Last week on our first lake watch Marcus had mentioned that he thought one of the birds we had seen might have been a Long-tailed Jaeger instead of Parasitic. They are difficult birds to ID, especially as juveniles and we often see them under poor viewing conditions. We had taken plenty of pictures but they needed to be seen on a larger screen and when Marcus had a chance he asked some local experts to weigh in. On Tuesday he got responses that our first two birds we had seen were Long-tailed Jaegers! So that becomes bird #315 and then we did see Parasitic Jaegers later in the day so they become bird #316. It is fantastic that we had two Jaeger species in our first few hours of lake watching and didn’t know it for almost a week!
Winds were not favourable at either lake this week so we concentrated on that pesky Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Are you tired of hearing about this bird? I used the Buff-breasted as an example in one of my first blogs about the information available on ebird and where and when to see a particular species. Back then, I said I had a 73% chance of seeing this species in the last week of August up near Beeton so that is where I would be. Except the birds were not at Beeton this year. This week the chance dropped to 45% and next week 42% and then little chance. They have shown up at that site consistently for many, many years and for some reason this year they have not…yet. I was feeling frustrated and thinking I should have chased the one that showed up last week in Chatham. People were checking Beeton regularly and on Wednesday after north winds in the night we drove up hoping they would have arrived but no joy for us. Other birders checked Thursday and Friday. We had been checking our local sod farms all week as well and had no birds there.
Finally, on Saturday September 7 a Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found at Beeton Sod Farms. Hallelujah!! Of course we were looking after our grandkids for the day so I gnawed my knuckles all day and hoped it remained until Sunday. We headed up early Sunday and Margaret posted 15 mins before we arrived that there were now 2 at the same spot. We arrived and celebrated seeing both quite close to the road before they flew further back. Bird #317 for us and bird #300 for Margaret! It was only about 8C with gusty north winds so we were cold! but we stuck around for an hour or so talking to other birders and getting better looks at the birds now and again. Sadly, they apparently flew off just after we left and were not seen again but hopefully more show up across the province and many others get a chance to see them. So, ebird does work, the dates are not always for sure, but the birds do eventually come.
I have 7 more expected species to still get: Pomarine Jaeger, Sabine’s Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Brant, Purple Sandpiper, American Goshawk and Nelson’s Sparrow. I’ve made extensive notes on all of them as to where and when to see them. IF I get all of them that would get me to 324 species. I am still trying for Boreal Owl before year end and a few other rarer species. That will just leave any other rarities that show up and are chaseable to the end of the year. At 317 we remain in the top spot in Ontario having seen 88% of the 359 species reported so far. Ideally, I would like to end up seeing 90% or better.
I face the daily dilemma now of whether to stay local where I am in the middle of the province so when a rarity is found I can head in either direction or get out to bird known spots as much as possible on the chance of finding something ourselves. Our caregiving duties have also ramped up to every second day lately so we have less time available to actively get out to bird. Four of the seven remaining birds are on the lake so lake watches will remain a priority when the winds are favourable. Still lots to do and see and birding spots to cover.
Week 36 One new species added #317 for E&J