[Ontbirds]Willet, Port Rowan - Wed May 7 evening

Birders, En route to Rondeau, Norm Murr & I headed to Port Rowan as I wanted to see the immature Little Blue Heron, but to no avail. We did a thorough scan of the pond and the small slough/pond just south of the main one. This was at about 8pm and with the rain/cloud it was quite dark. As we

[Ontbirds]Bohemian Waxwings - York Reg.

Birders, We walked around Lake Seneca on the Seneca College, King Campus property this afternoon - Sunday March 23, there is a property/trail map at the first dirt/mud parking lot on the right. There was no charge today but there is usually a fee. We started from the main parking lot off Duff

[Ontbirds] Turkey Vultures, Scoters & Eagles - Brantford to Stoney Creek - Fri Feb 22

Good day Ontbirders, I took a day off work to tour around a bit today, got a couple, missed a couple. Started by heading to Brantford Airport where I could not find any Gray Partridges, there were several (10+) prairie subspecies Horned Larks feeding along the roadsides. On my way back toward

[Ontbirds]Northern Hawk Owl, Stoney Creek - Wed Jan 2

Happy New Year, Not having seen a report of this bird since Dec 29, I decided to head out to Stoney Creek anyway and found the N. Hawk Owl, sitting atop one of the tall trees about 500m WEST of 10th Concession just north of the RR tracks. I spoke to another gentleman who was there and he said

[Ontbirds] R-b Grosbeak, Rusty Blackbird & Winter Wren - Scarborough - Thu Dec 27

Hi All, Today I took a trip out to Scarborough and headed to the east end. As soon as I arrived at 67 Satchell Blvd I went to the backyard and the bird was at the feeder (although hidden from view), it flew after I waited for 2 minutes and I didn't even know it was there until I saw the red/pi

[Ontbirds]Gray Partridge, Brantford Airport; R-c Kinglet Burlington - Wed Dec 26

Hello Birders, Today I took a drive out to Brantford Airport to try for Gray Partridge and was rewarded with a small covey of 4 (I think I see them on 1 in 10 tries out there!!). The birds were right in front of the airport terminal along Aviation Road, under a deciduous tree, right beside a l

[Ontbirds]2 Shorebird spp. Humber Bay Park, Toronto - Fri Dec 14

Birders, I took a lunchtime drive over to Humber Bay Park today (was there from 12:45 to 2pm) and checked the mouth of Mimico Creek first. I immediately saw a KILLDEER on the mudflats about 50m south of the white pedestrian bridge that goes over the creek (which is located at the EAST end of t

[Ontbirds]Pine Grosbeaks, Midland - Sat Dec 1

Folks, We headed out for a "backroad" drive north to Barrie and then up to Midland, ending at Wye Marsh, bit of a quiet day. In the Midhurst area, on the east side of Hwy 26 and north of Barrie, I had a flock of 40+ Wild Turkeys at the intersection of Pooles Road and Old Second South. The ar

[Ontbirds]Northern Gannets off Burlington - Sun Nov 18

Folks, Another short trip for me (after yesterday's "goose" day) netted not 1 but 2 immature Northern Gannets amidst a feeding frenzy of gulls. I first headed to the south end of Guelph Line in Burlington when I spotted a massive swarm of gulls closer to the skyway and lift bridge, after scann

[Ontbirds] Reesor Pond, Markham - Ross's, Cackling, 10 Snow Geese - Sat Nov 17

Further to Stan Long's note of this morning, there is at least 1 more white-phase Snow Goose, making the total 10 Snow Geese total (7 white, 3 "blue" phase) plus the long-staying Ross's Goose, at least 2 Cackling Geese although there are likely more in amongst the 1000's of Canadas. Also, a lo

[Ontbirds]Golden Eagles over Richmond Hill

Folks, just had my best yard bird yet, not one but TWO adult Golden Eagles moving west over my yard at 2:45, lazily circling and soaring west. Richmond Hill lies approx 30km north of Toronto, my place being just west of Yonge Street & Stouffville Road. Cheers & good birding, Frank Pinilla Richm

[Ontbirds]Brant Migration - W of Kingston - May 22 morning

Folks, BIG movement of Brant heading north over the 401 at 7am. I actually pulled over on the shoulder to watch 3 big flocks of Brant fly over, first two had 150 & 250 birds, the 3rd one had over 600 birds in it! I then had a 4th flock another 5km west of the first location which had 200+ bir

RE: [Ontbirds]White Pelican on Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe

Hi All, Tonight (May 10) at around 7:30pm I saw the American White Pelican at the south end of Cook's Bay (Lake Simcoe), as first reported by Andrew Davis. It was standing on a small reed island between 500m and 1km away (best guess), I could see it with my binoculars (but not really "identifiabl

