Veteran birder Justin Peter hoping for a 'fallout' at Point Pelee festival

Justin Peter knows what he'll be looking for when he is spending time at Point Pelee for the Festival of Birds.

Some warblers, for sure.

But Peter is also hoping for a better glimpse of a scissor-tailed flycatcher, a bird he's seen before, but not at a close enough distance for his liking. An adult male, blue grosbeak is on his list, too.

Above all, he's hoping for a fallout — an event that is hard to predict, but which is big for birders.

"All of the warblers and many other birds migrate at night," he told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning in a recent interview. "Depending on the weather overnight, if there's been sort of a sudden thunderstorm or fog that can cause the birds to — I don't want to say literally drop out of the sky, but they will try to get down to a landing spot as soon as possible."

If this happens while these birds are heading over Lake Erie, they can end up on Point Pelee.

Peter said it's happened during the festival in the past.

"We had one day like that on, I think the first Wednesday of the festival last year, where everyone was smiling ear to ear, it was a beautiful, warm day and there were just birds all over the place," he said.

Experts will be leading lectures on topics related to birding during the festival. Peter will be teaching people about birding by ear.

The festival began Friday and runs until May 18.