Greetings Ontbirders There were no birds to highlight this week and very few reports of birds or birders in the Park. Lots of family groups of common birds are being seen though. At this point there have been no sightings of juvenile Red-headed Woodpeckers. Hopefully this will change as adults are still coming regularly to residential feeders.
The Park has done an inventory on the wonderful Colonial nesting bird colony on Gull and High Bluff Islands. There are extensive ponds on both islands which some ducks have taken advantage of to nest. NORTHERN SHOVELERS, REDHEADS, MALLARD AND GADWALL.Some shorebirds are taking advantage of these ponds as well, with YELLOWLEGS and PEEPS being seen. A lone adult LEAST SANDPIPER was seen from beach 2 today mingling with SPOTTED SANDPIPER and KILLDEER. Due to the lack of predators there has been a bumper crop of successful breeding birds on High Bluff this year! COMMON TERNS that normally breed on Gull Island lost 2 sets of nesting attempts causing them to move to High Bluff and make a third attempt. There are 60 nests containing young in most if not all nests. CASPIAN TERNS roughly 600+ were on Gull Island with no nest data. RING-BILLED GULLS breed on both islands with numbers at 15,000 to 20,000. Due to a later than normal breeding by at least a week some of these birds are still on nests. HERRING GULLS breeding on both islands totalling about 100 birds with no nest data. GREAT EGRETS had a record number of 47 nests on High Bluff Island. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS also breed on High Bluff Island with roughly 100 birds seen. No data on number of nests unfortunately. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT many! Thanks to the Park for sharing the information on this amazing colony! Directions: Presqu’ile Provincial Park is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, just south of the town of Brighton. It can be reached from either Hwy. 401, or Cty. Rd. 2 and is well signed. A Park map can be found in the information tabloid available at the Park gate. Presqu’ile’s two offshore islands – Gull and High Bluff – support a large multi-species colonial bird nesting area and access is not permitted during the breeding season (10 March-10 September). _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