[Ontbirds]Laughing Gull, Cobourg - Mon Apr 9

Hi All, After receiving confirmation that the Laughing Gull was still hanging in at Cobourg harbour, I decided to head out there today. After looking around both sides of the harbour for about 20 minutes, the bird flew in over our car and landed in the parking lot on the west side of the harbo

[Ontbirds]Western Grebe, Oakville - Sat Apr 7 : 8am

Folks, the Western Grebe continues at the foot of West Street in Oakville. It swam to within 50m while we (2 other birders & I) stood at the lookout over the lake. The bird is diving a lot so be patient, it must have moved over 500m back and forth in the 20 minutes that I was there, most of th

[Ontbirds]Algonquin - Sun Mar 11 - mostly regulars, no Am 3-toed

Hi All, Norm Murr and I spent the day searching, as best we could, for Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers, to no avail! We found most of the regulars today, except Spruce Grouse, tried hard at Spruce Bog, across Hwy 60 from Spruce Bog and Opeongo Rd. Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 female in the area of Bla

Re: [Ontbirds]NO Razorbill, NOTL & Black-legged Kittiwake, Niagara R

Hi All, To add to Iain's note of yesterday's birding (attached below), I started in NOTL around 1pm today (Sunday Jan 14) and spent about 2 hours searching for the Razorbill (to try and add to my '07 list :-)), at times in heavy snow, to no avail. I did have 5 Red-throated Loons (3 in one “flo

[Ontbirds] Le Conte's Sparrow - Toronto Island Airport - Mon Oct 2 morning

Folks, Norm Murr just gave me a call from the Toronto Islands. He was looking at a Le Conte's Sparrow along the South fence of the airport, near where Alfred Adamo had reported the Sedge Wren on Saturday, it's near the SW corner of the fence. Quickest way there is the "Hanlan's Point" ferry serv

[Ontbirds] Red-necked Phalaropes, Windemere Basin, Hamilton - Sun Sept 3

I decided to try Van Wagner's beach for a 2nd day in a row, having seen 5 Jaegers (4 Parasitic and 1 very likely Long-tailed chasing a Caspian Tern) on Saturday, but no Shearwater nor any uncommon gulls. By the time I arrived this morning (Sunday Sept 3) the wind had died and it was very quie

[Ontbirds]Great Egret, Richmond Hill

All, not a rarity but for York Region, I thought it noteworthy. There has been a Great Egret hanging out today in the pond at the corner of Yonge Street and Jefferson Sideroad in Richmond Hill. Jefferson Sdrd. is south of King Rd and north of Elgin Mills Rd. Also, last night before dusk I cou

[Ontbirds]Henslow's Sparrow, Carden Alvar, Fri Jun 30

Hi All, I'm on Wylie Road and was here at 5:55am, got the Henslow's Sparrow singing as soon as I arrived and waited and watched for about 10 minutes before seeing it. The bird perched on grass stalks in the same general area for over an hour, singing non-stop. Listen for it's “see-lick” song,

Re: [Ontbirds] Curlew Sandpiper at noon, Townsend SL

Sorry for the false alarm, while I searched for over an hour (along with Jim Fairchild) before 7am I'm positive the Curlew SP was not there. I headed back at noon and there it was in the first cell. I say that I'm positive because there were at least double the number of Dunlin at noon than in

[Ontbirds]No Curlew Sandpiper this morn, Townsend SL

Folks just a heads-up that a few birders could not find the Curlew Sandpiper this morning nor were there any Wilson's Phalaropes. This bird seems to be there in the evenings though, I wonder if Jarvis SL should be checked too (remember the Stilts?). Cheers & good birding, Frank Pinilla Thornhi

[Ontbirds]Wilson's Plover - Presqu'ile PP - Fri May 26 eve

Evening All, We headed out after work and after a traffic filled drive east arrived at Presqu'ile at 8pm. First saw the Wilson's Plover from Lookout #3 at 8:20 and the bird was still around as we left at 8:40, it was hanging around Lookout #4 mostly. Also here were Dunlin, 2 White-rumped Sand

[Ontbirds]YEllow-breasted Chat,Thickson's Woods, Whitby

I spent about 3 hours in Thickson's Woods this morning and just as I was leaving at 10:30 I had a Yellow-breasted Chat on the eastern edge of the meadow just north of the woods, the bird was quiet and feeding down low in Dogwood bushes. Also, I had a Red-throated Loon fly over behind a Common L

[Ontbirds] Tundra Swans, Vesper Sparrow, dark Red-tailed Hawk - north York Region - Sat Apr 8

Hi All, A quick trip up to the north end of Bathurst Street on Saturday afternoon resulted in a few dabbling ducks (300+ Northern Pintail & 200+ Green-winged Teal) as well as 5 Tundra Swans and a Vesper Sparrow (seemed early, so thought I should mention it). Also, several raptors were seen includ