Posting from the field. Along the edge of the river, above the falls Rob Dobos and I are currently looking at a Tricolored Heron. The bird is across from Dufferin Islands and can be viewed from the trail along the river, in between the two old hydro station buildings. 8arb Charlton Sent via BlackBerry on the Bell Mobility network From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Aug 6 14:24:54 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from ns2.mountaincable.net (ns2.mountaincable.net [24.215.0.12]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 61FB563C15 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 14:24:43 -0400 (EDT) Received: from D6FSCY61 (dhcp-0-11-11-d3-a0-c0.cpe.mountaincable.net [24.215.25.202]) by ns2.mountaincable.net (Postfix) with SMTP id E91EF14080 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 14:24:43 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Kevin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 14:24:34 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 X-Mailman-Approved-At: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 17:29:23 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Three Dowitcher forms at Townsend SL Sunday Aug 6/06 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:24:55 -0000
I spent an enjoyable few hours "wadering" at the lagoons this = morning. Most of the birds were on the recently created "western" cell = of the first pond. The highlight was being able to compare the three forms of dowitchers = that we can expect in southern Ontario in fall migration, although only = seven birds were present : Long-billed Dowitcher ( 2 ) These two were in normal worn alternate = plumage with the longer billed of the two ( a likely female ) appearing = to have molted at least of pair of lower scapulars, acquiring gray basic = feathers. Both birds were smooth orange on the underparts, having lost = much of the alternate spotting and barring. The upperparts were dark and = retained were some narrowly white fringed dark centred alternate = scapulars. Short-billed Dowitcher ( 1 worn alternate L.g. griseus ) This bird = presented a starkly different look compared to the other dowitchers = present. The upperparts were worn and dark with little remnant pale = fringing. The underparts were largely white with only a wash of orange = on the breast. The sides of the breast and belly were well barred. I = might be best to call this individual an "apparent" L.g.g. as the = characters that could be seen fit this subspecies best. I would like to = have gotten a closer study to rule out any possibility of a first = alternate L.g.h. or an intergrade. Short-billed Dowitcher ( 4 worn alternate L.g. hendersoni ) These were = all similar in appearance to one another, having retained many pale = fringed scapulars with pale orange underparts. When close to one of the = Long-bills, they were striking in being somewhat smaller bodied and = shorter legged. At one point these four formed a tight little feeding = "association". Other notables : Solitary Sandpiper ( 1 adult, 1 juvenile ) A suberb study of these two = together in profile. Lesser Yellowlegs ( many ) A interesting note on this is that the = number of juveniles now equal or exceed the number of adults. An = indication of how shorebird migration evolves in August. Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers ( 100-200 in total ) Quite fitting for = the date were the contrasting numbers with respect to age. All but one = of the Semis were adults in one degree or other of prebasic molt. The = juvenile was my first of the fall. I could only find two worn alternate = Leasts amongst the many juveniles. Wilson's Phalarope ( 1 ) This bird was a young of the year. It had = replaced seemingly all of its juvenile mantle and scapular feathers with = pale gray basic ones while retaining its dark centred pale fringed = tertials and wing coverts. Other species present were Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Spotted = Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs ( 1 adult ) and Pectoral Sandpiper. Directions : Take Highway # 6 south of Hagersville to HN 69 and turn = right. Follow this road to the main intersection of Townsend which is a = four-way stop. Turn left on the Keith Richardson Parkway and go to = Regional Road 14. Turn right and go 700-800 metres to the lagoon = entrance which is on the right ( north ) side of the road. Kevin McLaughlin Hamilton. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Aug 6 16:26:48 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.110]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 96BA463E41 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 16:26:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from b1xgaf08 ([74.12.151.145]) by tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net (InterMail vM.5.01.06.13 201-253-122-130-113-20050324) with SMTP id <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 16:26:48 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Carol McKnight" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ONTBIRDS" <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 16:26:53 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 X-Mailman-Approved-At: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 17:29:23 -0400 Subject: [Ontbirds]Markham - W. phalarope, SB dowitcher, et al X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 20:26:49 -0000 3pm today at Snider Marsh in Markham, Carol McKnight and myself (Stan Long) observed : 1 Killdeer 1 Spotted Sandpiper - juvenile 1 Wilson's phalarope - juvenile 1 Shortbilled dowitcher - juvenile 2 Lesser yellowlegs 5 Solitary sandpipers nb - the SBD sometimes rests on the grassy islet just north of the bridge and is hard to see & beware the thousands of blackbirds that descend upon this, their favorite roost at sunset - that is not rain that raineth down from heaven Snider Marsh is located just west of Snider Dr which exits north from Bullock Drive across the GO tracks at the first traffic lights just west of Markham Road Parking in that direction is limited to about three cars on Backus [a cul de sac] which is