Just thought I'd pass on the Bushnell birding site URL to anyone interested: http://www.bushnell.com/birding/home.html
Last night (21/5) at 7:45 I saw an albino Black-crowned Night-Heron at Humber Bay Park at the mouth of Mimico Creek where the new construction is taking place. I understand that a similarly plumaged individual (possibly the same bird) has been seen here in 1995 & 1996 as well. The new construction seems to have attracted far more Ring-billed Gulls to the area - ever vigilante in looking for new colony territory to assume.
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike on May 15, 1997 at 17:36:45:
Have found the same in the Barrie area. As far as the balack and white warbler, yellow-rumped warbler and baltimore orioles. Also, have found a nest of ospreys here!
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM THE QUINTE AREA - Sunday, May 18, 1997
And the rain and cool temperatures continue in the Quinte area resulting in no spectacular waves of migrants in Prince Edward County. Despite the slow migration and rainy weather, the first annual Prince Edward County Birding Festival was a great success, attracting just under 550 people to its week long events. Birders were here from Vermont, New York, Montreal and from all corners of Ontario according to a poll taken of those who attended the events. We are certain that many more were here who did not connect with us at all, but enjoyed birding some new areas on their own.
During the Festival, more than 160 species were tabulated on the bird sightings board in the Towne Mall, Picton.
Four species of vireos, including one YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, and 22 species of warblers were found during the week, none of them in large numbers. PALM WARBLERS continued to dominate the scene through this week, with equally high numbers of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. On Thursday, a GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, found by the writer, hung around obligingly in the Point Traverse woods for members of the Brighton Field Naturalists and Prince Edward County Field Naturalists. At least 8 NORTHERN PARULAS were on hand in the same woods, along with MAGNOLIA WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, and CAPE MAY WARBLER. SOLITARY VIREO was the commonest vireo with a total of 6 seen by both the writer and Ken Edwards of the Kingston Field Naturalists. BLACKPOLL WARBLER AND TENNESSEE WARBLER showed up on Saturday. A PRAIRIE WARBLER was seen at Prince Edward Point on the 13th. And a HOODED WARBLER was seen at Sandbanks Provincial Park during the week.
One of the nicest birds to show up at the Point on Thursday was a male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, with a possible female also seen elsewhere by another observer the same day. It was with a small flock of RUSTY BLACKBIRDS that were calling noisily in a swampy area, a few fields west of Prince Edward Point. With the blackbirds was a partial albino RUSTY BLACKBIRD. Two ORCHARD ORIOLES were also around the same day.
Saturday also saw about 30 Ontario Field Ornithologists members at the Point who recorded YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, PURPLE FINCH, GREATER YELLOWLEGS (6 in flight), LINCOLN'S SPARROW and two immature BALD EAGLES.
Alert Quinte Field Naturalists members found both GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and two CLAY-COLOURED SPARROWS at one stop along Middle Road on Saturday. An UPLAND SANDPIPER has been present along that same stretch for several days.
Beaver Meadow Wildlife Management Area had GREEN HERON and CASPIAN TERN on Thursday, along with WOOD DUCK, BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO and ALDER FLYCATCHER.
Big Island Marsh at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday had both SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL calling, along with SWAMP SPARROW, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, AMERICAN BITTERN, and MARSH WREN. An OSPREY was seen at 5:30 a.m. along the causeway. The latter species appears to have shown interest in a nesting platform, located in the marsh, just west of Northport.
Black River at Milford had a female RUDDY DUCK on Thursday, there were four GADWALL on Milford Pond, and a WILD TURKEY was seen on Rose's Lane.
Overall, some very good birding in Prince Edward County this past week, but one had to work at it.
This report will be updated Sunday, May 25th Please e-mail tsprague@limestone.kosone.com
In Reply to: Second Marsh - May 13 posted by Marcel Gahbauer on May 13, 1997 at 13:37:11:
Today's Song of Hope walk at Second Marsh was fairly successful, with a total of 60 species seen. This is fewer than were seen on May 13, mostly due to the scarcity of warblers and thrushes this morning.
Otherwise, most of the same birds were seen again. The highlights included the Least Bittern, seen running along the edge of the open water near the north lookout; a male harrier over the field west of the parking lot, and the rich assortment of ducks including both teals, as well as several wigeons and shovelers.
The only new arrivals today were 3 Black Terns in the main marsh, and a Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitcher in the flats north of the lookout by the road.
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike on May 15, 1997 at 17:36:45:
Dear Fellow Birders
Well, it seems that the migration has finally gotten underway. It seems to have started Friday, at least in Oakville. Since Friday afternoon to Sunday morning I have seen Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Orioles, Great Crested Flycatchers, Rose-Breasted Grosebeaks, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Song, Savannah, and White-Throated Sparrow, Goldfinch, House Wren, Barn, N. Rough-Winged, and Tree Swallows, Solitary Sandpiper, Warbling Vireo, and now the warblers: Redstart, Ovenbird, C. Yellowthroat, Blackpoll, Blackburnian, Palm, Nashville, Black and White, Black-Throated Blue and Green, Magnolia, Chesnut-Sided, Yellow, and Yellow-Rumped. Quite a lot, but Sunday morning it had really declined in both variety and numbers. Also other birds seen were a Cormorant and 2 Loons flying by, Red-Tailed Hawk, the resident Turkey Vulture, Mallards, and Canada Geese. Still by no means full migration, but for what we have had so far pretty good. Also I would like to send congradulations to the KOWA birding team who won the World Series of Birding last weekend!
Mike
I spent an hour at East Point (Scarb. Bluffs east of Morningside) this morning. There was a surprisingly high level of activity out on the lake. There was a mixed flock of over 150 gulls, most of which were Herring, but also with some Ring-billed, G. Black-backed, and 1 Glaucous. As well, there were 3 Caspian Terns, almost 100 Cormorants, 50+ RB Mergansers, and 10-15 Common Loons.
On land, bird activity was low. Aside from the common species, there were 2 singing Bobolinks, 2 Meadowlarks, 4 WC Sparrows, and 8 Yellow Warblers. In one of the many small ponds, there was a Sora, which I saw briefly before it disappeared into the reeds. Near the parking lot there was 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler and 1 male Oriole.
Marcel Gahbauer
In Reply to: Re: Red-crested Pochard posted by AlexandraEadie on May 13, 1997 at 10:37:57:
Thank you for the information regarding the Red-crested Pochard I appreciate your feedback. It is also neat that you went to take a look at it. I did look in the RTP Field guide and wow! You are right there it is under accidentals from Eurasia. It does not mention it seen in Ontario however, only in New York. Is this a first for Ontario?? Anyone reading this that would like to know where the Red-crested Pochard is. It can be found in the pond inside the courtyard at the Sheraton Centre across from the Toronto city hall.
Here is another update from the 16 mile creek area in Oakville yesterday there seemed to be the first small wave of migrants I found a Ovenbird, Rose-Breasted Grosebeak, Nashville, Black and White, and Yellow-Rumped Warblers, the latter in large numbers. Also the day before there was 1 Baltimore Oriole and a Great Crested Flycatcher.
Mike
In Reply to: Re: Second Marsh - May 13 posted by Andrew Shantz on May 14, 1997 at 16:04:07:
For anyone who is unfamiliar with Second Marsh, here are the directions: Take Hwy 401 east to exit 419 in Oshawa. Drive straight (south) through the first set of lights, and then turn left at the second set of lights (Colonel Sam Road). Drive to the end of this road, which is the General Motors parking lot.
In Reply to: Second Marsh - May 13 posted by Marcel Gahbauer on May 13, 1997 at 13:37:11:
Where is Second Marsh. Sounds like a good spot. If you don't mind, could you please e-mail me your answer.
Thanks A Lot!
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike Boyd on May 03, 1997 at 19:40:12:
Sighted today was a Great Crested Flycatcher, a Baltimore Oriole, and a Black-and-White Warbler.
A visit to the Western leg of Rice Lake after Presqu'ile was rewarded with two Osprey nests situated next to each other. The males were gathering fish from Rice and bringing them back quite frequently.
A visit to Presqu'ile yesterday was a nice trip considering the cold rainy weather. Seen were Comerants, Great Blue Herons, Yellow warblers, Baltimore Orioles (5 at once) and many, many more. Not to mention about 30 deer.
A visit to Presqu'ile yesterday was a nice trip considering the cold rainy weather. Seen were Comerants, Great Blue Herons, Yellow warblers, Baltimore Orioles (5 at once) and many, many more. Not to mention about 30 deer.
This morning at Second Marsh I saw 71 species, 21 of which I haven't yet seen this year. Without a doubt, the highlight was a Least Bittern in the reeds just east of the north platform. In the same area I saw 1 Green Heron, 2 Gnatcatchers, 2 BW Teal.
In the woods to the west I saw 8 warbler species (Redstart, BT Green, BT Blue, Yellow-rumped, Ovenbird, N Waterthrush, Yellow, and Yellowthroat). Also present was a male RB Grosbeak, and a beautiful big deer drinking beside the trail.
Other highlights throughout the park were Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs and Semipalmated Plover (Lookout on N side Colonel Sam Road), Orioles, Phoebe, Bobolink, Harrier, Thrashers (E edge of forest), Bonaparte's Gulls, C. Terns, Scaup, and possible Glaucous Gull (Second Marsh itself), and GW Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon, Bufflehead, and BW Teal (pond between Second Marsh and McLaughlin Bay).
If anyone is interested in seeing these (and hopefully additional migrants), please join me on Sunday May 18 at 10 am. I will be leading a free walk for Song of Hope: Bringing Back Indigenous Species to the GTA. Everyone is welcome. The walk will probably last about 2 hours. We will be meeting in the GM parking lot.
In Reply to: Red-crested Pochard posted by Gerry Mielke on May 10, 1997 at 23:03:00:
Thank you for pointing it out. I enjoyed seeing it. It is mentioned in the RTP Field Guide to eastern birds under accidentals from Eurasia where it says origin of species questionable.
Going through the TSE building afterwards I noticed that Brookfield the building manager had signs up asking companies to turn off the lights to save the migrating birds.
