I posted my blog about needing to take a bit of a break to reset on Monday morning and a few hours later the universe responded with an “uh-uh”. A Black-tailed Gull had been photographed on the 19th but had been initially identified as a Lesser Black-backed Gull and a keen birder saw the picture and got the word out that this Mega Rarity had been seen. Birders checked the Port Glasgow dock and sure enough it was still there, loafing with hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls. We were caregiving in Hamilton when the report hit Discord and were 2.5 hours away from the spot near Rondeau but we left knowing that we had to add that bird. It was a Lifer for us and will likely be the “bird of the year” from a rarity perspective. It is a gull from East Asia, breeding in Russia and Japan and this is only the second record of it in Ontario. We arrived to find many other birders with scopes set up and had a quick look in the nearest scope just in case it flew and then set up our scope. It had been sleeping tucked behind numerous Ring-billed Gulls for awhile and we wanted to stick around for a bit in hopes of seeing the full bird. You know its a good bird when people are driving from Toronto and Ottawa to add the bird to their lists. Locals started showing up wondering what all the traffic was about. Bird #326
The bird finally woke up and Jerry got some pictures showing its red-tipped bill but did not manage to get pictures of its tail or in flight. We then drove back to Hamilton to have dinner with his mom. A report came in while we were driving that a White Ibis had been found in Port Hope, 2.5 hours east of Hamilton but at commute time likely much longer. We weighed the possibility of getting there before dark and it did not look good. Plus we had already left his mom for the Gull. We continued to Hamilton and decided to go for the Ibis at daybreak Tuesday. So far, the break we wanted had not happened and we arrived home at 9pm to head to bed and get up at 4:30.
We headed to Port Hope Tuesday morning and arrived at 6:45. It was still quite dark but we started walking the river where the bird had been seen. Other birders arrived shortly after and told us it had been seen roosting on the pier rocks. We walked down and joined others checking along the rocks. People started making plans to split up and check different areas, and more birders arrived. It was not looking good. The river was filled with rotting dying salmon that had just finished their spawning journey. It was not a pleasant smell first thing in the morning. Jerry and I walked up river checking along both sides of the river but only saw fishermen and some salmon still trying to move up the rapids. By now people on Discord were suggesting other possible places to check so we again divided places up and birders went in all directions to check and re-check areas close by. There was a nearby marsh that had wonderful ibis habitat but it was not there. It was now moving towards 10am and we were figuring the bird was gone or its “schedule” was to show up in the afternoon. We decided to drive 20 minutes up to Rice Lake where some Brants had been reported a few days back and see if they might be still around. It was a beautiful fall day, spectacular fall colours and stopping along the lake at different spots was a lovely way to spend a few hours.
We headed back to the harbour and now it was only us and Isabel left. We had nothing else to chase so I was not prepared to leave and get back home to hear that it arrived at 3-4 o’clock, so we had decided to stay till dusk. By this time someone had heard that a local had probably seen the bird 3 days earlier in the small creek near the marsh but it did not get reported anywhere. For all you non-birders reading this please take note, if you ever see anything that you find very unusual or a bit different looking please take a picture and pass it to me or a birder you know. There are rarities all over that are found by non-birders all the time and many, like this one, don’t get reported in a timely fashion. We birded some more areas that people had checked earlier, had a nice lunch at the local cafe and then waited for the sun to go down before heading home. We get the bird or we don’t. Moving on…
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday we took a break from birding and had caregiving duties and appointments. The winds were shifting to N and NW for the weekend so we decided to head to Ottawa Saturday in the hopes of adding a Brant to our list. The next two weeks are the prime weeks for flocks of Brant to be flying on the Ottawa River.
We left at our usual 5am Saturday and arrived at Andrew Haydon Park at 10. It was gusty and COLD!. We walked to the shore and I thought I would post on the Discord chat that we were looking for Brant in case anyone saw them. They are not a rare bird in Ottawa at this time of year so many people don’t bother adding them to Discord. Just as I started typing I got a text from Michelle, who lives in Ottawa, that they had Brant at the park. I quickly looked around and saw a group of birders just a bit further along the path, we ran towards each other and she got us on a flock of about 50 out over the river. Thanks again Michelle! We managed some nice scope views before they moved further west and Jerry got a picture of the flock. We stuck around and saw another flock but had nothing closer and a walk around the park did not turn up one hanging around on the grass, which was our hope. Brant was one of the expected species I still had to get, leaving me only 2 left to find – Black-legged Kittiwake and a Purple Sandpiper. Brant was bird #327.
We then headed about an hour away to the Alfred Sewage lagoons because they are in the last County we need to bird in. There were at least 2,000 Canada Geese in the lagoons with a few other duck species and I carefully scanned through all of them. I was hoping for a rare goose that might be hanging with the Canada Geese but I did not find any. This year we have now birded in all 50 counties/areas that ebird recognizes in Ontario. YES!
We had a hotel booked in Ottawa and had planned to stay but it was still early afternoon, we had our bird and county, and so we decided to drive home making it a long day of 10 hours of driving. Another day of seeing the sunrise and the sunset from the 401 and eating dinner at 8:30. That decision, though, meant we were in Glen Morris at 9:37 Sunday morning when a discord report came in from Robert Linfield of a Vermillion Flycatcher 50 mins away in Guelph. We were out the door and parking our car at 10:30. The bird was a further 1.5 km away down a trail and I was wearing my dressy clothes as I was heading to Burlington for a date with my granddaughter. We walked/ran the path and arrived out of breath in time to see the bird flying back and forth catching insects.
It was not the stunning red and black of an adult male but the paler colours of a female. This was bird 328, another rarity, and not one I expected. Thank you Richard for staying with the bird until people got there and sending me reports along the way! It was a Lifer for him and his second rare flycatcher he has found. He also found the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher last year at the Butterfly Conservatory. Fantastic finds!
Many birders were on there way, we passed some on our way back out the trail and shortly after we left we heard that the bird had flown out and high over Guelph Lake and it was not re-found again. I was surprised, as these fall rarities often stay within a small area, trying to feed as much as they can and conserving energy by not flying too much. They are almost always doomed birds that will not survive but maybe this one was making an effort to head south or maybe someone will find it again tomorrow.
A crazy week of decisions made that mostly worked in our favour and added 3 more species. Crazy to add that many this late in the year. Oh, and on Saturday while up in Ottawa getting the Brant a single Brant was found in Oakville. LOL! You just never know what or where something is going to show up. If I get the two expected species left I will hit 330, still cannot believe that I have seen that many species. How many more rarities can show up before the end of the year that we can actually get to?
Addendum
The other thing that happened this week from a listing point of view was ebird updated the taxanomic list to conform with the latest changes to the ABA list of bird species. With more and more DNA work being done species are continually being lumped together into one species, with maybe subspecies that do not count or separated into individual species that count. Each year ebird updates in October which can change your year list count. This year two species we see in Ontario were lumped into one species. The Common Redpoll and the Hoary Redpoll were considered two different species but new evidence suggests they are the same species but different sub-species. Both birds will now be known as simply Redpoll. I counted both in January as 2 different species so now according to my ebird list I have “lost” a bird and only have seen 327 instead of 328. The ABA rules for a Big Year though state that you can continue to count the birds that you saw before they were lumped in your year so I will still be showing the right number of 328 on my blog list but ebird will be short one bird now. It would make more sense for them to do this at the end of the year but it is what it is.
WEEK 43 3 more species added 328 J&E