Rock Point Provincial Park

We took our lovely niece and our two lovely dogs on an overnight camping trip to Rock Point Provincial Park. We picked Rock Point b/c it has a dog beach/swimming area and it was one of the few places that had availability when we decided only last week that we should do a camping trip. Arthur and Lola loved the beach area. Lola was pretty brave and got into the water, venturing out a little further than her usual "up to the ankles" level. Arthur was right in there of course.


While we hung out on the beach on Sunday (a beautiful day- sunny and breezy) we saw some new birds that we have since added to our life list.

These include the Bank Swallow and the Caspian Tern. The swallows were busy overhead, feeding on bugs. Bank Swallows are the smallest of the N. Am swallows. They are usually found near water and nest in sand banks. They forage in the air, working in groups (which is exactly what we observed). Their tails look almost square, so that was helpful in making the id too.



We got to see the Tern repeatedly hunting a school of fish that Brittney had just pointed out to us. This is the largest of the terns, with black legs, a red/orange bill and a black mask. It would hover over the water, dive down and try to make a catch. When a second tern tried to move in, the first tern starting squawking and carrying on.



We also saw a juvenile (we think a second year) Bald Eagle soaring in the sky on Saturday afternoon while we were hiking some trails. It was beautiful!! Of course, it went by quickly and we didn't get a shot.


On Saturday (prior to the thunderstorm and hail that hit us hard), we also saw a Yellow Warbler feeding a Cowbird. We did not see any other babies being fed, so we wondered if the cowbird was just hanging around longer than the other babies or this meant that the other yellow warbler babies just didn't make it. It's frustrating and disheartening to see this and there isn't anything to be done since cowbirds are a native bird.


We saw many Catbirds throughout the area. There was one nesting near our site and it was singing it's heart out.

On Sunday, three Turkey Vultures were soaring above, just letting the wind carry them along.


We also saw many robins and other yellow warblers around and a cardinal or two. Here are some other finds from our hike: