, though. We wanted to checkout the woods.
I've never been to Holiday Beach, much closer to Windsor, but I've heard that's a great spot for raptor migration.
@@BritHikesOntario I've been to Holiday Beach once - it is a pretty great spot. I may also get out there this year. But I live in Waterloo for school, so Hawk Cliff is a more doable day trip! Would love to see a Golden Eagle or something cool like that this year.
Another great video! Fewer than 40 to go. You will make it!
Thanks Richard, appreciate it. I think we will get there. With those two trips coming... AND... we've recently picked up a couple of really awesome birds, both lifers and one of them super rare. No spoilers 😉
Love the longer video's! You had some luck with the Warbler's. I was limited in my trailing due to work and getting my house fixed up. The only Warbler's I have seen this late are the Bay Breasted, Tennessee and Red Start. I have a bad hip but just watching you guys I think I'll take a break and go to my favorite trail. You never know unless you get out and look. We're having a dry spell here in Michigan too. The 2 trips you're planning on should get you to 300. I'll miss you guy's in Minnesota. It would of been fun to meet you both. I learn so much from the video's. I like how you used the exploding orange when you visited Florida it was so cute. Till next time.
Thank you Susan. We're fairly happy with our warbler haul this year. We would have liked to have bagged the Hooded, which was a real near miss. And we had a close call with getting a Cerulean. Otherwise, we're happy. I seem to struggle with the summer a bit, I find it hot and humid. So there's a few easy birds we should have gotten but they've already left (Eg. Bank Swallow).
I hope you can find the motivation to get out on the trail, if you feel physically able. Getting yourself out there is the hard part. Once there, it's often good for the soul. All the best to you 👍
That was fun to watch. I've seen a gray-cheeked thrush during migration, but I've never seen a Swainson's thrush.
Hey Nathan, thanks. Gray-cheeked is possible here, too. Normally further north so I didn't name it because I'm not sure we will have the chance to look for one now.
I think you should count the hooded warbler! We heard it and believe you saw it.
Thanks, but one of our main rules for the challenge is: We both have to see it and we have to get it on camera.
Makes it more entertaining for the viewer than us just talking about what we saw, but I appreciate your faith in us!
Very much enjoyed the extended video guys, looks like reaching your target could go down to the wire, still, it's keeps everyone interested to the end, maybe a Great Grey Owl on new year's eve!
Haha thanks. I'd be pretty happy for things to end on a Great Grey 😆
Beautiful birds, their colors start to fade because they are getting ready for migration and it is so beautiful to see them getting ready for a long journey 🐦♥️
Yes it is. But we will miss them. Until next spring 😊
Another great video from you guys. You do sound a little deflated, though. But you can do this! 🙂
Haha at the end? I think I was a bit disspointed about not getting the Hooded Warbler on camera. Overall a good weekend, though. Thanks, Andy!
Very good clip, brought back memories of a superb visit to Rondeau in May 2008. Far more at that time of year of course
I've heard stories of Prothonotary Warblers just perched on the boardwalks at Rondeau. Always tough to know where to go during peak migration. So many good places, even in Toronto, with only 2-3 weeks of peak! Not sure what we will do next year during that period.
Our teams are meeting this weekend! Always a game I dread because you've been a bit of a bogey team for us, apart from last year. Hopefully your season will pick up (aside from against us!). You've got a decent manager. Just don't seem to replacing some of the outbound players...
