The Spring Bird Vortex
Through the magic doorway to Birdland
Yes, I know. I owe you more French Revolution – the Thermidorian Reaction in particular. It’s coming, it’s coming! I got distracted by an amazing new book about noteworthy trends during the forty years before the Revolution finally kicked off — nothing comes out of nowhere – and I’ll report on that, too.
Meanwhile, I got sucked down the rabbit hole — no! Wrong direction! I got swept up into the sky during the migratory bird migration phenomenon on Pelee Island, in the middle of Lake Erie – the southernmost inhabited bit of Canada.
Prothonotary warbler. What a star!
Every spring, millions of birds — especially woodland warblers —that have spent the winter in Central and South America make the annual pilgrimage to their nesting sites in the Canadian southern and boreal forests. There are four major flyways in North America: https://abcbirds.org/blog/north-american-bird-flyways/
Pelee Island is on the Mississipi Flyway. On a site called BirdCast https://birdcast.info you can view the migration in real time via radar maps: the birds mass on the Ohio shore, then fly over at night. Many of them land on the southern tip of Pelee Island, then work their way up to the northern tip and take off when conditions are favourable. The combined number of species sighted during a 24-hour period just before Mother’s Day this year topped 150. And Martin Harper, the CEO of BirdLife International — the oldest and largest conservation org. in the world — saw a Prothonotary warbler: a highlight for him, said he.
For the past 23 years, Pelee Island has thrown an event called SpringSong, on the Mothers’ Day weekend, to benefit the Heritage Centre (and what a heritage! War of 1812? Rum runners? Corpses washing up via the Detroit River due to the Al Capone gang wars in Detroit? And more!).
The founders of Springsong were Ron Tiessen of the Island, who also founded the Heritage Centre; Graeme Gibson; and to a lesser extent, me. Two Bird Races (Green and Conventional) kick off on the Friday at noon and last for 24 hours, ending on Saturday at noon. The prizes are presented at a Saturday night dinner—the Botham Cup for the Green race, won this year by the Cardinal Cinns from Cincinnati, and for the Conventionals a rubber chicken and a chance to sing or honk or squeak,in the Rubber Chicken Choir along with previous winners, conducted by Yours Truly , Each dinner features an Honourary Writer, because not every birder has a spouse willing to stand in a swamp all night waiting for the Great Crested Something to show up.
The writers were procured by myself and Graeme through the time-honoured, suave and diplomatic procedure known as arm-twisting. I have traditionally introduced them. They have included David Suzuki, Alice Munro, Alistair MacLeod, Farley Mowat, Merilyn Simonds and Wayne Grady, Louise Penny, Michael Crummy, and many more. You can find the whole list on the Heritage Centre website at: https://peleeislandmuseum.ca/events/ Our MC for Life is Paul Vasey, a light-on-his-feet radio guy who’s an old crony of Ron Tiessen’s. The year the ferry broke down Paul saved the day by auctioning off some oranges he happened to have on hand. Pelee = Flexible.
During Covid, we did the dinner events online — two of them, Virtual Gala 2020 and Virtual Gala 2021. You can find them on the Pelee Island Bird Observatory website at:
They’re pretty silly. That’s a compliment.
The Honorary Birders are equally distinguished. They come, they bird, they speak, most recently at the Winery on Sunday mornings.
This year’s lineup: Rodrigo Lopez, Hon. Hon. Birder, from Travelian Tours in San Miguel, Mexico; Your Resident Gnome in the middle; Hon. Author Helen Humphreys. Each of us is holding a limited-edition chapbook written by us and published by Woodbridge Farm Books. Read all about it in the Windsor Star:
At the same time, PIBO is engaged in a major renovation of a building that started life as an LCBO, continued as a bike rental shop, and will now be a Bird Centre.
Right now the building looks like this:
But soon it will be a thing of beauty and a joy forever! (It’s quite long, so bigger than it looks in this front view.) It will house the bird banders who are part of the continents-wide migration monitoring network, collect and share data , host visiting researchers, and provide outfacing information and education space plus a ping-pong table. (Just kidding about the ping-pong table. But, on second thought… Birds fly. So do ping-pong balls. Maybe something there? ) To donate: www.pibo.ca/donate.
Update: You can now get pictures of the inside being gutted, + more information, at:
https://pibo.ca/en/the-pibo-bird-centre/
Yes, Dear Subscribers: This is where your Substack subscription money is going.
And now, after that long explanatory preamble, here is my 2024 introduction to Rodrigo and Helen, in the form of a Quest Saga:
Helen Humphreys and Rodrigo Lopez
This is a very special SpringSong, and we have two very special guests.
Why is it very special? Numerology tells us so!
