Naturally Maria: Fall at Point Pelee National Park (Day One)

Point Pelee National Park just happens to be one of my favourite Canadian parks. We've visited this park on various occasions but had not yet visited during the fall. So this year we thought we would head over for a couple of days during the Thanksgiving long weekend. We had visited the park earlier in the year during the Festival of Birds (you can read all about our visit by clicking this link.)

We left early Saturday morning and made our way under off and on again showers. Eventually the rain cleared out to what turned out to be a beautiful fall day by the time we entered the park gates. We didn't really expect to see much in the way of fall colours at this time yet but there were signs of fall all around us. Some trees were starting to change and leaves had begun to fall. The marsh vegetation was changing and the birds and butterflies were making their journey south.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

For the first day at the park, we walked along the Marsh Boardwalk, Northwest Beach and hiked part of the Centennial Bike & Hike Trail.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

The Marsh Boardwalk trail wasn't full of birds like it was during the spring migration, but there were some around that could be heard. A Great Blue Heron stuck around all day fishing just off the boardwalk.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron With Frog

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron With Fish

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron In Flight

Some mallard ducks swam by and a couple of killdeer made an appearance. A few dragonflies were flying around as well.

Killdeer

Many people came out to enjoy a beautiful fall day at the park. Some hiked the trails and several rented canoes or kayaks and paddled their way along the marsh. Kayaks and canoes are available to rent at the Marsh Store by the Friends of Point Pelee if you don't happen to have one of your own.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Canoers

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Kayakers

Photo by Andrew Almeida

After spending some time at the marsh, we crossed the street and walked along the Northwest Beach for a bit. Many gulls were seen out on the water as well as on the beach. I was personally excited to see a Great Black-backed Gull in amongst the Herring Gulls and the super common Ring-billed Gulls. The Great Black-backed gull is the largest species of gull in the world. A few people were also out enjoying the beach and playing in the sand and water.