Monday our youngest grandchild turned 6! We have had the good fortune to help care for all four of them from babies over the last 12 years and its been a delight to watch their personalities develop as they mature. Tuesday we had talked about birding in the morning but the empty fridge made getting some groceries the priority. I had just put everything away around one when a report came in from Steve Charbonneau that he had found a western Mountain Bluebird at Keith McLean Conservation Area, 2 hours away. We had a commitment at 6 so we had to do a quick calculation as we were getting our stuff in the car. It looked like we could make it as long as we didn’t have to hunt for the bird. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were quite happy that the two hour drive was west and not east through Toronto.
When we arrived at the spot it was evident that many other birders were there and people leaving assured us the bird was being seen by a group out by the water. We made our way over and got bins and camera on a beautiful young male Mountain Bluebird. His colouring was not as bright as they are in the spring but when the sun hit at the right spot as it flew around we could see flashes of the bright blue. It was feeding on dragonfly nymphs so it flew down to the dried creek bed and caught a nymph and then flew up to a dead branch to devour its meal. This was the first record for the Chatham Kent area and bird #331 for us!We enjoyed watching its antics for a bit, Jerry got many pictures and we chatted with a few other birders enjoying the Bluebird. The clock was ticking, and so we unfortunately only spent about 20 minutes with the bird and then had to hop back in the car to head home. This is the part I dislike about the Big Year, the long drives for a short few minutes, instead of being out for a day just birding.
Mountain BluebirdMountain Bluebird
Wednesday morning the winds were NE into Hamilton so we planned on a lake watch. Jerry’s mom has improved a bit and so we opted to spend most of the day at the lake arriving around 10:30. The sun was out but it was cold and windy. I had about 4 layers on but my feet and fingers quickly got cold. There were a few birders out so we enjoyed chatting while we scoped the lake and waited patiently for a good bird to come by. Nothing much happened. We did have a Peregrine Falcon hunt a flock of Gulls unsuccessfully and a couple of “late” Sanderlings arrived on the beach but for hours, nothing. A few birders gave up and left and we remained with a few others. Finally, around 3 we had had enough, I was cold, we had yet to see Jerry’s mom and so we decided to pack it in. We joked with the remaining birders that something good would arrive after we left, and headed to our car. As we were putting our stuff in the car my phone pinged and I looked down to see BLKI from Richard. The bird we had been waiting for literally went over just as we had headed to the car! There were a few F-bombs as we ran back over but of course the bird was only there for seconds. The closest miss this year so far. We have never missed a bird by a minute or seconds! Thankfully, it was not a rarity but oh! it would have been nice to get that last expected species off the list and have something to show for 5 hours standing in the cold and wind. All we could do was have a laugh with the birders who had stayed as we all know this is the craziness of this hobby. It is all about timing! I knew I should have stayed and stuck it out but I was sooo cold and tired and hungry. We stayed for a few minutes more and discussed whether to stay till dark or not and decided it was unlikely that another one would go by, so we left for the second time. And part way to his moms there was another report that a Kittiwake had gone by again!
The winds shifted towards the south Thursday and a few Kittiwakes were seen near Oshawa so it bodes well for me still getting this species on my list. Next lake watch we will arrive later and stick it out till dark. Rookie mistake! Never leave a lake watch until dark! LOL
We had company arrive from Germany for a week so our birding over the next week will be curtailed somewhat as we try to see family and celebrate his moms 93rd birthday. The birds, however, do not care if I am available or not and late Friday a Short-billed Gull was reported near Ottawa. It would be a lovely bird to add but I did not think we could subject our guest to 11 hours in a car LOL. Thankfully, I did not head to Ottawa because early Saturday morning a Short-tailed Shearwater was seen off Wasaga Beach and had made a few passes suggesting it might stick around the area. This would be a lifer for us so we had a quick discussion and Hana (our guest) graciously shooed us on our way declaring she would love to spend the day in our house surrounded by nature while we went for the Shearwater. So off we went. And just after arriving in Wasaga Beach the Short-tailed Shearwater made a flight across the bay dipping and gliding, or I guess the correct terminology is “shearing” the water. We had great scope views even though it was a distance away and about 20 minutes later it came back the other way even closer and Jerry managed some pictures. Other birders with better cameras had many better pictures and video enabling the confirmation of the species as a Short-tailed Shearwater. I had labeled the Black-tailed Gull as the likely “bird of the year” but the Short-tailed Shearwater takes its place, as an Ontario first record, a Lifer and bird #332. These birds breed in the Pacific Ocean near Tasmania, yes I said Tasmania, and fly up along the Pacific to the Bering Sea. There was a report of one seen off Wisconsin on Lake Superior three days ago. How the heck it ended up in the Great Lakes is a mystery but we are happy it did!
