Birdy Watching

The Birding Pass is back!

Birding Pass to Point Pelee & Hillman Marsh
© Parks Canada
Pay for 2 days and get the 3rd free!

This popular 3 consecutive-day pass allows you entry to two of the region’s most popular spring bird watching sanctuaries: Point Pelee National Park and Hillman Marsh Conservation Area (located less than 10 minutes north of the park).

Valid between May 3 and 19, 2008

Family/Group $47.20 (up to seven occupants in a vehicle)
Individual $23.60

Purchase at Point Pelee’s entrance kiosk or Hillman’s Nature Centre.

Even if you only visit Point Pelee 3 days, you’ll save 20%!





Point Pelee Birding Area
Point Pelee National Park. Birds have made Point Pelee National Park world famous. Each spring and fall, thousands of birds pass through the area, giving Pelee an impressive checklist which presently stands at 385 species. The spring migration begins with the arrival in late January or early February of the Horned Larks. They are followed, in turn, by ducks, blackbirds, geese and Tundra Swans who arrive as the ice begins to thaw. Point Pelee is best known for its great diversity of songbirds. In particular, the spectacular movement of wood warblers through the Park is so outstanding that it is often dubbed "The Warbler Capital of North America". Of the 55 species of American wood warblers, 42 have been observed at Point Pelee and 36 occur annually.
The peak of spring migration occurs in mid-May before most trees have leafed out and coincides with our annual month-long May Festival of Birds. The fall migration of most species is less hurried and this allows even the most casual observer more time to study species than during spring's frenzied northward movement. Such species as Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Blackpoll Warbler can be found with regularity in the fall. The Park's "Migration Line", (519) 322-2371, is up-dated daily during the spring and autumn seasons.

The Onion Fields - located north of Point Pelee are often good for shorebirds, especially Golden and Black-bellied Plovers, Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones. In the early fall Upland and Buff-breasted Sandpipers are regular visitors. Horned Larks, Savannah Sparrows and House Finches are common along the road that parallels the north boundary of Pelee marsh.

Hillman Marsh Conservation Area
This is one of the premiere areas for viewing marsh life in Essex County. The 850 acre marsh is located on County Road #20 at the extreme eastern shore of Essex County on Lake Erie. An information centre and five km. of walking trails are located at the northwest corner of the marsh. Bald Eagles are residents and rarities such as Yellow-headed Blackbird, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Eurasian Wigeon, Glossy Ibis and Western Kingbird are often reported here. Many species of herons, ducks, gulls, shorebirds, swallows, egrets, terns, rails and songbirds are easily found along the roads bordering the marsh. King Rails have nested in the area. Sandhill Cranes have been noted in migration. Fields near the parking lot often have Eastern Meadowlarks and Bobolinks in May. Wooded patches near the perimeter roads can sometimes have pockets of passerines which may include rare warblers and vireos. Dead standing trees support large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants. This site can provide excellent birding both spring and fall.

A new 87 acre shorebird wetland was created in 2003. It is managed specifically to provide shorebird habitat during the spring migration. In the spring of 2005, thirty species of shorebirds were recorded here.

Kopegaron Woods Conservation Area
Located just north of Hillman Marsh, this conservation area provides 47 acres of excellent woodland birding during migration and a great spot for spring wildflowers.

Wheatley Harbour
The harbour area is an excellent location to look for rare gulls among the large number of Herring and Ring-billed Gulls that loaf on the beach and piers.


Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary.
This world-famous refuge for Canada Geese is located three miles north of Kingsville on Division Road (County Road #29). The 300 acre Sanctuary contains a museum and nature centre which is open year-round from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Saturday. Here one can view the spring and fall migratory flight of Canada Geese. During the spring and summer months, the adjoining fields and Kennedy Woods provide opportunities to view Savannah Sparrows, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks and other songbirds.

Heary Ford Meseum

Call Center: 800.835.5237

Daily Bird Hike

Great lake Crossing outlet mall

How to Prevent Lost Luggage and Pack Wisely

This is copied from Budget Travel website. Thought it's helpful for me for the coming trips.

