[Ontbirds] Whimbrels at Colonel Samuel Smith Park, Etobicoke
I birded the two peninsulas of the park this morning from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm during a fairly strong easterly wind. At 11:45 am I heard Whimbrels calling and located a flock of 5 (+ two birds higher up, in all probably also Whimbels) flying ese about 1200-1500 ft altitude at great speed. Bruce Wilkinson missed them by about 10 minutes. These are first Whimbel I have seen in fall migration on Ontario. I searched all the rocky headlands and beaches for Whimbrel and other shorebirds but not see a single shorebird of any species. There were 9 Red-necked Grebes in the area, one Great Egret (no legs and wing markers), one Great Blue Heron, two Hooded Mergansers and two American Widgeon. The place was swarming with American Goldfinches. Directions: The park is located south of Humber Campus which is located at the intersection of Lakeshore Boulevard and Kipling. The only free parking lot is located at the south end of Col. Samuel Smith Park Drive which runs of the south end of Kipling where it interfaces Lakeshore. Wayne Renaud (cell: 1-289-828-0043) ___ 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/
[Ontbirds] Mitchell wetlands: ruddy turnstone, red-necked phalarope
Arrived at Mitchell wetlands at 8, this Saturday morning, stayed until 10. First thing, a juv. Ruddy Turnstone was seen briefly. The bird took off with a circling panicked flock and could not be found again. In the midst of the usual assortment of shorebirds, 2 juv. Short-billed Dowitchers, feeding and always coming back to the same spot after the numerous flights. There was an accipiter darting in and out of the trees and flushing the shorebirds many times, with some not returning. As well, in the n-e corner of that same cell, one juv. Red-Necked Phalarope. Usual assortment: Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated, Least, and Baird's Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper. Also saw several Bobolinks. Directions to Mitchell (West Perth) Wetlands: From the East (Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, GTA) - take Hwy 8 thru Stratford heading west to first lights in Mitchell (Wellington St) and turn left (south) and continue till you hit the T intersection at the ball diamond. Lagoon cells are straight back behind the ball diamond and soccer fields and the sewage treatment plant. You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. From the London areatake Hwy 23 into Mitchell from the south and just after you pass the Welcome to Mitchell sign...watch for Frank St...go right on Frank St and head down over the bridge till you get to the ball diamond (will be on your right). Again...the cells are behind the ball diamond and soccer fields. You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. From Southampton areatake Hwy 21, to Goderich and then Hwy 8 to Clinton and down to Mitchell, turn south on Hwy 23 to Frank St. and turn left on Frank St. and head over the bridge to the ball diamonds (which will be on your right). You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. Paolo Viola ___ 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/
[Ontbirds] Results of OFO outing to Toronto Islands today, Aug 28, 2010.
The beautiful sunny day we enjoyed on the Islands today was matched only by the nice group of birders who made it a pleasure to lead this outing. As has been usual for the past three years a large group of birders showed up to practise their skills at identifying those confusing fall warblers and practise they had, in full. After 2 or 3 hours we had progressed no further than a few hundred metres from the Ward's Island ferry dock as wave after wave of warblers, vireos, flycatchers and other species flew into a few willows in front of us. A beautifully plumaged male Canada Warbler was a big favourite as was a cooperative male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Philadelphia Vireos and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were other popular sightings. When we finally left the Ward's cottage area and headed west, we enjoyed seeing an Olive-sided Flycatcher from Snake Island, at the very top of the highest bare snag, as is typical for this species. Snake Island is a good place to find this species at this time of year. If you have an opportunity to get over to the Islands in the next few weeks, particularly after northerly winds overnight you can be pretty sure of a great day of birding. Two things: Be sure you have the correct ferry schedule; it's the summer schedule now, but will change to the fall schedule on Sept. 7th. New ferry ticket machines are now in place, just outside the entrance to the ferry dock. The good news is that they will now accept credit cards. The bad news is that they are far from intuitive to use. To use them: Use the two buttons at the left to scroll up or down to choose the kind of ticket you want (Adult, or Seniors, etc.). Then select the number of people for whom you want tickets on the number pad below. Then push the green Print button. The screen will then display the amount it expects from you. Either enter the correct change in the yellow slot below ($6.50 adult or $4.00 Seniors) or enter your credit card. Then push the green Print button again. Finally remove the ticket when it drops down into the slot at bottom right (note that multiple tickets will be printed if you paid for more than one person). I provide these details because I had to help most people to figure out how to use these new machines. Ian. ___ 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/
[Ontbirds] Western Wood-Pewee and probable Whistling-Ducks at Long Point
Hello birders, It has been a great few days birding at Long Point! First: Yesterday (August 27) Ross Wood heard and observed a Western Wood-Pewee at one of our remote field stations. He was able to study the bird closely along with several of our volunteers (Erika Hentsch, Ryan Rea, Avery Nagy-MacArthur). Other than the distinctive call that was heard throughout the day visual features supporting the ID were noted including an almost completely dark lower mandible and slightly brighter lower wing bar. The bird responded aggressively to a taped Western Wood-Pewee call and did not react to taped Eastern Wood-Pewee calls. Ron Ridout, Brendan Toews, and myself were also able to observe the bird well for about an hour and a half as it called a few different times. Brendan Toews obtained some great photos of the bird: http://btoewsphotos.zenfolio.com/p939163745/h20486ceaToday (August 28) at 8:15pm Brendan Toews and I were counting birds as they went to roost in the marsh off of the Old Cut field station when we saw a flock of 9 ducks flying towards us from the south (headed north). The ducks were up very high and I initially though they were probably Mallards based on overall shape. As they got closer I began to realize they were definitly not Mallards as their feet clearly extended past their tail. I commented on this feature to Brendan and we were both unsure what they were. After they were out of sight we discussed them a bit thinking they had an overall impression of a merganser (which may have been due to their rather long necks for a duck). When we got back to the field station and discussed the birds with my brother, Ken and checked through some bird books we were convinced they must have been Whistling-Ducks. We are well aware of the large scale invasion of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks this summer and would guess that this is the most likely species, although we obviously cannot rule out Fulvous. Besides these two great species the point has been hopping with birds. The Long Point sightings board should be updated tomorrow morning and you can read all about this fall's migration to date: http://www.bsc-eoc.org/longpoint/index.jsp?targetpg=lpbosight Long Point Bird Observatory's Old Cut Field Station is open to the public daily with bird banding demonstrations until about noon each day. To get there take Hwy 59 onto Long Point and turn left onto Old Cut Blvd. The field station is on the right and is marked with a sign. Please park in the large visitor lot across the road. Good birding, Mike Burrell michof...@hotmail.com ___ 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/