It’s the twenty-third SpringSong – can you believe it? And two and three are five, and five means: “Enjoying adventures, and a person who likes to deeply analyze the origin of everything that surrounds them. Superficial explanations will not be enough.” That means “It’s a gull” will not do. You have to say what kind.
When Ron Tiessen and Graeme Gibson the Elder – and to a lesser extent yours truly – started SpringSong – I was only twelve. I was the first sacrificial goat, at the first SpringSong, held in the old Anchor and Wheel Inn. Before that event, I said to the always plain-spoken Mary Hamel, “Will it be okay? How do you think I’ll do?” “Oh, we’ll let you know,” said Mary the Islander. Yep, the Island lets you know. But I guess it was okay, because we’re still going. Hooray for Kim Gardner, who keeps it on track, as much as possible.
In addition, this is 2024, and numerology tells us that two and two are four and four are eight. Yes! It’s an Eight year! To quote the Internet, which I always believe:
“When you think of an eight year, think of building, doing and creating. Think of unlocking your personal power. Think of razing down obstacles through will, and will alone.” (That obviously refers to the new PIBO bird centre we are building in the old liquor-store and bike rental joint. We have certainly done some razing!) More: “Think persistence and enjoying the fight. This is a year not to dream, but to make magic happen.”
So now we are making magic happen. Getting to SpringSong is sort of like a video game quest. You have to overcome challenges and ordeals. Our two questing adventurers have overcome many of these, guided from afar by the all-seeing eye of our chief Wizard, Merilyn Simonds and her magic emails, and Deb Egan, sorcerer’s apprentice, who stepped in and stepped up. Hooray for both!
Rodrigo Lopez, our Honourary Birder, coming all the way from Mexico, has undergone the ordeal of the Airplane, the Car Ride, the Malfunctioning Canadian Immigration Official, the Other Car Ride, the Other Two Airplanes, and the Other Car Rides, to achieve the ultimate quest success; Getting Onto The Ferry. Many would have given up earlier, but Rodrigo did not say the disenchanting F-It word and turn back. Hope sustained him, and his passion for birds. We are grateful!
He will speak to you tomorrow about a very magical and rare and gorgeous bird, at 10 a.m. in the Winery, after you’ve had coffee and who knows what at 9. (“Who knows what” is an Island specialty. We always appreciate it, as long as there is some.) Ian Davidson will say lots more about Rodrigo tomorrow, but Rodrigo has already won the Charming contest, which is run unofficially by me every year. Starting now.
Our Honourary Writer, Helen Humpreys, has had an equally challenging quest journey. Helen has been writing and overcoming challenges (such as being expelled from high school) and going on magic adventures ever since at least 1986. Being no slouch, she’s written almost as much as me, as far as I can tell. She’s the author of five books of poetry, eleven novels, and three works of non-fiction. Her first novel, Leaving Earth (1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third, The Lost Garden (2002), was a national bestseller, and was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. (Give it a rest, New York Times.) Coventry (2008) was a #1 national bestseller, and on and on. Her non-fiction book, The Frozen Thames (2007), was a #1 national bestseller. There’s more in that vein. Her collections of poetry include Gods and Other Mortals (1986); Nuns Looking Anxious, Listening to Radios (1990); and, The Perils of Geography (1995). And more. I have to read Nuns Looking Anxious. Who could resist?
So what’s a nice accomplished girl like Helen doing in a place like this? I asked her. Both she – the quester – and her Honourary Elf-friend and Shield-bearer, Nancy Jo Cullen – said the same thing: “I’ve always wanted to come to Pelee Island!” Well, that gets you ten extra game points and a dead dragon right there! Then they spent twelve hours – count them, twelve – actually getting here. Who knows what Orcs and En Routes and Terrible Foods and wild wargy Other Drivers they had to overcome on the way? Again, we are grateful!
So Helen and Rodrigo are now the Co-Chosen Ones, and will complete the quest tomorrow when they hurl the Binoculars of Power into Lake Henry, thus saving the world. You didn’t know about the Binoculars of Power? They compel you to look. Looook! Then you must say, “It’s on that branch. THAT branch! Any idiot could see it!” This causes traffic accidents and divorces, and warts.
But that’s another story. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Birders, and Ron, and Paul Vasey: Please welcome the Honourary Writer of SpringSong, 2024 -- Helen “Chosen One” Humphreys!
______
Finally, here is a picture of the Rose-Bellied Bunting, Rodrigo’s subject: Threatened, fascinating, gorgeous. What’s not to like?
For you, Dear Subscribers, you will find a link to a video of the Rubber Chicken Choir – even sillier than the online galas – featuring our special Lead Singer, the Birder Murder Mysteries writer Steve Burrows, in a unique and possibly actionable rendition of “Bye, Bye, Blackbird.”
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