加通讯标签潜在箱子的前后和里面
箱子内放入行程表
留存箱子照片和行李清单


PREVENTING LOST LUGGAGE


Put your name both outside and inside your bag in case your luggage tags fall off in transit; also, a copy of your itinerary inside will make it easier for an airline employee to find you if it becomes lost


Take a picture of your bags before you travel. You'll find having a photo of your lost luggage will be much easier than describing what your bag looks like at the claims desk


Pack a day's worth of clothes in your carry on--especially undergarments--so if your bags ever become lost you're not running around an unknown city looking for the essentials


Avoid short layovers: If you must connect through a second airport, be sure to leave enough time for you and your bags to make the next flight--a good rule of thumb is to try and leave at least an hour in between legs


Some airports are worse than others: Many British and U.S. airports are heavily backed-up in the wake of the foiled terrorist plot and may be more prone to misplace luggage. In general, Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport and Sydney International are among the world's worst as far as losing bags is concerned, so take heed before you fly through those airports

IF YOUR BAG IS LOST


If your luggage is lost or even damaged, it's important that you file a report with the airline within 24 hours of your arrival, or else your claim could be dismissed


Also, if your bag is lost for good, you'll have to list all the items inside to get reimbursed, so it's important to write down what's in your bag before you fly.


Airlines pay a maximum of $2,800 per passenger for lost luggage on domestic flights, although each carrier's policy is different. For example, many exclude coverage of jewelry, camera equipment, and medications.


When delays occur, airlines usually advance passengers cash or reimburse you for necessary items like toiletries and a change of clothes, so it's important to save your receipts


Also, make sure to carry the address of the hotel or hotels you'll be staying at. Once the airline locates your bags, most will ship them to you free of charge so it's important that you know where they should send them

There is hope: In 98 percent of lost luggage situations, bags are eventually recovered, most within the first 24 to 48 hours.

PACKING TIPS

1. All the airlines have cut back on weight allowances¿if you check more than 50 pounds in a bag, you'll have to pay a fee (except for JetBlue, where the limit is 70 pounds), so pack light!

2. Pack chronologically. If you know you're going to be golfing on your last day, pack it at the bottom.

3. Put at least one outfit of yours in your companion's bag, and that way, if the airline loses your bag (or your companion's), you each at least have something to wear.

4. Share the luggage load in general. When you travel with a group, decide ahead of time who's going to bring what. If you're sharing a suite or have adjoining rooms, you don't need multiple hair dryers and umpteen bottles of shampoo.

5. Dry-cleaning bags stop clothes from wrinkling. Slide each garment into its own bag (leave the hanger at home) and place them flat on your bed, one on top of another. Then carefully fold the entire stack to fit it in your suitcase. Once you get to your hotel, hang everything up as soon as you reasonably can.

6. Put shoes inside those plastic bags that the newspapers are delivered in. They're sturdy, just the right shape (long and thin), and at the end of the trip you can just throw the bags away. In fact, regular household items like soap dishes, film canisters, and contact lens cases can be used to hold delicate things like jewelry and small doses of over-the-counter medications.

7. Place heavy items at the end of the suitcase that will be at the bottom when the suitcase is standing on end. This way the weight will hold the bag upright and it won't tip over.

8. We love Ziploc bags! We use them for everything. To hold toiletries prone to ooze, to hold cell phones and wallets when we're on water rides at amusement parks, to hold umbrellas when they're wet but we don't want to carry them.

9. Pack things inside of other things. Women's shoes inside of men's shoes, a camera inside a pair of shoes, etc.

10. Pack a swimsuit in your carry on. If you're going on a cruise, you'll be able to hit the pool when everybody else is waiting for their baggage to be delivered to their cabins. And if your luggage is lost, you'll at least be able to swim.

11. Consider shipping stuff ahead, especially baby supplies. You can order them from a company called Babiestravellite.com and they'll be delivered to your hotel.

14. Write a master packing list on your computer; it should include everything you might pack for any given trip. Then, when you're going on a specific trip, you can cross off the stuff you won't need¿and you don't have to write up a new list for the next trip.