The warmer weekend weather has increased the return of migrating birds considerably. Ruby crowned kinglets and a catbird were seen on Saturday followed by a Nasville Warbler and a few more Black-throated Blue and Balck-throated Green Warblers on Sunday. This morning, new sightings included Magnolia and Yellow Warblers and Northern Orioles. Goldfinch numbers have been conspicuously low this spring but the past few days have seen them return in a prominent way. Yellow-rumped Warblers are the most frequently observed variety, still, with Black and White, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green types following in succession. I'm fairly sure I spotted an Orange-crowned Warbler this morning but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. And in like fashion, there are several flycatchers in the park and have been for a couple of weeks. I'm confident that one of them is the Least Flycatcher but I'll leave accurate reporting of its cousins to better biders than me. Like the guide says, empids are "the bane of birdwatchers"!
At Oshawa Second Marsh on Sunday May 11th I saw a male Golden-winged Warbler, a male Baltimore Oriole, 2 male Yellow Warblers, a Least Bittern, 2 Least Flycatchers,a Black Tern, a Northern Mockingbird, and two Blue-gray Gnatcatchers building a nest all near the north viewing platform.
At Thickson's Woods in Whitby I saw a Yellow-throated Vireo, an Orange-crowned Warbler, a Nashville Warbler, an Ovenbird, and heard a Virginia Rail calling fro the nearby marsh.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM THE QUINTE AREA - Sunday, May 11, 1997
A rainy week in store for the first annual Prince Edward County Birding Festival. But often this results in some good birding and such was the case on May 10th when a busload of us visited Prince Edward Point. With us were MP Lyle Vanclief, M.P.P. Gary Fox, Prince Edward County Warden Jim Dunlop, Picton Mayor Charles Hepburn, and other local dignitaries. Also attending were Steve Wendt from the Canadian Wildlife Service and Ron Mahar from Ducks Unlimited. Small waves of migrants including ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER and LEAST FLYCATCHER were present. Persistently cool weather however, has prevented these migrants from showing up in the large numbers which are customary at Prince Edward Point.
Reverend Lloyd Paul of Picton when not delivering sermons delivers interesting birds. At the Point on Wednesday he found RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, VEERY, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, EASTERN TOWHEE, NASHVILLE WARBLER, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH. On Monday, he chalked up BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON and WARBLING VIREO.
West Point, often very good during the warbler migration, had little to offer this morning for the annual Mother's Day Celebrations at Sandbanks Provincial Park. Present were RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, NASHVILLE WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, GRAY CATBIRD, RED-TAILED HAWK, 300+ DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and close to 30 CHIPPING SPARROWS.
One NORTHERN PARULA was present at Wellington today, and a RED-NECKED GREBE was in Lake Ontario about a kilometre east of West Point early this morning. NORTHERN ORIOLES have also arrived in Prince Edward County and were reported this weekend at Prince Edward Point, Beaver Meadow Wildlife Management Area and the Belleville area. Beaver Meadow also had BLACK TERN and CASPIAN TERN this morning.
In addition to Beaver Meadow Wildlife Management Area, OSPREY have also been observed nesting near Lower Massassauga Road just south of Belleville. The nest was first observed three years ago atop a hydro pole, but was unsuccessful. The nested hosted young last year and it looks as thought the same nest might do so again this year.
Bon Echo Provincial Park interpretive naturalist David Bree will be leading a birding expedition at Sandbanks Provincial Park early Wednesday morning, hosted by the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists. Meet at the Main Gate parking lot at 7:00 a.m. David will also be at Prince Edward Point early Thursday morning. Please meet at the Canadian Wildlife Service building (look for the flag) at 7:00 a.m. Bird bander extra ordinaire Joanne Dewey will be on hand at Beaver Meadow at 6:30 p.m. the following day for a similar evening birding hike.
This week is the Prince Edward County Birding Festival. A complete schedule of events can be found at http://www.pec.on.ca/other/birds.html. If you are joining us this week, be sure you fill in our bird sightings board, located in the Towne Mall on Main Street, in Picton (right at the Birding Festival banner over Main Street).
This report will be updated Sunday, May 18th Please e-mail tsprague@limestone.kosone.com
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike Boyd on May 03, 1997 at 19:40:12:
Today in the valley I found a Louisiana Waterthrush and several Black and White and Yellow Rumped Warblers.
May 9, 1997; Ontario Police College, Aylmer Wildlife Management Area - late flock of Tundra Swans, 10, including one (1) adult, weather was rainy and wind from north Same date: St. Thomas, north east side of city an albino house sparrow, pink legs,dark eyes and bill, very small light brown markings on scapulars and rump, could see these markings through scope but not detected through binoculars.
At the Sheraton Centre across from the Toronto City Hall there is a courtyard with a waterfall and a few ponds. In the lower pond there is a Red-crested Pochard Duck. Apparently it appeared one day and has stayed. Now these ducks are not in the North American Field guides. They can be found in the European Bird books. Where did this duck come from? Europe? I doubt it. Do some game farms raise these types of ducks. I am confused. Can you help?
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike Boyd on May 03, 1997 at 19:40:12:
Dear Fellow Birders
Just a update here, I found 2 Eastern Phoebes in the valley last evening along with a Y-R Warbler, also it is now being reported in central Ohio and Pennsylvania that the warblers are in full force, so hopefully over the weekend we should feel that!
Mike
A brief stop at the Scarborough-Pickering Townline Swamp (just north of Finch) this morning yielded a few interesting birds. Near the southeast end was a pair of Blue-winged Teals, and I flushed a male Kingfisher from the same area. Toward the southwest end of the swamp was a single Pied-billed Grebe. Scattered throughout the swamp were 8 Canada Geese and 2 Mute Swans. Numerous Tree Swallows and 2 Barn Swallows were active over the water. In the saplings along the east shore were 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers, at least two of which were singing.
It was like a taste of Capistrano today. Swallows returned to the park in large numbers. A flock of about 60 Tree Swallows flew up from the mouth of the Rouge River and joined company with Cliff Swallows, Barn Swallows, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Other new migrant sightings for the year included Black-and-white Warblers (6), a Pine Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrows joinig their White-throated cousins who have alread been in the park for about two weeks. The female Rufous-sided Towhee was spotted yesterday and a pair of Common Yellowthroats appear to be content waiting in a marshy stand of Cedars until the weather warms up and the wind winds down. Yellow-rumped warblers are increasing in quantity with 32 seen today while the Palm Warbler numbers were down (7). Looking out over lake Ontario, from the Rouge River to Frenchmen's Bay, Red-breasted mergansers could be seen as far as my 7x35 binoculars could pull in. Large flocks of Cormorants were seen on the wing, like floating clouds of pepper.
Dear Fellow Birders
I was down to the Spit on Sunday and here is a list of birds seen. There was a Short-Eared Owl at the area that is being dumped in. Also in that area were a male and female Blue-Winged Teal, also near the front were 2 Spotted Sandpipers, a Palm Warbler, and Vesper, Savanah, and Song Sparrows. Other birds seen were a Eastern Towhee, Hermit Thrush, White-Throated Sparrows, Oldsquaw, Bufflehead, C. Goldeneye, White-Winged Scoter, and Common Terns.
Mike
In Reply to: Oakville posted by Mike Boyd on May 03, 1997 at 19:40:12:
Just a update to this posting. Over the weekend in the valley I found a lot of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and 1 Black and White Warbler, and a Black-Throated Green Warbler. Also at Upper Middle Road and Third Line I found a Mockingbird.
Went out to Humber Bay Park East around 7:30 pm. The BC Night Herons are back! Counted at least a half-dozen (can't be more accurate as they kept flying around!) Also saw several White-throated sparrows (a first) around the east end of the man-made ponds. Got a very good look of the yellow spot by the eye and the throat patch. Looked like there were individuals with both white head-stripes and tan head-stripes, although it might have been the fading light!
Might have been the approaching bad weather, but the number of waterfowl in the feeding area seemed to be greatly diminished from usual. (Mallards, C. geese, 18 swans, buffleheads, A. widgeon and that was about it.)
Yesterday, May 4 1997 I led an outing for the Citizens Concerned with the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront. At about 9:30 a.m. we saw 250 Common Loons in Lake Ontario off Sam Smith Park at the foot of Kipling Avenue (about 90 of them came to within 40 metres of shore) - quite a sight!
After the outing I continued on to Humber Bay Park, Sunnyside, High Park, Humber Marsh #7 and Lambton Woods finishing the day having seen 112 species. Some of the highlights were:
Sam Smith Park/Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital grounds:
250 Common Loon; 1 Least Sandpiper; 2 Ruddy Turnstone; 1 Northern Parula; 1 Yellow Warbler; 2 Pine Warbler; 2 Black-and-White Warbler; 1 Nashville Warbler; 20 Yellow-rumped Warbler; 1 Palm Warbler; 1 Magnolia Warbler; 3 Eastern Towhee; 2 Brown Thrasher; 2 Wood Thrush; 2 Northern Mockingbird; 2 Spotted Sandpiper
Humber Bay Park:
1 Harlequin Duck; 2 Bonaparte's Gull
Sunnyside:
2 Spotted Sandpiper; 16 Caspian Tern
High Park:
1 Swainson's Thrush; 3 Hermit Thrush; 1 Veery; 1 Black-throated Green Warbler
Humber Marsh #7:
1 Great Horned Owl; 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; 1 Northern Parula; 1 Northern Waterthrush; 1 Common Yellowthroat; 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Lambton Woods:
4 Hermit Thrush; 1 Wood Thrush; 1 Hairy Woodpecker; 1 Eastern Screech-Owl
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, Ontario coady@ftn.net
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM THE QUINTE AREA - Sunday, May 04, 1997
A few new migrants this week to promise an even better week on May 10th when the county holds its first annual birding festival.
OSPREY have returned to Beaver Meadow Wildlife Management Area where a pair nested last spring in a deserted great blue heron's nest.
The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists had its first spring field trip to Point Petre this morning. Tallied were YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLERS, and RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. Bill Aiken and Myrna Wood also chalked up BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. Sandbanks Provincial Park had PINE WARBLER.
