Some people don’t care for birds, even though they sing, fly and form lifelong bonds. Nor are they impressed it’s the males who are colourful or that many go south for the winter.

Other people go to Point Pelee in early May to welcome our feathered co-habitants back home. Point Pelee is a long sand spit out into Lake Erie. It is the last jump in the migratory hopscotch across the Great Lake.

On May 1-2, at the tip and in the Carolinian forest behind, we listed more than 40 species including: a Sanderling on the shoreline checking the backwash of the waves; Bank Swallows picking off insects in the updraft where the lake meets the forest; a low flying Osprey with a big fish in hand; a Red-headed Woodpecker; and the Red-breasted Merganser with its glorious headdress.