Short-tailed ShearwaterWasaga Beach Birders
Unfortunately, his mom was in crisis again and we had to take a few phone calls while we were on the beach waiting for the bird and then had to leave prematurely to get back to deal with that situation. It was last sighted around 2:00 and then not seen again. Oh, and the Short-billed Gull in Ottawa was not re-found either.
Week 46 2 species added 332 species total J&E Only six more weeks to go!
Most years in late October, early November, birders get the chance to see Cave Swallows in Southern Ontario if the winds are right. Large numbers of Cave Swallows reside in Texas and if there are very strong South, Southwest winds that move up from the Gulf of Mexico and Texas to the Great Lakes Cave Swallows will be drawn up and end up along Lake Ontario. Fifty Point Conservation Area is a known spot to watch them fly over as the birds cut the lake and come inland a bit across the parking lot. Jerry and I have been down to the park a few times with south winds in the last weeks but this week the path was specifically from Texas all the way up to the Lakes. We had a late start on Tuesday but Jude saw one swallow at 8:42 and then Andy had a few more around 9:25 and 9:50. We arrived just after 11 and set ourselves up at the parking lot berm and Andy who was down near the lake had another Cave Swallow at 11:06! Missed it by minutes! We waited around and birded a bit but did not have any other swallows appear. This is also the trend of the past that the swallows come through in the morning but by 11-12 there are few if any going by.
We made plans with Jude and Margaret to be back early Wednesday morning since the south winds were continuing. We arrived at 7:00 and watched for a bit until a downpour sent us to our cars around 8. Once the storm passed the young birders, Leo, Jax and Kale arrived and we set ourselves up across the parking lot looking up. The winds had completely died down and we were a bit worried but right at 8:40, the same time as Jude had them, Jax shouted he had one and as we all ran to where he was we realized there were 7 flying slowly over our heads! Much excitement! High fives and hugs! Everyone got pictures and it was obvious that they were indeed Cave Swallows. Bird #330! It turned out that these two days Nov 5,6 are the exact same dates Cave Swallows were seen back in 2022. Last year none were recorded but perhaps no-one checked for them either.
Thanks to Margaret for allowing me to add her photo, she has a better camera than Jerry and I wanted you to see what we saw with our binoculars. Thanks Margaret!
Jerry’s Cave SwallowMargaret Hough’s Cave Swallow
We had caregiving duties so did not stay too long but did a quick lake watch and stopped along the lake at a few spots into Hamilton. Our attention continues on the lakes looking for the Kittiwake and any other rarities these South winds might bring up.
Unfortunately, we did not get out to bird the rest of the week except for a quick jaunt on Friday while his mom was at her adult program. We checked our local storm ponds and then tried for a reported Cattle Egret that we need a better picture of. We didn’t find the Egret. The winds continue to not be ideal for lake watching and it looks like it might be mid-week before we get a day to hang at Van Wagners.
It is a quick blog this week as there was little birding happening. Winds were not good for lake watching and we had a lot of meetings as we continue to negotiate help with Jerry’s mom. We did manage to take an hour and visit Bronte Harbour to take pictures of the Brant that showed up for the week right after we had driven to Ottawa to check them off our list, of course! It was great to see one up close and personal…
Brant
We also birded for a few hours at our local storm pond mid-week and did a bit of a lake watch early Saturday morning on our way into Hamilton. Late Saturday a report came in of a White-winged Dove east of Cornwall, 5.5 hours away. My initial reaction was we needed to go, but the bird was at a private residence that did not look viewable from the road and the owner had not “invited” birders. Jerry and I went back and forth with me wanting to go right away in the morning and him saying lets get confirmation, its a long way. The clocks were falling back so we got an extra hour of sleep which meant I was wide awake at 3:30 after going to bed at 10:30. We talked and decided it made the most sense for us to wait and see if Michelle from Ottawa re-found the bird and got permission for others to visit since she was only 1.5 hours away. We had also committed to taking part in the Alan Wormington Fall Bird Count on Sunday morning so we wanted to complete at least part of the count if we could.
Part way through our bird count a report came in from Steve of a Purple Sandpiper 2.5 hours west of us at Erieau. Hmmm, decisions, decisions. We kept birding as we waited to hear about the Dove. We managed to complete our count, a bit faster than we usually would have, and heard from Michelle that the Dove was not being seen and the owner was not home so we headed for the Purple Sandpiper. We were both relieved, I think, that we were not facing a 5.5 hour drive.
Steve sent us a few updates as the bird moved around a bit and by the time we arrived it was back on the pier where it was first seen. Mike and Nancy from London had it in a scope but we could also see it with the naked eye as it was close to the beach at that point. It is a beautiful sandpiper that have a distinct purple hue on their back that is only discernible if you are close up in certain light. Jerry got some great pics of it despite the sun, wind and distance.