HOUSE WRENS were present this morning at the Quinte Conservation Area. HOUSE WRENS were also found at Prince Edward Point this morning by the Kingston Field Naturalists who reported a somewhat windy, chilly day for their field trip. Included in their list of 80 species were: COMMON LOON (11) DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (500), GADWALL (2) GREATER SCAUP (200), OLDSQUAW (50), TURKEY VULTURE (20), NORTHERN HARRIER (4), LITTLE GULL, (2), BONAPARTE'S GULL (1000), CASPIAN TERN (1), YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (1), EASTERN KINGBIRD (1), NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW (18), CLIFF SWALLOW (150), BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (3), HERMIT THRUSH (2), WOOD THRUSH (1), BROWN THRASHER (3), WATER PIPIT (2), CEDAR WAXWING (200).
Despite the cool temperatures, a SOLITARY VIREO was found along with NASHVILLE WARBLER (2), YELLOW WARBLER (1), YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (30), BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER (1), PINE WARBLER (1), PALM WARBLER (10), and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (2).
Also seen were ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (1), RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE (4), CHIPPING SPARROW (100), FIELD SPARROW (10), VESPER SPARROW (1), SAVANNAH SPARROW (20), SONG SPARROW , SWAMP SPARROW (4), WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (50), and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (2). Nest week is the Prince Edward County Birding Festival. Enquiries have come from Holland, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Virginia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. If you are joining us next week, be sure you fill in our bird sightings board, located in the Town Mall on Main Street, in Picton (right at the Birding Festival banner over Main Street).
This report will be updated Sunday, May 11 Please e-mail tsprague@limestone.kosone.com
Seems that the Great Gray's have left the Innisfil area, however; I am seeing a pair of owls. Can't decide if they are Long Eared or Great Horned. Will wait for the photos to see. A trip today included goldfinches, great blue heron and lots of cardinals and blue jays.
Happy birding...
After today's rain storm subsided about 1:00 p.m. I noticed very large numbers of swallows flying east to west past Toronto harbour, Ontario Place, Sunnyside and Humber Bay Park. Estimates of numbers below:
Barn Swallow - 700 Cliff Swallow - 150 Tree Swallow - 400 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 100 Bank Swallow - 80
Some of the exhausted swallows were actually landing on the ground in the parking lots at Sunnyside as I have seen them do at the Visitor Centre parking lot at Point Pelee many times over the years. Such occurrences allows excellent opportunity for close viewing in spring to check through the Cliff Swallows for an errant Cave Swallow (which has only occurred once in Ontario).
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
Dear Fellow Birders
I have been visiting my local ravine, the 16 mile creek, a lot lately waiting for the spring migrants. Today I found the best evidence so far, I found 5-6 Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and 2 Pine Warblers, also over the past week I have seen 2 Hermit Thrushes, a Pileated Woodpecker, lots of flickers and Brown Creepers, also Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Great Blue Heron, Tree and Bank Swallows, White- Crowned Sparrows, and a Herring Gull.
Mike
This Pickering Conservation area adjacent to the Rouge River park was fairly active today with spring migrants, including: Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, Ovenbirds, Common Yellowthroats, a Rufous-sided Towhee, Hermit and Wood Thrushes, a Brown Thrasher, a Kildeer, and Bank Swallows.
A few birds are trickling through in my area along the Humber River at Sheppard: N.Waterthrush, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,Woodcock,Bank Swallow.
In Reply to: Re: Humber Bay Harlequin Ducks posted by Glenn Coady on April 28, 1997 at 17:27:23:
Hi Glenn, I think that you might be right about this pair coming over from Leslie Spit. All along they were very familiar with big rocks. They acted almost as an American Wigeons. Just pecking at the rocks. They never dove. Female was always in front, the male followed. When she decided it's preening time, he just hoped up and preened in unisson. Quite a sight. Also it was hard to follow them closely because they sometimes disapeared between the rocks and we couldn't see them for few minutes. But I think that since they are familiar with big rocks (shorline of Leslie Spit and Humber Bay Park are alike) they could be the very same pair.
Good birding, Jerry & Marjo.
In Reply to: Pair of wild(?) Harlequin Ducks posted by Jerry Kubera on April 26, 1997 at 12:45:54:
Dear Jerry,
I agree with you that these Harlequin Ducks are certainly not likely escapees. Humber Bay Park has been a proven point of attraction for Harlequin Ducks with 1-4 birds being found there nearly every winter for the past twenty years - some for brief periods but some over the entire winter. The birds seldom stay past the first week in May due to the length of their spring migration.
There was also a pair of Harlequin Ducks (male & female) which wintered off the endikement at the Leslie St. Spit since December and were still there about a week ago - it would be interesting to know if they are now still there as these might be the same individuals.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, Ontario coady@ftn.net
Yesterday, April 27th, myself and a friend, Gerry Binsfeld of King City birded the many splendid marshes in Durham Region and saw 5 adult Little Gulls in full breeding plumage flying east past Oshawa Harbour about 7:30 a.m. When we drove over to Oshawa Second Marsh where they appeared headed about 8:40 a.m. we found 32 Little Gulls (all but a few were adults fully in breeding plumage) - what a sight. The birds were among about 250 Bonaparte's Gull. Throughout the morning many of the birds flew out from the marsh back to the lake where we spotted many of them later in the morning. At times there were a dozen Little Gulls in the air at once. We were able to show some of these birds to George Scott who back in 1962 found Little Gull nesting in Oshawa Second Marsh which, at the time, was the first (recorded) nesting for North America. Later, at Thickson's Woods we saw 3 singing male Pine Warblers and 11 Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM THE QUINTE AREA - Sunday, April 27, 1997
Much better spring birding weather this past week, with lots of new arrivals and increased numbers of those that arrived last week.
Prince Edward Point is starting to come alive with both birds and birders. On Thursday, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES and 5 HORNED GREBES were present in Prince Edward Bay.
On Thursday there were PALM WARBLER, PINE WARBLER and about 50 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS at Prince Edward Point. There was also a small wave of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS at Point Petre, about 25 kilometres west of Prince Edward Point on Friday.
HERMIT THRUSH, BROWN THRASHER, as well as BANK SWALLOWS and BARN SWALLOWS also put in an appearance at Prince Edward Point on Thursday. Elsewhere in the county, FIELD SPARROW, VESPER SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW and CHIPPING SPARROW are to be found.
BROWN THRASHERS were also present at the Quinte Conservation Area, west of Belleville on Tuesday. Camden Lake Marsh, north of Camden East had 5 CASPIAN TERNS on Saturday, and both VIRGINIA RAIL AND SORA were present at the Frink Centre near Plainfield.
Highlights of a Quinte Field Naturalists outing to the Camden Lake area yesterday included LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, a pair of NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS, EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and seven species of sparrows comprising SAVANNAH, VESPER, TREE, CHIPPING, WHITE-THROATED, SWAMP and SONG SPARROW.
Back in Prince Edward County, there were WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, NORTHERN CARDINAL, CHIPPING SPARROW, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, DARK-EYED JUNCO and CEDAR WAXWING at Sandbanks Provincial Park on Thursday afternoon. A pair of MUTE SWANS have taken up residence in Pleasant Bay.
And that's it from Prince Edward County and area for this week. The Prince Edward County Birding Festival is getting closer. It has been confirmed that Bruce Di Labio will also be taking part in the festivities and is scheduled to be a guest speaker later in that week. Steve Wendt from the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa will appear at Prince Edward Point on behalf of the CWS on May 10th during the bird walk and brunch with the local dignitaries. He will be addressing those present on the Partner's in Flight Program, Monarch Butterfly Reserves Program and the Important Bird Areas Program.
This report will be updated Sunday, May 04 Please e-mail tsprague@limestone.kosone.com
I know that I am opening myself to certain abuse but there is a pair of Harlequin Ducks in East Humbere Bay Park. My wife and I were watching them from quite up close for about 45 minutes. They swam close to shore on East side of the Park The Lake side) but never entered the Bay. We had an excelent look at both of them for about ten minutes when they were preening on a small flat rock close to the East lookout point. I can't see both of them being escapes. The other Harlequin is still around Gazebo.
I live on the Speed river in Cambridge, last night I had a visit from an ospey. 2 weeks ago a pair of swans
Today I checked out five west end locations, and managed to come up with 52 species. I started at High Park, where most of the activity was concentrated between the compost heap and the allotment gardens. In this area alone, there were 10 Flickers, 8 D. Woodpeckers, 10 GC and 5 RC Kinglets, 6 Creepers, 5 Hermit Thrushes, 7 Juncos, and 1 Sapsucker. The rest of the park was fairly quiet - the only other birds of note were a Night Heron at the southernmost duck pond, and a Shoveler at the north end of Grenadier Pond.
Over at Lambton Woods, there were more Kinglets and Creepers, and a Winter Wren near the first bridge south of the feeder. Otherwise it was surprisingly quiet. The highlight for me was seeing a Canada Goose sitting on top of a 4-metre high willow stump, about 100 metres north of Lambton Woods, by the bike path. I was surprised that I saw no White-throated Sparrows here or in High Park -- they're late this year.
I went to see the Peregrines at Islington and Bloor, and after about a 20 minute wait, one of them made a brief appearance, swooping around the third tower east of Islington and coming to rest on the southeast corner of the building. Unfortunately it wasn't interested in hunting, as it ignored the pigeons which flew by underneath.
Down at Colonel Sam Smith Park (Kipling Landfill) there were a few good birds. At the southeast tip of the peninsula were 6 Horned Grebes fairly close to shore, and 1 Common Loon a little further out. In the inner bay / marina there were 11 RB Mergansers (9 males) and a few C. Geese. Also on the peninsula, I saw my first Tree Swallow and Savannah Sparrows of the year. To the east of the peninsula was a group of close to 200 Bufflehead, most of which were courting.