@@BritHikesOntario Hi Stu, yeah I had a wonderful sleep-deprived day at Rondeau in May 2008 the day after my arrival into Toronto - one of my best days ever birding that even eclipsed several days at Pelee - we visited Spice Bush Trail, Bennet Road and Tulip Tree Trail - I recall enjoying crippling views of male Prothontary Warbler down to five metres, male Cerulean Warbler, Worm eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, 2 Northern Waterthrushes, 2 Ovenbirds, 2 stunning male Black-throated Blue Warblers, 3 Black-throated Green Warblers, 2 male Blackburnian Warblers, male Magnolia Warbler, several Black and White Warblers, male Chestnut-Sided Warbler, loads of Yellow Warblers, as well as male Pileated Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, a few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Least Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, a few Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Swamp Sparrows, Northern Flicker, several Baltimore Orioles etc I was in heaven, everything was fresh out of the paint shop! One of my best days birding ever! We had the same issues with a key at Blenheim Sewage Works but Aylmer Reserve was quite good and also had nice Eastern Bluebirds around Port Stanley Lagoons. Can't quite recall where each of those places was. Ontario is quite big. Also recall coming across a dozen Bobolinks in a field somewhere along Charing Cross Road.
I was staying with a couple I knew well in London.
Villa doing well now and its good to see to be honest, one of the big 6 clubs for me. As for my beloved Wolves, I fear we are gradually (if not rapidly) heading back to the Chump. But losing love of footy a bit with VAR and my season ticket is £750 which is pricing people out sadly. Empty seats this year will become the norm I fear at Molineux. Today I expect nothing other than a resounding defeat.
Good birding!
Great video! My best guess on the warbler at 20:52 is an immature female cape may because of the thin white wing bar and blurry streaking. Best of luck with your challenge!
Thank you! A couple of people have suggested Cape May, so let's go with it 😆
Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always 🤗🐦
Thanks Miguel!
i was in long point on the long weekend and there was many camp mays there too
Any interesting sightings while you were there?
Nice long one today ! Good stuff. Hey which would you say is better for spring migration? -> Long Point or Rondeau? You guys must know, right?
Hey Leigh, they're both great spots. I personally prefer Rondeau all-round (including the nearby spots you'll have seen us visit). With Long Point, the best spots (in my experience) are outside the actual park. A short trail with mist nets outside the banding centre and several marsh areas on the way in.
Baltimore Oriole in my yard in July 2024.
A goal should not be easily attained, it’s a challenge the fun is trying. If you don’t succeed then there’s always next year.
Thanks Steve. I don't think we will be too upset to miss it, but we want to strive to reach it. Plus NJ and MN should give us a few lifers.
Great episode guys. As a fellow Brit I enjoy watching you looking for American birds as I have visited the States numerous times but still struggle with IDs sometimes, especially heard only birds! I think the bird on 20 mins in is a first year Cape May but please don’t rely on me 😂
It's funny because when I'm in The UK I'm complete lost with the bird song! (I started birding in Canada). Thanks for watching 😊
Check out Assateague Island after New Jersey! Great place
Thanks for the tip, Wayne. I'm not sure we will have time (only 3 days). I've been there in the past, though. Before we did videos. Mostly for the feral horses back then.
@@BritHikesOntario I saw many sorts of egrets and other birds there, mind you it was in June! Good luck
Nice choice to head down to Cape May and over to Minnesota. Without a couple trips there's not much chance you'd make it with the remaining prospects in Ontario.
Should see us over the line AND give us a few lifers 👍
@@BritHikesOntario always a lot of fun. Good birding. I hope you get there.
Do you have a separate list that you keep for the birds you don't get on camera, but see
While I'm lugging camera stuff around, Sara is invaluable at the research side of things, which I appreciate. She keeps a log of everything we see (regardless of whether it is on camera) and maintains our eBird checklists. There's not a huge divergence. I've only missed three birds. Hooded Warbler in this video and a couple of birds in Florida. Crested Caracara and Northern Bobwhite.
I'm working on updating a lifelist which I would like to put on my website at some point...
@@BritHikesOntario wow only 3 that's good
Good morning to both of you from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 SAR. Any ‘LIFERS’ for you this September ?
Just the one in September, coming in a future video
Welcome to Ontario. You should had just gone on the trail anyway that asked for a permit. If the office cant be open 365 days a year well then we dont need to show proof of permit. People should not have to pay to enjoy nature. Shameful and a !Money grab!
I believe access is controlled with a locked gate and combination lock. It's ok, we'll go back next time we're in the area.
Man you cant just forget your dna kit like that 15:15
Haha 😆