Date sent: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 17:43:29 -0500 (EST) From: Janet Hinshaw To: birders@umich.edu Copies to: Robert B Payne Subject: Pinery PP/Bohemian Waxwings I received several messages asking for more info on how to get to Pinery Provincial Park and find the Bohemian Waxwings, so here it is: Go through Port Huron/Sarnia and take the 402 east until you get to route 21. The park is shown on Rand McNally atlas map for Ontario. It is on the SE coast of Lake Huron. When you get to the park entrance ($7 Can, $6 US for a day permit) go in. After about 2 km the road splits. Take the left hand fork, towards the Nature Center. After about 2 more km, there is an intersection by the park store (closed). (Go right for nature center-nice displays, store & bathrooms!). Go straight ahead and you will see parking lot P-3. Park here. Take trail along channel towards the west. After about 1/4-1/2 km look in trees and bushes along channel, both above your head and on far side. We heard them first (quiet, but we could hear them even on the other side, and obviously waxwing calls). The person at the center said they show up every 45 min to feed (don't know where they hang out otherwise). The flocks probably break up and reform, with about 120 birds at the max that we saw. They were quite active the first time we saw them, most sitting up in the trees on the far side of the channel, with groups dropping down in the shrubs and coming back up. The second time they were just sitting in a tree, very quietly for quite a while. The Riverside campground is the other place they've been seen, which is further on down the path, and also I think accessible by car, since it is open for winter camping. Most of the other roads in the park are closed :( so we didn't get to look around much otherwise. At the feeders at the nature center was common stuff (blue jays, nuthatches, juncos, etc) and black squirrels. Nothing otherwise. There is a log in the nature center with bird sightings. On the way back we stopped at the Sarnia airport (nothing but Ring-bills on the west side, but we were there in the middle of the day, and don't know if there have been any short-eared owls around or not.) We drove down the Canadian side of the St. Claire River, and there was no ice anywhere, and conseqently hardly any ducks. One raft of scaup, several pairs of Mallards, and a pair of Hooded Mergs were all we saw. Wear plenty of clothes. There's a stiff wind off the lake. Waxwings didn't seem to mind, tho, and were up in the tops of the trees. Take your spotting scope for a good view in case they're on the far side of the channel. They're very identifiable with binocs, but more fun with the scope. Have fun! (P.S. Nature center open at 1:00 on weekdays, 10:00 weekends). Janet Hinshaw, Collection Manager Phone: 313-764-0457 Bird Division FAX: 313-763-4080 Rm. 3020 Museum of Zoology University of Michigan 1109 Geddes Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079 USA