As usual, the best location was Humber Bay. The male Pintail reported by Chris Clark on Sunday is still there, and was right at the base of the feeding ramp when I saw it. What a beauty -- I've seen quite a few Pintails, but never at such close range! In the same area were the usual 6 Wigeons, as well as 4 Gadwall, and about a dozen each of Bufflehead, Mallard, and Greater Scaup. The Goldeneye pair was at the northeast end of the bay, with 2 Cormorants. Along the east shore of the peninsula there were over 200 Oldsquaw, with only about 10% of them still in winter plumage. The lone bird on the south shore today was a Coot, near the east end. The pools in the centre of the peninsula were empty except for a pair of BW Teal in the easternmost one. There were no birds in the water between HB East and West, largely because of two people on 'seadoos' that were roaring back and forth. Is this permitted here? (And if so, why???) In the area immediately south of the Lakeshore bridge, there were 45 Swans, a few Geese, 1 Killdeer, and 1 male Hooded Merganser. By the way, I noticed that a concrete foundation has been poured at the west end of the feeding bay, beside the beaver lodge. My guess is that they plan to put in an observation tower. Does anybody know what really is happening? It seems like the construction at these lakeshore parks (Sam Smith, Humber Bay, Leslie Spit, East Point, etc.) never ends. Fortunately the birds usually don't seem to mind too much.
In Reply to: Peregrine Falcons in Etobicoke posted by Glenn Coady on April 22, 1997 at 13:27:53:
Thanks for the reminder. You can see the Toronto pair on the "falcon-cam" at http://www.tor.ec.gc.ca/falcon/falcon.html. There is also a link above to the Toronto Falcon Project.
Dear Fellow Birders
Hi, I was down to several spots around the Hamilton area with the South Peel Naturalists Club. At the foot of Fruitland Rd. there were lots of Horned Grebes, about 30 C.Loons, a unidentified tern, Reb-Breasted Merganser, C.Goldeneye, and some Bufflehead. At the foot of Fifty Point Rd. there was a Caspian Tern, Horned Grebe, Red-Breasted Merganser, and Bufflehead. Near the hawkwatch in Grimsby at a pond near county road 10 and Green Mountain rd. there were 2 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Hooded Merganser, C. Merganser, Gadwall, Mallard, Widgeon, Ring-Necked Duck, a Brown Thrasher, and a Northern Harrier. At Grimsby morning its was pretty lasy with 3 Turkey Vultures, a Rough-Legged Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Cooper's Hawk.
Mike
I thought I would make the following post because I had not seen previous posts in this forum this spring.
Toronto is now host to a second set of (hopefully) nesting Peregrine Falcons. The first pair are now in their third year of nesting on the east face of the building at 18 King St. E. (King St. E. @ Victoria St.). They have 5 eggs at present.
The second pair of Peregine Falcons show every indication they too are nesting. This pair is located on the easternmost building of the Shipp Centre in the Islington Ave. & Bloor St. W. area (best viewed from Bloor St. W. & Eagle Rd. on the southeast face of the building).
It is projected that eyases from this nest would fledge in early or middle July. For the third consecutive year the Toronto Ornithological Club will help to organize volunteers to help monitor and safeguard these birds as they fledge (under the guidance of Canadian Wildlife Service & World Wildlife Fund staff). Volunteers who would like to help in this regard can e-mail me at the address below.
BTW, I went to see the Islington birds last night at about 7:30 - 9:15 p.m. and was treated to some fine aerial sorties by the tiercel. The female was not seen perhaps indicating incubation. About 7:55 the tiercel returned to the nest site with a grackle in its talons.
Perhaps readers could post their observations of both these pairs of falcons to this page to keep an on-line journal of sightings.
Enjoy the show(s),
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
Last evening at about 7:00 p.m. I saw a Merlin over Grenadier Pond (but no swallows or shorebirds for it to chase) as well as two Caspian Terns. The Purple Martin house has still not been put up yet.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
Last evening I saw an Eastern Screech-Owl at the southwest end of Humber Marsh #7 about 9;15 p.m. It was calling but at no time did I hear any duets.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
Today in High Park I saw a male Black-and-White Warbler, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a Hermit Thrush in the northeast corner in the area between the Howard Park Tennis Club & the College streetcar loop.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
Stopped by Humber Bay Sunday night (8:00pm-ish) and there was a male PINTAIL by the feeding area. Also in the feeding bay were: the COOT, a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL, the AMERICAN WIDGEONS, a dozen MUTE SWANS, CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, BLACK DUCKS, BUFFLEHEADS and the notorious COMMON GOLDENEYE.
A few sightings from somewhere different for a change - Woodland Park in Scarborough (southeast of Steeles and Reesor). The migrants were few in number, but there was a fairly good variety. The highlights included 3 singing Winter Wrens, 4 Flickers, 2 Phoebes, a few each of RC and GC Kinglets, 1 WT Sparrow, 1 Vesper Sparrow, 2 Turkey Vultures, 1 male Kestrel, 1 Kingfisher, and a male Wood Duck. A Coyote was also seen in the old campground area.
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM THE QUINTE AREA - Sunday, April 20, 1997
The impression in Prince Edward County is that migrating birds have grown tired of waiting for any semblance of spring weather, and are migrating anyway. Cool temperatures and even some snow flurries in the Quinte area throughout the week into today did nothing except cause us to look forward to Monday with fresh hope.
Still, the migrants trickle in. PURPLE MARTINS arrived, cold and huddled, at martin houses on West Lake Road early last week. Bird bander Eric Machell reported that FOX SPARROW, HERMIT THRUSH, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, and SWAMP SPARROW were banded at Prince Edward Point last week. SWAMP SPARROWS were also at Big Island Marsh early this morning, along with AMERICAN BITTERN and COMMON SNIPE.
On Monday, COMMON RAVEN, PEREGRINE FALCON, and MERLIN were present at Prince Edward Point, along with RED-NECKED GREBE, and RED-THROATED LOON on Tuesday. Over 7,000 OLDSQUAW were present at Prince Edward Point on Wednesday, and more than 15,000 OLDSQUAW staged a fly by at the Point this morning. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and SAVANNAH SPARROW showed up there yesterday.
The best bird today at Prince Edward Point was a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE seen by Elizabeth Kellogg, Brian Joyce and Scott Lowe who were banding birds there this morning. The bird was seen in precisely the same spot where another magpie was seen last year. This is Prince Edward County's third record for this species, and the second record for Prince Edward Point.
An ICELAND GULL was seen by Joanne Dewey in the Bay of Quinte near Deseronto on Saturday.
In addition to the GREAT EGRET at Beaver Meadow last week, there are now two GREAT EGRETS at Madoc as of Friday. Last week's report mentioned a GREAT BLUE HERON that had been caught in a muskrat trap at Big Island Marsh. A CANADA GOOSE at Stirling was found in the same predicament, but incredibly, was able to fly with the trap still dangling to its toe. Residents there are trying to capture the bird to release the device. As these traps are meant to be drowning devices, and securely staked in place, it is unclear in these two cases, why the traps appeared to be unstaked.
Although far outside the reporting area, Bon Echo Provincial Park had YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, and AMERICAN WOODCOCK this past week. Also RUFFED GROUSE have started to drum in that park. An immature BALD EAGLE has been reported on Mazinaw Lake. Two LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES and a BROWN THRASHER turned up near Newburgh today.
The April meeting of the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists will take place at Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area, Picton, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night. Guest speaker will be Steve LaForest whose topic will be "Celestial Celebrations."
The schedule for the Prince Edward County Birding Festival is complete and can now be found at: http://www.pec.on.ca . Click "Sightseeing and Attractions", then under "Recreation", click on "Birdwatching." While you're at it you might want to check out "Festivals, Fairs and Events" too for a list of county events going on throughout the year.
Due to popular request, the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists is preparing a bird finding guide to Prince Edward County, and should be ready by the Birding Festival Week. Local businesses are covering the costs.
This report will be updated Sunday, April 27th Please e-mail tsprague@limestone.kosone.com
April 20, 1997 Although I've seen lots of attempts to bring in bluebirds (Mountsberg) I haven't been lucky enough to see blue birds until today at Greenwood conservation area in the "flats" area
In Reply to: Re:How many sightings were posted by Coady? posted by Jerry J. Kubera on April 17, 1997 at 21:26:07:
Dear Jerry (and other less defensive readers),
Today (18/4)in High Park I saw a Fox Sparrow in the Wendigo Ravine, a singing male Pine Warbler on Spring Rd. and an Eastern Towhee northeast of the allotment gardens. As well I saw my first Broad-winged Hawk of this spring over Bay St. north of College St. this afternoon and also four Red-shouldered Hawks and twelve Red-tailed Hawks. At lunch I noticed both a European Starling & House Finches nest-building near Queen's Park. Thank you for asking.
BTW,I see Jerry that you have promoted yourself to gatekeeper of the Internet - congratulations! Is your other title of deciding who is a real birder an elected position or a lifetime appointment?
The un-Barrow's Goldeneye has clearly shown me that not only do "real birders".... "enjoy birds for what they are" but sometimes they also enjoy them for what they AREN'T as well. Neat concept, and twice the fun.
Spring migration awaits,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Unusual Crow, Milton posted by Bert Jenkins on April 17, 1997 at 16:44:28:
I saw such a crow this winter just northwest of Toronto. Not sure exactly where. We assumed it had gotten into some paint. My friend who was with me (and a much more experienced birder) said he had seen this before.
In Reply to: Re: Relevant Posts posted by Glenn Coady on April 17, 1997 at 15:50:25:
Next time Glenn Coady will actually post a sighting of a bird, any bird, will be the first time. So far he has posted just snotty remarks. And l o n g ! ! Get a life Coady and leave this page alone. If you have other ideas, start your own page. Since you are so @#$%^ smart. Let the real birders, the people that enjoy birds for what they are, use this page. I think that it was set up for this purpose. By volunteer. All you have to do is look at the title of a Page. Are you willing to take over with your new friend Coady and start new page? Maybe Coady could title it "Pretentious are Us". By the way, I'll e-mail you my response to Barrow's Goldeneye sighting.
Till later, Jerry.
Location; Derry Road just east of Hwy 25; on football field. Crow, but in flight large wihite wing patches. At rest, lower edge of folded wing white, very prominent even with naked eye. Otherwise, obviously crow-like; right size, behaviour. Nothing in Peterson.
Any ideas? Albinism?
