At Presqu'ile today, Sunday May 24, I found a breeding-plumaged Marbled Godwit feeding at the grassy edge of the spring pond at the junction of Beaches 3&4 at 4pm. Unfortunately it was spooked by passersby on the beach and was not refound later, in spite of an intensive search by several birders. There were still thousands of Dunlin all along the beaches and hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers, even though thousands of birds had been flying north all day. There were smaller numbers of Sanderling, Semipalmated Plovers and Black-bellied Plovers. Only 1 Whimbrel by this time, 1 griseus Short-billed Dowitcher, a few Red Knot, White-rumped Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones. The trilling of all the Dunlin was a spectacular sound!
Both Cobourg and Port Hope harbour breakwaters also had thousands of shorebirds today, mostly Dunlin, but in Cobourg several hundred Semipalmated Sandpipers formed small pods of 50-60 birds among the larger Dunlin. Directions: To reach Presqu'ile Provincial Park, follow the signs from Brighton, Exit 509 from Hwy.401. Margaret Bain Cobourg mjcb...@sympatico.ca _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