the first street west off Snider cheers From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Aug 6 18:08:48 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from mail.niagara.com (mail.niagara.com [209.5.56.12]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 873C063F74 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 18:08:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from KayoRoy (adsl-176.niagara.com [209.5.62.176]) by mail.niagara.com (8.13.6/8.13.4) with SMTP id k76M8tfT017644 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 18:08:56 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Diane and Kayo Roy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontbirds" <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 18:08:47 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Niagara River Tricolored Heron X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 22:08:49 -0000 Further to Barb Charlton's message here are some further directions to = the area. Once in Niagara Falls drive along the Niagara Parkway above the Falls to = Dufferin Island. Lots of tourists there at this time of the year and = parking can be a real problem. Go to the south entrance road to = Dufferin Island and park here. IT IS FREE. Walk back across the = Parkway towards the Falls and look for the small GATE HOUSE HYDRO = building. It is just south of the much larger old Toronto Hydro = Building. There is a little parkette between these two = buildings....walk along the NORTH side of Gate House building to the = river edge. Look for the park bench closest to this small building, the = heron was opposite this bench feeding from some shoreline rocks quite = close to the shoreline. Many thanks to Barb Charleton and Rob Dobos for getting this message out = so quickly. =20 Kayo Kayo Roy 13 Kinsman Court Fonthill, ON L0S 1E3 [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Aug 6 19:37:47 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts16-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts16.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.4]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D286763E57 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 19:37:46 -0400 (EDT) Received: from jean-bapu1sw48i.sympatico.ca ([69.158.117.230]) by tomts16-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Sun, 6 Aug 2006 19:37:47 -0400 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0 Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 19:38:10 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Jean Iron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]Marbled Godwits and Red Knots - James Bay X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 23:37:47 -0000 We received interesting recent information from Ken Abraham of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) and Ken Ross of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). They spent four days in late July and early August flying aerial surveys primarily to inventory flocks of molting scoters offshore in James Bay. They also recorded shorebirds that will be of interest to observers in southern Ontario. Marbled Godwit: On the 30 July 2006, Ken Ross (CWS) and Ken Abraham (OMNR) observed a flock of 400 to 500 Marbled Godwits at the southeast corner of Akimisiki Island (Nunavut Territory) in James Bay. This is many more than Ken Abraham has seen before at one spot. His previous high count for one location was about 50 birds. Surveying from a fixed wing aircraft, they also observed many small groups of Marbled Godwits in twos and threes (some larger groups) along Ontario's south and west coasts of James Bay north to Akimiski Island. Marbled Godwits in James Bay are part of a small isolated and poorly studied breeding population. Migration corridors and wintering areas of Marbled Godwits from James Bay are unknown. Presumably most Marbled Godwits seen in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, the Maritime Provinces, the New England States and New York State originate from James Bay. The James Bay population may winter along the southeastern Atlantic Coast, but some may go to the Gulf of Mexico and farther south. To what extent the Prairie and James Bay populations mix in winter is unknown. Red Knot: Also on the 30 July 2006, Ken Abraham and Ken Ross saw a very large flock of Red Knots (several 1000) on the Gullery Islands near Akimiski Island. This is a good portion of the current eastern population. Other Shorebirds: They saw some quite large flocks of peeps and small sandpipers (probably mainly Semipalmated Sandpipers, White-rumped and Dunlin) on the south and west coast of James Bay and south shore of Akimiski Island. These reports are qualified by variance in effort and viewing conditions. Not all of the coast was covered at appropriate tidal conditions or in good light. It also was not possible to identify many shorebird flocks to species because observations were made from a fixed wing aircraft. Facts about James Bay and Akimiski Island: James Bay is the southeasterly extension of Hudson Bay. Its funnel shape causes southbound shorebirds from the Arctic to concentrate in suitable coastal habitats and on islands. Thousands of shorebirds stage (stopover) and fatten on the broad tidal mudflats and coastal marshes before departing southeast (most species) to the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Some species such as Hudsonian Godwits fly nonstop to South America. Akimiski Island is the largest Island in James Bay. It has an area of 3001 sq km making it the 29th largest island in Canada. At 53 degrees north latitude, Akimiski Island lies slightly south of the latitude of Edmonton, Alberta, indicating just how far south James Bay extends into central Canada. Jurisdiction over James Bay: The provincial boundaries of Ontario and Quebec extend only to the shoreline of James Bay. Islands in James Bay such as Akimiski are part of Nunavut. However, the waters and seabed of James Bay are not part of Nunavut or of Ontario and Quebec. The waters and seabed are under federal jurisdiction. Good shorebirding, Jean Iron & Ron Pittaway Toronto & Minden ON [EMAIL PROTECTED]