Regards, Bert Jenkins
In Reply to: Re: Relevant Posts posted by Marcel Gahbauer on April 17, 1997 at 13:02:57:
Dear Andy,
I understand all too well the struggle to keep up with or improve projects done in one's spare time that must not conflict with your work. I would echo Marcel's sentiments though that traffic on your page should pick up with spring migration as well as when a larger critical mass of active birders begins using the web (which judging from the accelerated pace of usage of Gord Gallant's page of late would appear to be only now just occurring).
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Re: Relevant Posts posted by Andy on April 17, 1997 at 09:10:31:
Andy, I understand your situation. However, I very much hope that this page does remain in operation. True, there are other birding pages (and Gord Gallant's Ontario page is very good), but they don't allow for the type of interaction that is possible here. I believe that for the most part, the responses that are posted to sightings are quite valuable, and this opportunity would be lost in other forums. With respect to not being able to split the site, that is understandable. In light of this, I would hope that announcements and comments will be tolerated/encouraged along with sightings.
You mentioned that there is a low volume of traffic at the page. This may be in part due to the fact that fewer people go out to bird in the winter. I believe that as the warmer weather approaches (and the migrants begin to return in larger numbers), more people will visit the page and more reports will be filed. I think that this site provides a valuable and unique service, and my hope is that it will continue to survive and thrive.
In Reply to: Re: Relevant Posts posted by Glenn Coady on April 16, 1997 at 20:41:08:
Sorry to have implied that posting a challenge or correction to a possible mis-identification is viewed as an irrelevant post. The last thing I want is hundreds of birders rushing out to see a rarity where none exists. I am suggesting that email is more appropriate (after a short post questioning the original call) to discuss specific details and reasoning. Lengthy discussions of this type in a public forum are, to me, inappropriate because 1) they may be viewed as an attack by the challenger, implying the original poster should have known better than that, and 2) casual birders are discouraged from posting by the fear that somebody like this Coady fellow will tell them they are wrong. I just want to point out that many naturalists bird casually and are not listers or twitchers. They simply will not know for certain if that goldeneye or Golden-crowned Kinglet is a rarity or not. But that does not make their siting and posting worthless, and I do not want to discourage people from posting.
Regarding splitting up this board: it is not a bad idea, but... There is little enough traffic here already. A split does not seem justified on that count. Secondly, it would require more setup and maintenance. The board is basically a public service. It's not part of my job and I cannot allow it to interfere with my normal workload. I am actually thinking it may be time for this board to quietly die. There are numerous other birding pages on the web, and judging by the low volume on this board, I have to consider the merit of keeping this page active.
In Reply to: Relevant Posts posted by Andy on April 16, 1997 at 09:21:25:
Dear Andy,
As you moderate this forum I shall try to respect your wishes. I didn't realize bandwidth was so large an issue on this page. As this forum is not a listserv (where people must delete posts e-mailed to them) but rather a bulletin board users can choose to read or ignore as they see fit, I figured brevity was a goal that could be sacrificed in the service of accuracy. Your post suggests to me this is not the case on your page and so I shall try to keep it more brief in future.
Therefore:
1) I agree with Chris Clark and Marcel Gahbauer that it might be useful to partition the posting area (i.e. TO-SIGHTINGS; TO-BIRDCHAT; TO-OUTINGS; etc.). I don't know how feasible this is but the National Birding Hotline Cooperative does it with BirdChat, BirdTrip, BirdEast, BirdCntr, BirdWest & ID-Frontiers.
2) However, I vociferously agree with Marcel that where YOUR page is the source of certain or near certain misidentifications of very rare birds reaching the cyberbirding community, you have a responsibility to allow corrections (albeit brief if necessary)of those misidentifications to be posted with the original post. More detailed posted corrections might be better served through e-mail (but usually, myself, I have nothing to say that I could not discuss in a public forum - particularly where all participants are not compelled to read or delete it)
3) Misidentified birds take on a life of their own sometimes:
- making it on to rare bird alerts thereby causing many people to make wasted, frustrating efforts to see birds they can't posssibly find causing them to question their own skills needlessly.
- providing local records committees with far more "chaff" to have to sort through to find the "wheat" in local records databases expending their effort needlessly.
- blurring the patterns of "true" occurrence of rare species and thereby frustrating the use of amateur naturalist data by professional ornithology in assessing rare bird status.
- encouraging careless observation/identification by others where standards are set very low (mediocrity as virus).
Do you really want your page promoting all of the above where it can be easily prevented?
I definitely shall not discontinue from posting corrections (providing they are supportable) on the very few occasions where obvious misidentifications are occurring on your page but I will endeavour to be brief and to take it onto e-mail quickly where it becomes contentious (even though I disagree with such a policy).
BTW, all of us from time to time will find certain topics "tedious, boring and a total waste of bandwidth". A small minority of posts to your page strike me this way too - however I would no more consider it appropriate to censor a single one of those posts because of my reaction to them (even if I was the listserv owner/web master) than I would to begin burning books.
My $0.02
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Re: Cormorants posted by Chris Clark on April 16, 1997 at 11:31:39:
Dear Chris,
I don't know whether there is any utilization of zebra mussels by Double-crested Cormorants (though I suspect not much or we should be seeing them feeding in areas that correlate with the large diving duck flocks. One person who I'm sure could tell you would be Richard Knapton of the Long Point Bird Observatory who is studying the effect of zebra mussels on ducks in Lake Erie & Lake Ontario and who has studied Double-crested Cormorants on Lake Winnipegosis in the past.
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Re: Relevant Posts posted by Chris Clark on April 16, 1997 at 11:37:45:
I agree that it might be beneficial to split the site into a sightings page and another page where questions, discussions, and announcements can be posted. I admit that I have no idea how difficult this is to do, but if it is possible, I think it would be a worthwhile idea to pursue.
To address the issue of mistaken sightings briefly: I agree that it might be more appropriate to post detailed responses questioning identification via personal e-mail. However, I think it is important that if a species has been misidentified, the correction should definitely appear along with the original posting.
In Reply to: Relevant Posts posted by Andy on April 16, 1997 at 09:21:25:
Is there any room on the server and would it be worthwhile to split the board in two? One board that is moderated for sightings only. And one board that is for all other birding-related topics. (Q's about egg colour, cormorant diet, etc.) All non-sighting posts would have to get manually moved to the "other" board (which would probably get tedious for somebody. :)
Personally, I don't mind "unrelated" posts, although they could have been a little shorter. Maybe if there was a line at the top of the board saying something like "If you are posting sightings only, please put [SIGHTINGS] in your title, otherwise put a suitable title without the label". That way people could choose to read just the sightings if that was all they were interested in. Just a thought. :)
In Reply to: Re: High Park - April 15 posted by Peter Lorimer on April 15, 1997 at 22:34:27:
Just out of curiosity... Does anyone know if the Cormorants have discovered zebra mussels? As far as I know, they are exclusively fish-eaters, but I've heard that the local rise of some species (Scoters, for example) is due in part to the birds discovering that zebra mussles are palatable.
Before submitting a post, please consider the purpose and title of this board., i.e. "Bird Sightings". If you choose to disagree with a poster's call, please use email, not this public forum, to challenge someone's identification. I find such posts tedious, boring and a total waste of bandwidth. And from the mail I have received, I am not the only one feeling this way. Please continue to post your reports, queries, announcements, etc., but take a valium if you think somebody's Greater Scaup is really a Lesser...
In Reply to: Re: High Park - April 15 posted by Glenn Coady on April 15, 1997 at 17:43:02:
last fall 1 Double- crested Cormorant turned up in Crang's Pond... (a small pond in the Weston Rd. and Sheppard area of North York) ,the first one I had seen in the 7 years I have lived here. This week there have been 2 of this species on the pond for several days.I am sure this is an indication that Cormorants are increasing in numbers and are looking for new habitat.
In Reply to: High Park - April 15 posted by Marcel Gahbauer on April 14, 1997 at 21:00:13:
Dear Marcel,
It is not unusual for the Toronto Field Naturalists to remove the Purple Martin house to clean it just before the Purple Martins are about to arrive. It is odd that they haven't got it up by now though as the first Purple Martins are probably arriving about now or at least on the next warm front.
It is interesting that Double-crested Cormorants are making greater use of Grenadier Pond - I don't know whether it speaks more to the success of the Grenadier fish stocks or to the general success of the Double-crested Cormorants. Many species make use of the Grenadier stocks as migrants (Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, etc.)and wintering birds (diving ducks) and several species have had a tradition of dispersing from distant breeding colonies to use this resource during the summer (i.e. Black-crowned Night-Heron, Caspian Tern, Double-crested Cormorant). If, as the Double-crested Cormorant numbers locally continue to grow, increasing numbers of cormorants are seen to utilize the pond successfully throughout the summer, I would think this would be a good indicator of the health of the species making up their prey base. BTW, D.V. (Chip) Weseloh, a scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service based in Burlington has made a local request for naturalists to document any obvious migration patterns of Double-Crested Cormorants - I think if they could be posted to this forum that he would have access. If I see many posts on this topic I will make him aware of it.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
I spent a little over an hour at High Park this afternoon, coming up with 35 species. For the most part the species were the regulars, plus the expected migrants like GC Kinglets (15-20), Hermit Thrush (4), and Creeper (3). There were however a couple of 'firsts of the year' for me - a well-concealed Night Heron near the NW end of Grenadier Pond, and an elusive Brown Thrasher on the east side of the allotment gardens. Other noteworthy birds included 2 Phoebes west of the baseball diamonds, 15 Shovelers at the north end of Gren. Pond, and 1 PB Grebe at the south end.
In the woods east of where the Shovelers were, there was a single WB Nuthatch that was very curious about me. It flew straight toward me from 20+ metres away and landed just in front of me. Every time I walked away, it followed me -- in all I must have led it on for almost 100 metres! The mammals are also starting to appear again. I saw at least a dozen chipmunks today, mostly on the east side of the park. There was also a beautiful large groundhog lazing in the sunshine by its burrow near the allotment gardens.
