Unfortunately this post is for yesterday. For some reason my email was not
letting me deliver message yesterday and this is the first chance I have had to
get it out today.
The highlight of my afternoon (yesterday) was observing a first year Golden
Eagle flying west. The bird was first seen around 1:10 p.m. west of Highway 25
on Concession 12-13 (just south of Highway 89). I followed it south and west a
number of concession blocks were it perched in a maple about 200m west of the
road and afforded me nice looks in the scope. After about 5 min it took off
and continued flying southwest.
Of interest, to me at any rate, is the fact that I saw a Golden Eagle about
10-15 m south of here last Oct 27, 2005 while visiting another job site in this
vicinity. These are the only Goldens I have seen in Ontario.
Brett Woodman
Waterloo, ON
____________________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored Link
Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $510k for $1,698/mo.
Calculate new payment! www.LowerMyBills.com/lre
From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Nov 22 15:25:30 2006
Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Delivered-To: ontbirds@hwcn.org
Received: from tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net
[209.226.175.110])
by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9835E63BCC
for <ontbirds@hwcn.org>; Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:25:30 -0500 (EST)
Received: from jean-bapu1sw48i.sympatico.ca ([69.158.104.50])
by tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
for <ontbirds@hwcn.org>; Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:25:30 -0500
Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:25:42 -0500
To: ontbirds@hwcn.org
From: Jean Iron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Subject: [Ontbirds]
Black Guillemot: possible eagle predation, age, subspecies
X-BeenThere: ontbirds@hwcn.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1
Precedence: list
X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:25:31 -0000
The Black Guillemot in Massey west of Sudbury was last seen on
Tuesday morning, 21 November, about 8 a.m. by Erwin Meissner. When
Erwin saw the guillemot it was flying upriver about 6 km from the
bridge in Massey, where it was seen by about 100 people on Saturday
and Sunday. As the guillemot flew by a perched adult Bald Eagle, the
eagle stooped and in two flaps was close behind it with its legs
extended. Erwin didn't see the outcome. About 10 birders, including
us, searched the river yesterday, but we could not relocate the Black
Guillemot. Today (Wednesday afternoon) Erwin had not seen it as of
3:15 p.m. For current information, please phone Erwin at 705-865-1970.
Age and Plumage: In Monday's post, we incorrectly aged it as a winter
adult in definitive basic plumage. However, it is a young bird in
juvenile/first basic (first year) plumage. We have since examined
four excellent photos taken by Joe Houle which show dark mottling and
barring on the mostly white wing coverts, which we did not see in the
field. Adults have pure white wing coverts. Also, its leg colour is
orangish (brighter red in adults) indicating a yearling bird. First
year birds are more likely to wander than adults. See photos
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2006/BlackGuillemot1.htm
Subspecies: We are tentatively identifying it as the Eastern Arctic
subspecies 'Cepphus grylle ultimus' rather than the Atlantic
subspecies 'C.g. atlantis' because of its extreme whiteness. The big
Sibley Guide (2000) on page 245 shows a comparison between Arctic and
Atlantic birds. The Massey bird agrees more closely with the whiter
northern birds. The subspecies 'ultimus' is most likely in Massey
because it breeds south to James Bay (Godfrey 1986, The Birds of
Canada). Ross James (1991, Annotated Checklist of the Birds of
Ontario, ROM) assigned the Toronto specimens to 'C.g. ultimus'. See
photos showing overall whiteness of this individual
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2006/BlackGuillemot1.htm
Previous Inland Ontario Records: There are two specimen records for
Toronto and two sight reports for Kingston. There is an old report
for Hamilton which was accepted by Bob Curry (2006) in the recently
published "Birds of Hamilton and surrounding areas." Black Guillemots
seen on Lake Ontario could originate from either Hudson Bay and James
Bay or from the St. Lawrence River estuary where they also breed.
Although not an inland report, Doug McRae and Alan Wormington saw one
or two birds on five days between 23 October and 14 November 1981 at
Netitishi Point (not far from Moosonee) on southern James Bay (Speirs
1985, Birds of Ontario).
Breeding Record: No breeding evidence was found during the two
Ontario Breeding Bird Atlases. There is very little suitable rocky
coastal nesting habitat in Ontario. The only breeding record for
Ontario was on the Hudson Bay coast published by Harry Lumsden (1959)
in the Canadian Field-Naturalist 73(1):53-55. However, it breeds
south to North Twin Island (Nunavut) in central James Bay.
Photos on OFO Photo Page http://www.ofo.ca/photos/
Acknowledgements: Erwin Meissner, who first reported the bird to OFO,
and Cameron McGregor have been very helpful to us and visiting
birders. We thank Joe Houle for use of his excellent photos. We are
grateful to Michel Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of Nature and Mark
Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum for information.
Jean Iron & Ron Pittaway
Toronto ON
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
