Greetings all,
This morning Sarah Petrasek and I birded Presqu'ile's Owen Pt. from
0800-0900 just before a mild storm front passed over.
There were small numbers of shorebirds along the spit off Owen Pt.,
but almost none on the beach. Shorebirds seen included:
10j Least S/p
3j Semi S/p
1j Baird's S/p - my first of fall but Maureen Riggs said she had seen
one a few days ago.
1a,3j Spotted S/p
1j Semi Plover
Throughout the time on Owen Pt. a steady stream of swallows and
martins was seen flying west off Owen Pt. and toward Gull Island.
Some were low to the water while others were higher. The Purple
Martins were the most numerous with about 175 seen passing over in an
hour. Almost all flew high. There were a few groups of 30 but most
were seen in groups less than 10. This is the largest martin flight
I have seen around here in recent memory - too bad we couldn't have
stayed longer to see how long the flight continued.
Other observations of interest included:
1 female Bufflehead (possibly the same bird seen at nearby Gosport in
late June)
4 Redhead
1 male Lesser Scaup
12 Com. Merganser (loafing on Gull Is.)
lots of migrant Yellow Warblers, several parties of Eastern Kingbirds
as well as a few American Redstart.
Cheers,
Doug McRae
Doug McRae Nature Services
P.O. Box 3010
Brighton, Ontario
Canada K0K 1H0
613-475-5014
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Directions: Presqu'ile is south of the town of Brighton on the north
shore of Lake Ontario. Exit Hwy. 401 at the Brighton exit, then
follow 6 km. south into town, and follow the signs to the Provincial
Park. To reach Owen Pt., you can either park at the Park Store and
walk west to pick up the trail, or park at the Owen Pt. trail parking
lot.
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