A couple of questions: 1) I noticed that the Purple Martin house on the shore of Grenadier Pond is missing. Was it taken down for the winter? (and if so, will it be returned within the next couple of weeks?). 2) I've noticed in the past couple of weeks that there are more Cormorants in Grenadier Pond than there used to be (9 today). Is this a sign that the fish community in Gren Pond is improving, or is this simply another advance of the black tide into new territory? I'd be interested if anyone knows anything about either of these topics.
Marcel Gahbauer gsteve6@ibm.net
In Reply to: Re: tufted titmouse posted by Amanda on April 10, 1997 at 11:33:14:
I opened up the birdhouse not knowing she was in there, the eggs were not in there yet, will she come back?
In Reply to: Re: What Bird Houses to build in Caledon? posted by Dan Burton on March 26, 1997 at 12:31:04:
Dear Dan,
I believe your suggestion to build bird houses for Prothonotary Warblers at Rondeau & in Haldimand-Norfolk region is a very sound one, particularly given the precipitous decline of this species in southern Ontario due to habitat loss (read: suitable available cavities) even just since the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario was compiled.
My question therefore would be who would I contact if I was willing to volunteer for just such a project? Long Point Bird Observatory/Bird Studies Canada? Canadian Wildlife Service? Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources? Do you have a contact that gets me rolling?
Over many years I have taken great pleasure from the Prothonotary Warbler in Ontario, particularly at Rondeau Provincial Park, Point Pelee National Park, the Hahn Marsh & the "A" Concession in South Walsingham. It would give me great pleasure to give time and effort back to this enjoyable creature but I don't want to act without valid permit. If such a volunteer co-operative effort is ongoing or about to be (as the birds are due back in a month - during which time I will visit all the above sights) please come and get me.
Sincerely,
Glenn Coady Toronto, Ontario coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Harlequin Duck at Humber Bay posted by Marcel Gahbauer on November 26, 1996 at 13:43:33:
In Reply to: Re: tufted titmouse posted by Lindsay Iuppa on January 08, 1997 at 18:18:18:
I need info too! Send it too me at: AMNelson@aol.com
In Reply to: tufted titmouse posted by Sheila Kirkland on November 12, 1996 at 11:06:25:
I really need info on this bird too! If you get any, or have any, please send it to me! My address is : AMNelson@aol.com thanks!
In Reply to: Re: Misidentified Goldeneye posted by Jerry K. on April 08, 1997 at 23:05:39:
Dear Jerry,
I am very dismayed and sorry that I have evoked such a defensive & paranoid response from you to my previous post. It is in such dichotomy to the reasoned and civil exchange of ideas, for instance, in the responses of both Chris Clark & Marcel Gahbauer.
Also, since it is so obviously an irritant to you, I shall refrain from using any more big words like taxon. I shall also refrain from availing myself of some of the choice vocabularly you used in your last post.
First, you suggest that I change my reasoning with each reply. I would submit to you, rather, that you are merely shown to be unable to properly connect the rationale of my two assertions. I shall try to clarify more simply in order to assist you.
Beginning birder "X" because of his/her inexperience with a given species (hey, what do you know - I can avoid the dreaded "T" word) is thus perhaps statistically more likely to make a misidentification, BUT, the possibility of he/she properly identifying the bird is certainly not PRECLUDED simply as a function of his/her inexperience, since said inexperience can be mitigated by the carefulness and observational prowess of birder X among other factors.
As a concrete example, in comparison to the number of times I have found it necessary to correct obvious misidentifications by beginners, on far more occasions I have taken the time to check out birds found by beginners (if I judge them to be careful, credible observers) - that I might add NO ONE ELSE would take seriously - which I helped to confirm were solid identifications. These have included Harris's Sparrow, winter plumaged Dickcissel and perhaps my favorites: Ontario's first record of Brambling (which a lovely lady in Brampton actually had material evidence for) and second record for Eurasian Jackdaw. The Brambling and Eurasian Jackdaw records were both submitted to the Ontario Bird Records Committee due to my encouragement of these careful beginners, and I might add both records were accepted and constitute the only accepted records of these species in the Toronto Checklist area. I did not see either bird but experience told me instinctively that they surely had. This has taught me never to dismiss a seemingly careful beginner. However, I retain a sizably healthy amount of skepticism for those whose actions suggest to me they combine BOTH inexperience and carelessness. My impression, though not intractably formed yet, is that you possibly reside with the latter group at this point.
You still have provided no description of the purported Barrow's Goldeneye WHATSOEVER or of the now additionally cited plain grade Goldeneye (which I shall assume means Common Goldeneye) seen side-by-side. BTW, your example of Greater & Lesser Scaup couldn't possibly have been a worse choice as an analogy. I cannot begin to remember the number of beginning birders (not to mention me when I began) that have had difficulty reliably separating these two species when they have come on outings I have led for various clubs. I know many of the careful ones reported them as scaup sp. until they gained more confidence with them. I still record them thus occasionally myself when my observation details do not allow me to be certain. If you can identify all scaup correctly 100% of the time then perhaps I could surely use your personal brand of magic along with me on my Toronto Christmas Bird Count route (which, by the way, includes Humber Bay Park).
The Snowy Owl is irrelevant to this discussion, though I am glad that you were able obtain a whole roll of film of it (of all the many exotic birds I have seen around the world it still remains my favorite species. I still remember my first one like it was yesterday). I don't suppose even a single one of those photos might have the goldeneye in question in it do they? For if they did my apology would be swift and sincere. The whole reason you bring up the Snowy Owl is to introduce the possibility that there were two different goldeneye. In their respective witty and satirical books about birding both Bill Oddie (Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book) and Joey Slinger (Down & Dirty Birding) wryly refer to this as the Two Bird theory: the classic last refuge of the incorrigible misidentifier - both books are very funny - I highly recommend them. While I will grant the possibility of two different birds being involved exists (especially given that reliably identified male Barrow's Goldeneyes have been seen in the Toronto region recently as outlined in my previous post), I believe the following scenario is more realistically probable:
Day One: late on day 1 Glenn Coady visits Humber Bay Park and sees among other birds a splendid male Common Goldeneye consorting with two Ruddy Ducks. Not only is this splendid sight good for his heart but it nourishes his soul as well. He then leaves to bird in Oley Furnace, Pennsylvania and Wallaceburg, Ontario for the next two days.
Day Two: Jerry Kubera visits Humber Bay Park the very next day and sees the same two splendid Ruddy Ducks only in the interim they have changed their preference and insist on now consorting with a male Barrow's Goldeneye - (Ruddy Ducks are a fickle lot). Jerry eagerly imparts this information to his favoured internet site much later but alas he has not provided any supporting details of why the identification can be assured. But hell, we can believe Jerry on mere faith alone can't we - after all he did such a bang-up indefatigable job of finding that famed gazebo at Humber Bay Park, therefore how could he possibly be (dare I say it?) wrong about this?
Chris Clark & his fiancee visit the same site shortly thereafter and according to them, gosh-darned if those fickle Ruddy Ducks haven't gone and switched allegiance yet again to consorting with a Common Goldeneye.
Marcel Gahbauer sees the famed goldeneye a little later under less than ideal conditions and concurs that it is probably a Barrow's Goldeneye as Jerry has so convincingly asserted. However, when the identity of the bird is legitimately questioned (Hath someone dared to question Jerry Kubera, finder of the holy Gazebo? - portal to that most unfindable of Harlequin Ducks), Marcel, to his absolute credit, decides he had better go have another look. He is scarcely surprised to find the magic goldeneye has reverted to being a Common Goldeneye now that his observations are not made through the dogmatic prism of prior internet posts contrary to what his liberated eyes can now clearly see.
Glenn Coady returns on Day 4 to find what arguably is the same Common Goldeneye in the same place as he saw it on Day 1.
Even more interesting is that throughout the THREE DAYS that Jerry insists the Barrow's Goldeneye has been present at Humber Bay Park in perhaps the most obvious location it could ever think of to choose (one of the most heavily birded waterfowl viewing areas by experienced birders on arguably the peak waterfowl viewing week) - DESPITE all these favourable conditions no one else seems to be able to find the mystical Barrow's Goldeneye.
OK, OK enough piling on,
Jerry, in all seriousness I do believe that all of us as birders must admit we can make mistakes. I know I still do, but charitably the gods are now spacing them out more often.
My outlandish parody above was to spoof the situation not to outright mock or ridicule you. I believe in this case a mistake was made. On one level there are very many people who believe that accuracy in records of rare birds is very important and thus observers should be thick-skinned enough to realize their reports will have to withstand some scrutiny among their peers and regrettably sometimes they will be wrong. On the other hand, I in no way want to discourage you from this fantastic hobby, that judging from your posts brings you such obvious delight. Any lack of experience surely is compensated by unbridled enthusiasm I doubt anything I could say would discourage.
BTW, if no one has responded privately to your request for where Cranberry Marsh is - it is in Whitby along the north shore of Lake Ontario just east of Halls Rd. S. and south of Baseline Rd. - it is one of the most remarkable migrant traps in the entire Toronto Region and it has turned up droves of rare birds over the years (Cinnamon Teal, Barn Owl, Kirtland's Warbler, American White Pelican, and many others too numerous to mention). The Greater Toronto Raptor Watch does a fall hawk watch both there and in High Park. As far as your question about why Ring-necked Duck is named as such, it is a good question. Most early taxonomists named and classified birds often based on features observable only on birds in the hand. Apparently a very faint ring around the neck is visible on these birds in this circumstance - but not on all individuals. In my view Red-bellied Woodpecker is similarly poorly named. Cape May Warbler seems poorly named too - ornithological nomemclature is better grounded in historical prerogative than it is in logic.
BTW, I am not an ornithologist, just what I would consider a very average but driven birder. And I do enjoy watching them - in fact I did so on more than 180 occasions last year in what was unquestionably one of the most fulfilling of my life.
Whether you saw a Barrow's Goldeneye or not is less important than the fact that from now on I'm sure your careful meter will be set higher - if that's the case - everybody wins and this forum serves a grater purpose.
Good Birding Jerry & keep those posts coming,
Sincerely,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Snowy Owl Egg Colour posted by Shayne Yestal on April 08, 1997 at 22:19:20:
According to "The Birder's Handbook" (Ehrlich et al. 1988), Snowy Owls have white eggs, 56 mm long, which are "more elongate than those of most owls".
