Six expert young birders and their parents participated in today's Shorebird Workshop led by Dave Milsom at Schomberg and the sod farms in the surrounding area. Although there weren't big numbers of birds we did manage to locate 12 shorebird species: many Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpipers, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers, several Pectoral Sandpipers, a solitary Solitary Sandpiper, Black-bellied, Golden and Semi-palmated Plovers and the highlight of the day - a Baird's Sandpiper foraging in a field. We learned many of the finer points of shorebird plumage, foraging habits and calls.
Although we didn't find a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, we had a great day and several people notched up new life birds for their lists. We finished the day at Palgrave Conservation Area and enjoyed the wildflowers, the forest and the sounds of tree frogs, Red-Breasted Nuthatches and pewees. Please email me if you are interested in joining an OFO Young Birders outing or volunteering with the program. Lynne Freeman _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