Purple SandpiperPurple Sandpiper
I had thought this species would be tough to get and require more than a few chases but as it turned out it was pretty easy. Thank goodness we had not headed off in the opposite direction, at first light, for the Dove. So, I will just say publicly that Jerry was RIGHT, again. That makes TWO times this year LOL!!! HAHA!
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
Black-tailed Gull – Mega Rarity!
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…
Sunrises andSunsets this week
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.
Brant – Ottawa River
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!
Vermillion Flycatcher
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.
Monday was Thanksgiving and we had our family dinner so there was no birding happening and of course it was a beautiful day to bird with nice winds for hawk migration. I joked with Jason in the morning saying that since I wasn’t going to be at a Hawk watch a Swainson’s would go through and just after lunch one went through at Hawk Cliff!! Family comes first, family comes first I kept saying to myself LOL. I’ve missed many birds this year because family absolutely does come first and always will. Now, the Swainson’s Hawk was headed west from Hawk Cliff so if I was really smart I would have headed to Holiday Beach Hawk Watch on Tuesday, near Windsor and west of Hawk Cliff, but we were a bit lazy and late getting up so we went to Hawk Cliff for the day and just after lunch the same Swainson’s Hawk went through over Holiday Beach! Oh why did we not drive the extra hour or so and do the hawk watch there? A mistake that cost me a really good rarity. Future Big Year birders take note! While we were at the Hawk Watch Brandon, an excellent birder decided to do a lake watch on Lake Huron near where we had been the previous week. He ended up seeing an extremely rare Ross’s Gull but did not get pictures and no one else re-found the bird that headed out into the lake. There was a bit of frustration that I missed two in one day. You get the birds or you don’t. And you shake off the misses and move on.
We had a lovely day at Hawk Cliff though and the company was very pleasant. Jerry and I click-counted our way through 2,092 Turkey Vultures for the day and others clicked 422 Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Kettle of Turkey VulturesSharp-shinned Hawk
Two Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles, one Rough-legged, Coopers, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks were all seen as well as Northern Harriers and American Kestrels. A total of 3,187 individual birds were on our list for the day.
Golden EagleRed-tailed HawkRed-shouldered HawkRough-legged Hawk
The winds changed to southwest mid week and shut down most hawk migration and possible pelagic sightings so we switched to duck watching hoping to turn up those Common Eiders we think are still on the lake somewhere. We started at Fifty Point and worked our way along the lake at the various roads and parks with lake access all the way to Van Wagners beach. We spent time sifting through rafts of ducks just off shore looking for the unusual. We had our best views of Black Scoters we have ever had and nice views of Surf and White-winged Scoters too. Off Fruitland Road we found a beautiful male Harlequin Duck still in breeding colours. The picture Jerry took did not do it justice as it was quite a way out but our scope views were very nice. Google what it looks like – a very handsome duck!
Friday, our nephew Roman offered to take us out on his boat for a bit of a lake search. We invited Margaret, Jude and Rick to join us. It was a beautiful calm day but as we headed further off shore a bit of chop came up. We threw some bread out to some gulls that appeared hoping to entice some pelagic species to join in but didn’t see anything noteworthy. Lake Ontario is a huge lake and Roman’s boat is small and slow. We covered a very small area of the lake from Port Weller to Jordan Station. We decided to head a bit closer to shore and saw a number of large rafts of Long-tailed Ducks but didn’t manage to see anything different. This was a bit of an experiment and the consensus was that it would be better to have the boat docked in the Hamilton/Burlington area (we left from Port Weller) and that way we could get into the Hamilton end of the lake where we would be more likely to see rarities. We had a very enjoyable time and will work with Roman to set something up for next fall at the end of his salmon fishing season (Deep6ix Sportfishing).
Captain Roman’s boatbirding_with_rick of Instagram fame!
Saturday afternoon two reports of rarities came in. Yellow-throated Warbler, at the Prince Edward Bird Observatory, 4 hours away and a Tropical Kingbird, in Rossport, 13 hours away. We knew we would head for the warbler first thing Sunday but going for the Kingbird? We have a half-packed suitcase always ready so we threw some stuff in with the idea we would decide in the morning. We also would be only an hour from Presquile PP and a possible Purple Sandpiper. We arrived at the Bird Observatory around 8:30 and had already got a report from Rick that the warbler was there. Thanks Rick! We walked a trail to the lighthouse and there was this beautiful little warbler with a bright yellow throat gobbling up all the bugs from the eavestrough on the lighthouse. Bird #325. A couple of other local birders arrived and we all enjoyed views of the bird for a short while. This was the warbler I missed at Pelee in the spring when we had left the tip to go for the White-faced Ibis and I had figured I would not have another chance at it so it was a nice surprise!