In Reply to: Re: Misidentified Goldeneye posted by Marcel Gahbauer on April 09, 1997 at 07:20:09:
Dear Marcel,
I think it is quite admirable that you made the effort to re-check the goldeneye in question at Humber Bay Park. I believe your conclusion that this bird is indeed the one you (and Jerry Kubera) identified earlier in error as a Barrow's Goldeneye is a sound one (admittedly unprovable but overwhelmingly likely IMHO).
Your previous posts to this home page as well as to Gord Gallant's Ontario Birding Home Page have always seemed quite sound and I am impressed that you seem eager to critically re-assess even your own observations.
Your point that certain groups of birds (shorebirds, sparrows, etc.) may be quite difficult to observers without first-hand experience with them due to the difference in appearance between the bird in life vs. their representation in standard field guides is a very valid point. The more experienced you become the more this point will become self-evident, particularly if you attempt identifications at the sub-specific level.
The only thing I could suggest to help in this regard is to consider more than one field guide including perhaps one with photographic representations. But beware - many of the North American photographic field guides are fraught with misidentified bird photos. In general, if I were to suggest field guides for someone who wanted to keep it to two I would recommend the National Geographic Field Guide to North American Birds & the Audubon Master Guide to Birding (3 volume) - these will supply artist plates and photos with maximum accuracy versus competing guides (i.e. Stokes Guides, Golden Guides, Peterson Guide).
Please do not hesitate to report further species in this forum - my intention was not to discourage participation but merely to promote accuracy in identifications of rare species. You need not apologize for sending birders down to chase this bird - we will all make identification errors from time to time - the trick is to minimize them and use them as learning opportunities to further develop our skills.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, Ontario coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Re: Misidentified Goldeneye posted by Glenn Coady on April 08, 1997 at 14:21:10:
Following all the debate, I went back to Humber Bay yesterday (April 8) afternoon, and saw the goldeneye swimming in the same area as the previous day. What I saw today was a typical male Common Goldeneye, with a round facial spot, heavily streaked side, and even (at close range) a greenish sheen to the head. Was this the same bird? There's of course no way to know for sure, but I haven't seen any other male Goldeneyes of any kind at HB for two weeks, and this one was again preening frequently, so I have no doubt that it was the same bird.
The reason I believed initially that it was a Barrow's was that the initial reports of the bird had been emphatic about the emphasis, and what I saw did not contradict it. On Monday, during the whole time I observed it, it was preening with its head under its left wing. This made the head look longer, and it made it appear that there was a dark stripe between the body and white spots on the back; however in retrospect I realize this was just because the wing was lifted. I agree that in cases like this where the identity is debated, field marks used to make the identification should be mentioned.
As for my comment about not having seen a BG before: I agree that in many cases it is possible to identify a species for the first time simply through careful observation and comparison with field guides. However, in my experience, there are several species that in real life look considerably different from their representations in field guides (most notably some sandpipers), and which are much easier to recognize and distinguish if I've seen them before.
By the way, at HB today there were also 5 C. Loons, 3 H. Grebes, and 25 RB Mergansers at the SW end of HB East, in addition to the birds mentioned yesterday. I apologize to anyone who went out there today in the cold because of my BG report.
In Reply to: Re: Misidentified Goldeneye posted by Glenn Coady on April 08, 1997 at 13:27:11:
This is a message I have send to Mr. Coady. Somehow when you answer the mail the system doesn't idetify the original and reply. But anyway, here it is.
Dear Jerry,
I too, saw the male Goldeneye associating with Ruddy Ducks in exactly the spot you describe on Friday April 4 as well as last evening (Apr. 7) with a close birding friend of mine.
>I was sure about the Ruddy ducks. The tail and beak were unmistakeable.
This bird unequivocably is NOT a Barrow's Goldeneye! In fact it is about as typical a male Common Goldeneye as you might ever expect to see.
Further, you state that: "This is our first Barrow's Goldeneye so you can be sure it is what I said it is". This statement is faulty for two basic reasons:
1) That fact that you have no prior experience with the claimed taxon does not enhance the probability you have made the right identification, in fact the converse is usually the case. Are we to assume from your statement that you would be less sure you had identified it properly if it were not a life bird?
> You know, it is interesting how you change reasoning with each reply. Let me quote you:
You stated: "However if I had to make a call I would say it was a Barrow's (that being said, I never seen one before, so I'm not that qualified to say)"
I would disagree with the assertion you make here for the following reason. The fact that you are unfamiliar with a species may tend to cause others to scrutinize your identification more closely, but it does not preclude you from being qualified to make such an identification if you are making careful observations and making accurate notes, sketches or photos. I have never seen a Carmine Bee-eater but I am sure that if I ever do get a chance to study one I will identify it correctly the first time because: a) I have a pretty good idea of features to look for ; b) I will make notes to support such an identification and c) given the opportunity I would probably photograph or sketch it to increase my confidence in the identification.
> So what gives Mr.Coady. What I looked for second time was the shape of white mark on face, shape of head, white marks on the wings. Also this bird had a plain grade Goldeneye very close to it. It was like comparing a Greater and Lesser Scaup kind of a game. To me it was rather obvious. Side by side.
2) You have provided no description of the bird in question WHATSOEVER to support your identification. Barrow's Goldeneye is quite a rare species in Toronto however there were two adult males off Walker's Line in Burlington in mid-March and one male at the Leslie St. Spit in late March so it is a species that is certainly possible but for which a fully supporting description should be provided. Various observers rendering conficting opinions on the identification of such a rare taxon with no provision of any description(s) to support or refute the claimed identifications is VIRTUALLY USELESS to the assurance that the species has been poperly identified.
>BTW, have you seen the Snowy Owl? I didn't take any notes or anything else. My wife and I and then one photographer have enjoyed this bird for about one hour. The photographer took whole role of 36 frames of this bird. We were just looking and wondering why is it here. We didn't give a shit about taxon (I have a feeling that you just love this word) we just watched it. He was kind of sleepy even though he is supposed to be a daytime flyer. But he was cool to all the attention given to him by the Gulls. Now comes the question. If you didn't see the Owl, what makes you think that you have seen the very same Goldeneye that we have seen for last three days. I watched the Ross's Goose for two days but when I brought my wife to Humber Bay Park to see it, it was gone. Just across the Bay, but it was gone. In short, get off your high horse and trust that there are people that can use their eyes without knowing all the terminology and without feeling the need to make notes. You might not believe it but there are few of us that just like to go out and see the birds. You should try it. It is good for ones heart. Not all of us are ornithologist. We just like to watch birds. Don't discourage people from this fantastic hobby.
Good Birding,
Jerry.
In Reply to: Snowy Owl Egg Colour posted by Shayne Yestal on April 08, 1997 at 22:19:20:
My Cambridge Encyclopedia of Ornithology does not say anything specific about Snowy Owl eggs, but it says "owl, penguin,pigeons also have white or whitish eggs" p.231. So if you don't get anything more specific you can go with that.
My son is doing a report on Snowy Owls, which is due on Thursday, can anyone tell me what colour the Snowy Owl's eggs are?
Thanks.
In Reply to: Bird Feeders posted by Bob Greenaway on December 08, 1996 at 14:43:45:
Hi my sister just found a baby Lark and we think it's hungry, what should we feed it?It has feathers and it attempts to fly but it can't. Please reply as soon as posibille and tell us what they eat.
In Reply to: SNOWY OWL posted by Jay Morrison on December 09, 1996 at 08:39:08:
none
In Reply to: Re: Goldeneye misidentification posted by Chris Clark on April 08, 1997 at 14:57:28:
Dear Chris,
You are 100% correct - it was not my intention to flame anyone. I simply wished to correct an obvious misidentification and to make the point that this forum would be far more valuable if used to hone local birders' knowledge/skills regardless of their experience level. Providing detailed descriptions of claimed rare species facilitates just that exact aim.
If this medium challenges us to be better birders/observers, then it serves a very useful purpose - one I shall be delighted to help further.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Re: Goldeneye misidentification posted by Glenn Coady on April 08, 1997 at 11:43:12:
Glenn,
Actually, I was vague on purpose. :) Being a fairly novice birder I left my note vague in the hopes that somebody more obviously skilled would reply with an unequivocal answer. (And it worked, too!) *grin* Also, I was more interested in watching the American Widgeons and it was my fiance who told me that it was just a Common and not a Barrow's. I didn't closely observe the bird for any length of time other than to note that it was there. For the record, my fiance used the rarity of Barrow's in this region, coupled with the size of the white spot and general head shape in her identification. And sorry if I sound defensive, I don't mean to. I know your intention wasn't to flame anyone, just to bring a little scientific/practical analysis.
Cheers, Chris
In Reply to: Humber Bay - April 7 posted by Marcel Gahbauer on April 07, 1997 at 16:51:49:
Dear Marcel,
The goldeneye in question at Humber Bay Park is most certainly a male Common Goldeneye. Please see my post to both Chris & Jerry for an explanation.
You stated: "However if I had to make a call I would say it was a Barrow's (that being said, I never seen one before, so I'm not that qualified to say)"
I would disagree with the assertion you make here for the following reason. The fact that you are unfamiliar with a species may tend to cause others to scrutinize your identification more closely, but it does not preclude you from being qualified to make such an identification if you are making careful observations and making accurate notes, sketches or photos. I have never seen a Carmine Bee-eater but I am sure that if I ever do get a chance to study one I will identify it correctly the first time because: a) I have a pretty good idea of features to look for ;b) I will make notes to support such an identification and c) given the opportunity I would probably photograph or sketch it to increase my confidence in the identification.
For this goldeneye all three observers who discussed it in this forum provided no description of the bird or features which support or refute its identification as a Barrow's Goldeneye.
Being novice or inexperienced with a species might lessen the chance of correct identifications but being a careful observer will mitigate this to a great degree.
