On Saturday April 2 I spent much of the day in the Long Point area.
Attached is a few of the better sightings. 1) There was an immature Golden Eagle moving along the forest edge of the Big Creek National Wildlife Area. It could be observed from the top of the sand dunes at the end of Hastings Drive. I had a good look at a 1.5 km with a 60X Leica scope. The partial white tail was easily observable. Interestingly the bird has a whitish wash over its wings while sitting. This is only shown well in the Sibley Guide. Also the lighter feathers on the crown give the bird a light-capped impression when observed at distance. 2) There was a Bald Eagle adult in the same general area as the other Eagle. 3) The Blue-winged Teals were back. 4) The Sandhill Cranes appeared to down to only the local nesting pairs. But these birds were active and highly visible as they made big sweeping flights over the Big Creek Marsh. 5) At Lee Brown's Pond there were 8 White-fronted Geese resting with many Canada Geese. About 10 AM they left the pond and moved into Big Creek Marsh with about 100 Canadas. 6) I found a Ruddy Duck in the main marshes. 7) There were a few Tundra Swans in the Inner Bay. I saw about 50. It is interesting to see them still around in April. 8) Both Common and Red-breasted Merganser were found Lake Erie. 9) There were masses of Redheads on the Inner Bay. They were accompanied by thousands of Baldpate, plus both Scaup species and many Canvasback. Paul F. J. Eagles, Branchton. All roads south of Simcoe lead to Long Point and area. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
