Week 21
Monday was a holiday and we said we were not going to be on any highways and just take another day off. We spent Sunday doing some gardening and enjoyed a pool day at our daughters. But there were birds being seen and so just at noon we found ourselves on the road back to Pelee to give the Tip one more chance. We had a free night at Best Western to use in the next few months so it made sense to use it up. The last two days a Neotropic Cormorant and Yellow-throated Warbler had been at the Tip, we hoped they might go for a third day with SW winds forecast. On the way we stopped at Keith McLean and added White-rumped Sandpiper to our list.
The Birding Festival was officially over so Tuesday the park was back to its regular hours and only opened at 6 so it was almost 7 before we got to the tip. There were only a few of us with scopes and we started scanning and checking any Cormorants that flew by. The Neotropic is smaller and has a wider white edging where its bill meets its face.
Jeremy found it floating just off the tip shortly after we arrived and we all had great views and photo ops as it moved a bit closer and then further away. It would end up returning 4-5 times through the morning. After 10am with little reverse migration and no sign of a Yellow-throated Warbler we started heading back to the Visitor Center but a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling ka-ka-ka-kow-kowp got our attention and we tracked it down for photos and really nice looks. Can you believe we have birds that look like this nesting in Ontario? And their songs are fantastic. Google them.
Cameron had suggested we could hang at the Visitor Center most of the afternoon hoping for a Kite to go past but when you have been standing for 3-4 hours and its 25C you start thinking nothing will happen. We headed out just before noon and shortly after Red Knots flew past the Tip and then a Mississippi Kite flew from the Tip parking lot! Ugggh! two birds missed by 30 minutes. We are never patient enough. We stopped at a few shorebird habitats on the way home and then word arrived of Arctic Terns in Toronto at the Whimbrel Watch. I had not expected to get Arctic Terns this year. A few of them are seen yearly in Ottawa on the river the last week of May but predicting which day is not possible and so I opted not to try for them by camping out in Ottawa for a week at a hotel. And here they were suddenly in Toronto where one or two might be seen, again, for only a day. A report had them flying east after the sighting and I figured that was it. Of course, the Terns turned back (lol) and were seen for hours during the afternoon and we had driven home instead.
Wednesday we headed into the Whimbrel Watch hoping for Terns or Red Knots to show up. They start watching at 5am but that was too early for us having just arrived back from Pelee the night before. We arrived at 8:30 and had been receiving updates from Margaret that an Arctic Tern was floating on a piece of driftwood! It was a bit tense as we battled rush hour Toronto traffic inching closer to the destination and hoping the bird would stay. As we made our way up the hill to the point Jean called over and said the Tern is in the scope! Thank you Jean! and Margaret for the updates! We had our Arctic Tern and had great looks of it as it flew around the point 5-6 times throughout the day.
The Whimbrel Watch has taken place at Colonel Samuel Smith Park in Toronto since 2009 during the last week in May. Birders set up scopes and count each flock as well as shorebirds and raptors that head past the tip. These large shorebirds migrate from the Caribbean and South America to Hudson Bay and the Yukon. They stop over in Virginia and Georgia and counters there let counters here know how many birds have left the night before. It was our first watch and we really enjoyed ourselves as did the many Toronto birders that make it an annual event. Head counter Eric did a fantastic job of making sure everyone was on flock after flock.
Thursday with no rarities to chase we headed down near Long Point to hike Backus Woods. Louisiana Waterthrush breed here and on occasion Worm-eating have been heard as well as Acadian Flycatchers. Jerry needs pictures of some species still so we were trying to bird areas that would also net him a photo op. We had only hiked a very short while when Discord chimed and it was a big one! A possible Cassin’s Vireo had been found. Near me? of course not, up near Barrie 3.5 hours away from where we were currently. I didn’t leave right away, waiting for a bit more confirmation. Cassin’s Vireo is the western equivalent to our Blue-headed Vireo and the two species are almost identical and very difficult to separate in the field.
There has never been a confirmed sighting in Ontario. This bird though was singing and the songs are different so that made the sighting pretty legitimate. We started walking back to the car. Back across Toronto for the second day, I was beginning to hate the highway. Before this Big Year we hardly ever drove on the Toronto highways but lately it has felt like we spend all our time on them.
