Hi Everyone Yesterday, October 17, 2004 I made a brief stop at Presqu'ile on my way home from 4 days at the Shouldice Hospital in Toronto. The birding was great on the grounds and I had 39 species including a small fallout on October 16 with 50 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 30 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Pine Warbler, 30 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Fox Sparrow and 1 Lincoln'sSparrow. The doctors recommending walking so on my way home I dropped by Presqu'ile and walked from Beach 1 to Owen Point in a howling gale. The birding was good and I had 2 Peregrine Falcon, 1 adult male, 1 imm. female, a flock of 10 Brant on Gull Island, 275 Green-winged Teal, 110 American Black Duck, 500 Red-breasted Merganser, and small flocks of White-winged Scoter and Long-tailed Ducks. The shorebird numbers were low but I did see 1 Baird's Sandpiper, 7 White-rumped Sandpiper, 75 Dunlin, 22 Sanderling , 1 Black-bellied Plover and 5 Semipalmated Plover. During the walk I found 7 dead Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Greater Scaup and 1 White-winged Scoter which appeared to be molting its flight feathers. This puzzled me.
travel light but always bring your binoculars, good birding Bruce Di Labio Birding Website Courses and Field Trips http://www3.sympatico.ca/bruce.dilabio/ Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario,K0A 1L0 (613)839-4395 Home (613)715-2571 Cell Directions: To reach Presqu'ile Provincial Park, follow the signs from Brighton. Locations within the Park are shown on a map at the back of a tabloid that is available at the Park gate. Visitors to Gull Island should be prepared to wade through knee-deep water in which there is often a swift current and a substrate that is somewhat uneven. It should also be noted that, because duck hunting is given priority on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Gull Island, High Bluff Island, Owen Point, and part of the calf pasture are not available for bird-watching on those days