Yellow-throated Warbler
We should have got in our car then and started the drive to Thunder Bay. But we thought we should at least check for the Purple Sandpiper. That involves a bit of a hike and we had to carefully scope the area. We were hoping that during that time we would hear that the Kingbird was re-found and I was hoping that would convince Jerry to go for it. No reports came in though so we decided to at least head up north to Barrie where a Pacific Loon, a bird that we have but don’t have a picture of has been seen regularly. By this time we had discussions back and forth, and back and forth as we birded. Should we go or not go?
Jerry did not think a total of 26 hours of driving over two days was worth the one bird and I could not really disagree. Oh, I wanted to add the Kingbird to my list very badly, but both of us were dreading the drive and time involved. This is supposed to be about fun after all, we reminded ourselves, and it didn’t sound like fun. We headed home instead, disappointed we couldn’t summon the motivation and determination to do the hard stuff required of a Big Year.
We both have “hit the wall” so to speak and are physically and mentally tired this week. It is not just the birding but all the other things happening in our lives right now. Too little sleep or sleep interrupted by phone calls, lots of missed meals. Jerry has driven or been the passenger for 43,000 kms just for birding this year and has recently had to go back on medication for a blood clot in his leg that is getting bigger. He suffered a Pulmonary Embolism in 2022 and driving for long periods is not the best thing for blood clots. His Mom continues to decline faster than we anticipated and requires our input numerous times, every day. Every visit and phone call is heartbreaking.
We are going to take this week to regroup a bit. We have appointments to get additional help with his Mom. We need to relax a bit, get enough sleep and eat well. Birding is our happy place so it will continue but maybe only local. I might combine the next couple of blogs. Only 10 weeks left. Instead of a sprint to the finish of this year it might be a bit more of a limp but it is what it is.
Week 42 1 new species 325 species for the year E&J
Monday was our 46th wedding anniversary and what better way to spend the day then birding. The winds were favourable for a lake watch on Lake Huron at Kettle Point. I had contacted James who regularly watches from there and so we joined him and Bill in gusty northwest winds with a temperature of about 8C. I had my long underwear on and I still felt chilled after 4 hours of standing.
Sadly, the birds we wanted did not materialize but we happily counted lots of ducks, checked carefully through lots of Bonaparte’s Gulls and had many Red-throated and Common Loons fly over. James and Bill are fantastic birders and were happy to share their vast knowledge with us as we are sadly lacking in the ability to identify most flying ducks. There is always more to learn!
The lake watches on Lake Huron are better in the morning which is opposite to Lake Ontario where the afternoons tend to be better so we packed in our watch around noon and decided to check out HawkCliff on Lake Erie where they count the hawks migrating through. Northwest winds are usually great for hawk migration. When we arrived Dave was just going to pack up at the spot near the lake to head inland a bit as the hawks were not coming through that spot. We moved north a kilometer or so and set up on the side of the road with an open field and we had lots of Turkey Vultures right away. Over an hour or so we had some Sharp-shinned Hawks as well but it was not too busy. Dave was quick to share his knowledge and we enjoyed chatting with Michele and Dave as we kept our eyes on the skies.
The next few days were not good for any lake watching and no other birds I needed were showing up. At the end of the week the first Brant reports started coming in from Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. Brant’s will be starting their migration down from the Arctic and I hope to catch up with some either up in Ottawa at the end of the month or along Lake Ontario at one of our lake watches. While the birding was slow many birders amused themselves with the Northern Lights displays and our Discord server was taken over with reports of where the lights were being seen and many pictures were shared. I went out in the backyard a few nights and managed this one phone picture.
Northern Lights Glen Morris October 10, 2024
Friday the winds looked interesting for some activity back at Fort Erie and so we decided to take a drive out and check the area for the Black-legged Kittiwake we need. Despite the winds being good there were only a few gulls around. We drove along the Parkway and stopped at various spots but the wintering population of gulls have not arrived yet but it was still a nice outing.
Sunday the winds were favourable at Van Wagners in Hamilton but we had some caregiving to do before we could get out. Around 1pm the birders there had two Kittiwakes go past, and adult and a juvenile. Unfortunately we did not arrive until 3. Markus was back and had missed the Kittiwakes by seconds so we stuck out the cold and rain until 5 hoping for another pass from them but it was not to be. The sunny days on the wooden platform over the beach are finished I think and instead our future lake watching will look like this:
Hunkered down at Van Wagner’s
Two other reports of note came in on Saturday and Sunday. A Purple Sandpiper was seen at Presquile PP and there was another “pretty sure” report of the Common Eider on Lake Ontario in Hamilton. So all three birds plus a rarity I need have now been reported which is good news. Now I need to track some of these sightings down and add the birds to my list. It was a ho hum week with no new species but it looks like things will be ramping up as we head into a cold spell.