We arrived at the marsh where the Vireo had been seen and a number of people were leaving having just seen and heard it. We waited around and then heard what sounded similar to a Yellow-throated Vireo but more raspy/gutteral. The bird sang a number of times but it was difficult to see with the leaf out. We waited, it was a beautiful afternoon with no mosquitoes and a bit of shade and in the company of the “usual” group of “chasers”. Ezra noticed a nest and was sure he was watching a Vireo with spectacles sitting in the nest ( a feature of Cassin’s and Blue-headed). Shortly after we finally saw the Cassin’s out and people rushed to look and take as many photos as possible. In order for the record to be accepted documentation will be needed. Ezra then realized that there was a Yellow-throated Vireo in the nest! Hmmmm! Was the Cassin’s mated with the Yellow-throat? Most of us left and later that evening Markus got proof via a photo of the “Cassin’s” in the nest. Now suddenly there were differing opinions suggesting a possible hybrid instead of full Cassin’s. The call maybe was not quite right etc etc. This bird will need to go to the OBRC and they will not make a decision until August 2025. I had a bit of a predicament as to how I add the bird to my list. If I put it as a Cassin’s it adds to my Big Year list but then if it is not accepted I will have to take the bird from my list but well after my Big Ontario Year is finished. I felt that the chance of it being accepted had gone down significantly with the nesting situation and the “odd” song. I ended up putting it in as a Solitary Vireo Species, meaning either Cassin’s or Blue-headed and that way it did not increase my total but if by chance it is accepted I can add it to my Big Year list after the fact. This made sense to me as I do not know 100% what this bird is so I cannot in good conscience, add it.
I have had another situation recently where I had to make a decision about what to add or not. Last week we did a Lake Watch on Zion Road and Josh was with us. Josh is an excellent birder and had a camera to take pics of birds flying over. I stuck with him trying to make sure I saw what he saw in case a rarity went over. A week later he was going through photos and realized he had a photo of a Blue Grosbeak from the watch. It is a bird that I really want to add to my list but we did not realize it was that bird at the time. It was likely called out as an Indigo Bunting, which I have on my list. But I cannot say with certainty that I saw that bird, I most likely did, but I could not, in good conscience again, add it to my list after the fact. Two birds I could have added…
The drive back home was brutal through Toronto at 5pm and we knew we wanted to go to the Whimbrel Watch in the morning again which meant another highway drive.
Friday we left early to get to Toronto before traffic and it was a pleasant drive in. It was quiet at the watch and after a few hours we opted to head east to Darlington Provincial Park for a Red Knot that had been on the beach the day before and was still there. It was not too hot and it was a nice walk along the beach in the sun. We almost walked over the Red Knot as it was tucked right beside a log completely camouflaged and jumped up on the log as we stepped near. We backed off quickly, giving it space and thankfully it did not fly off. Jerry took some nice photos. Since we were now east of Toronto we decided we might as well go for a Loggerhead Shrike on the Napanee Limestone Plains IBA instead of making another trip. We arrived around 1:30 on a hot day so not the ideal time for birding. Michelle and Paul from Ottawa had just seen one before we arrived and we chatted for a bit with a Conservation Officer who monitors the Loggerhead Shrikes as an endangered species. She was happy to tell us there is a nest in the area that has 7! nestlings in it. Great news for the program trying to bring this bird back from the brink in Ontario. We drove slowly up and down the road hoping for a sighting, we stopped for a bit, we drove, and almost two hours later we finally saw a Shrike in the same tree the birders from Ottawa had it. We had some very nice views watching it preen and clean its beak on the branch. We then headed home ending up crossing Toronto at 6 with horrible traffic once again. Bird #296
Saturday was a caregiving day and rainy. The dings from Discord have significantly slowed down and my Needs Alerts emails now have 1-3 birds on them most of the time. I was grateful for the “day off”.
Sunday we headed down to Long Point as a Laughing Gull had been reported the day before and we kinda hoped we might finally catch up with it. There have been 4-5 reports of a Laughing Gull (a southern Gull) at different spots along the Lakes in the last few weeks but never where it can be chased because it never stays long enough. Sunday would be no different and we did not see the gull. We cruised along Lake Erie stopping at some spots east of Long Point and then eventually heading for home around 2. An alert that a Red-necked Phalarope was up at the West Perth Wetlands came in and we decide to head there as it is only an hour from home. When we were almost at the wetlands I get a note that a Godwit has been found at Windemere Basin in Hamilton. We continue on to the wetlands, see the Phalarope, enjoy it for all of 7 minutes and get back in the car and start the drive to Hamilton. This is the weekend the Linc is closed so all traffic is routing over the skyway or the city. We arrive at Windemere at 6 and Mourad and Markus do not have the Godwit in their scopes because they are thinking they have an ArcticTern. No problem, we know the bird is still there somewhere. We search and scope for about 20 minutes in fading light and finally the Godwit flies in and lands behind the Caspian Terns and we all get on it for good, distant looks. It is a Hudsonian Godwit and a welcome addition to my list at #298. Big thanks to Mourad and Markus for helping us get onto the bird!
It is crazy to me that we are 2 away from 300 and it is not the end of May yet. I also know I still have a few spring migrants to add to the list and then the birds from the Rainy River trip. I am declaring tomorrow a rest day – it is supposed to rain- and I need to prep for the Rainy River trip and get some things done around the house while Jerry does errands with his Mom.
Week 21 Only 4 more needed for the Migration List 3 more rarities seen 7 more species added 298 for J&E