I'll take a careful novice over a careless veteran as a birding companion every time. Always reminding myself to be more careful is a constant vigil I am not always successful at - but alas I keep on trying.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Snowy Owl at Humber Bay Park posted by Jerry J. Kubera on April 06, 1997 at 21:56:02:
Dear Jerry,
I too, saw the male Goldeneye associating with Ruddy Ducks in exactly the spot you describe on Friday April 4 as well as last evening (Apr. 7) with a close birding friend of mine.
This bird unequivocably is NOT a Barrow's Goldeneye! In fact it is about as typical a male Common Goldeneye as you might ever expect to see.
Further, you state that: "This is our first Barrow's Goldeneye so you can be sure it is what I said it is". This statement is faulty for two basic reasons:
1) That fact that you have no prior experience with the claimed taxon does not enhance the probability you have made the right identification, in fact the converse is usually the case. Are we to assume from your statement that you would be less sure you had identified it properly if it were not a life bird?
2) You have provided no description of the bird in question WHATSOEVER to support your identification. Barrow's Goldeneye is quite a rare species in Toronto however there were two adult males off Walker's Line in Burlington in mid-March and one male at the Leslie St. Spit in late March so it is a species that is certainly possible but for which a fully supporting description should be provided. Various observers rendering conficting opinions on the identification of such a rare taxon with no provision of any description(s) to support or refute the claimed identifications is VIRTUALLY USELESS to the assurance that the species has been poperly identified.
Here, then, are a list of characters easily observed on the bird in question that support its identification as a typical Common Goldeneye.
Head Characters:
- Head Colour: This bird's head from all observed angles gave a green sheen. At no time was any purplish sheen observed even at distances of 30 feet.
- Forehead Profile: This male bird had a forehead which sloped back gently from the bill - not the abrupt almost vertical forehead profile that one would expect for a Barrow's Goldeneye.
- White patch behind the bill: This white patch behind the bill was small and roundly oval not extending above the eye. It definitely did not show the elongated crescent-like white patch extending above the eye as would be expected on a male Barrow's Goldeneye.
- Bill Shape: The bird's bill was longer and flatter than the characteristic short, deep bill of a male Barrow's Goldeneye. This character however is subjective unless both species are present for direct comparison (which they were not).
Body Characters:
- Extent of white on the sides/wings: This bird appeared very extensively white-sided with thin dark extensions of black coming down the side from the narrow black back. Barrow's Goldeneye would appear considerably more extensively black- backed and black-sided with white areas on the scapulars completely encircled by black.
- Presence/Absence of black "spur": This bird lacked the characteristic black "spur" which extends from the forward edge of the scapulars to nearly the water line in Barrow's Goldeneye. In fact in this area the bird was particularly white-sided supporting its true identification as Common Goldeneye.
- Extent of white in the open wing: Several times this bird opened its wings revealing the extensive white inner wing (particularly in the inner wing coverts). The amount of white in this area would be much reduced in a Barrow's Goldeneye.
In summary, all characters cited above support the identification of this individual as a Common Goldeneye and I could find not even a single character which a careful observation could reasonably confuse with Barrow's Goldeneye.
Further, the eastern North American population of Barrow's Goldeneye is quite low and any sightings of it are significant in assessing any change in its status - therefore all instances of its occurrence in the east should stand up to reasonable scrutiny - I believe this one does not!
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
In Reply to: Humber Bay - Saturday posted by Chris Clark on April 07, 1997 at 09:07:50:
Dear Chris,
Your impression of the Goldeneye at Humber Bay Park was correct. This bird is definitely NOT a Barrow's Goldeneye. However, more useful to this thread would be a description of the bird from your field notes when discussing such a bird in the future. Various observers disagreeing on the identity of any taxon (i.e I thinks it's a Barrow's vs. no, I think it's a Common) is virtually useless if none of the participants ever offer a description of the bird that fully supports the identification of the claimed taxon. Please see my reply to the original post about this bird as an example.
Your questioning of the identification of this Goldeneye tells me that you are careful in your identification of birds but the next step is in providing conclusive support for your ID decisions.
Good Birding,
Glenn Coady Toronto, ON coady@ftn.net
After reading the messages posted on the weekend, I decided to go out to Humber Bay this morning despite the weather. Although the weather was miserable, the birding was excellent. In fact, I've rarely seen Humber Bay this active (47 species in just over an hour).
I saw "the" Goldeneye standing on a rock near the west end of the 'feeding bay'. It was preening incessantly, and so it was hard to get a good look at its side. However, if I had to make a call, I would say that it was a Barrow's (that being said, I've never seen one before, so I'm not that qualified to say). In the same area were the Wigeons, Mallards, Buffleheads, a female BW Teal, and a Pied-billed Grebe. The other hotspot at HB East was the second bay east of the parking lot. The male Hooded Merganser was there with 2 female C. Goldeneyes, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 1 Coot, 50+ Common Mergansers, and a dozen DC Cormorants. Further offshore, there were large rafts of Oldsquaw. On the sumac-covered knoll south of this bay I flushed a Woodcock and a Flicker, as well as numerous Song Sparrows, RW Blackbirds, Grackles, Cowbirds, Robins, and a pair of Goldfinches. On the south shore, despite the pounding waves, was a Horned Grebe. Songbirds were concentrated mostly around the washrooms and the bushes to the southeast, and included Creepers, GC Kinglets, Juncos, and H. Finches.
There were fewer birds than usual on the west side today, but it was still worth the trip. 2 Killdeer were calling in the parking lot west of the marina, and another Horned Grebe was right by the shore in the bay to the south. Also there were 5 RB Mergansers, 20 Gadwall, and a male Shoveler. Out by the gazebo, the Harlequin Duck was further offshore than usual, with about a dozen Bufflehead. Still further west were 20 Scaup and 5 WW Scoters.
Had a rather productive two hours at Humber Bay. The HARLEQUIN DUCK was still at the west park, although it was playing hide-and-seek in the docks. Also saw a HORNED GREBE by the gazebo (and then 2 more over at the east park). At the east side of the park there was a shy PIED-BILL GREBE in the "feeding are" along with the AMERICAN WIDGEON, MALLARDS, MUTE SWANS (lots) and CANADA GEESE. Saw the GOLDENEYE (but thought it was a common one). All three MERGANSER species (COMMON, RED-BREASTED and HOODED) were present. One hooded male was hanging around with two female Goldeneyes. GADWALL were present in the man-made pools. For non-waterfowl we saw ROBINS, GRACKLES, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, 4 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS and a very bright male CARDINAL. (There were also sparrows which we didn't bother to ID.) After the horned grebes (which was a first) the next bifggest highlight had to be the BEAVER that was swimming around in the first basin east of the parking lot. Also saw a GOPHER by the feeding area.
I don't know if it was already reported but there is a Snowy Owl at Humber Bay Park East. Last time we checked he was perched on a pile of rocks that stretches out from north shore towards the picnic area east of parking lot. The pile is a part of new development going on. He was dive bombed by 13 RBGulls and one GBB Gull. We could actually hear the Owl answer the calls of the gulls. Also in the Bay opposite the pile were 2 male and 1 female Ruddy Ducks with solitary male Barrow's Goldeneye. This is our first Barrow's Goldeneye so you can be sure it is what I said it is. We are watching it for last three days. All the marks are there. Funny thing though, he seems to be preening his feathers a lot. Actually all the time. Also there are five pairs of American Wigeons but only two males are mature. Still a very beautiful birds. Almost forgot. There is a blue phase Snow Goose in Oakville just off the big laker ship that is loading up right now. He is with a group of Canada Geese. Who knows what will show up tomorrow. Till later, Jerry
In Reply to: Re: SNOWY OWL posted by Mora Carruthers on January 17, 1997 at 19:32:02:
I AM A FIFTH GRADER IN SEARCH OF ANY AND ALL INFORMATION THAT I CAN COLLECT ON THE SNOWY OWL. IS IT TRUE THAT AT ONE TIME THEY WERE CONSIDERED AN ENDANGERED SPECIE? ANY AND ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU
In Reply to: Re: SNOWY OWL posted by Mora Carruthers on January 17, 1997 at 19:32:02:
I AM A FIFTH GRADER IN SEARCH OF ANY AND ALL INFORMATION THAT I CAN COLLECT ON THE SNOWY OWL. IS IT TRUE THAT AT ONE TIME THEY WERE CONSIDERED AN ENDANGERED SPECIE? ANY AND ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU
In Reply to: Unusual Goose at Humber Bay posted by Mark on April 02, 1997 at 13:53:59:
I saw this goose at Humber Bay last weekend. My guess is that it is one of the geese from the Centre Island farm. They have about a dozen or so over there that are of no particular species, just "Domesticated". Could be wrong though. :)
Has anyone seen a large white goose with yellow/orange bill and feet at Humber Bay Park. The goose is larger than a Canada Goose, white with grey lines running down its neck and on its back. It has a yellow/orange bill and was seen April 1st at 10 am on the hill right when you enter Humber Bay East feeding with some Canada Geese. It was also seen April 2nd at 9 am swimming across from the Metro Police building in Humber Bay West. Have no idea what kind of goose it is?
Stopped by the pier at the foot of York and Queen's Quay last night to feed the Mallards. Swimming with them was a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL. By comparison, he was quite small, and a little timid, but he still ate any bread that landed near him. (This was around 7:00pm) After dinner, on our way back, we took the boardwalk that runs from the ferry docks to York quay behind the condos. As we were got to the corner by the east end of the condo's parking garage we noticed a small shape sitting on the sidewalk in some light. It turned out to be a little SAW-WHET OWL. We managed to get within 10 feet or so before it took notice of us, so we then sat down and watched it for a while. Judging by the colouration, we figure it's about 1 year old. When soe other people came up and spooked it, it flew to the evergreens between the condos and the ferry docks.
In Reply to: Pollution at Humber Bay Park posted by Jerry J. Kubera on March 29, 1997 at 17:23:35:
Fortunately the spill has cleaned up considerably. The smell is still in the air, but the water looks fairly clean (... as clean as Lake Ontario gets, that is). I spoke with a local resident, who had been told that it was diesel fuel and that it had come in from the lake. She was suspicious of this, because it seemed to her that it was coming out from the shore. Is there some kind of coverup going on here? Very disturbing.
As for the birds, they were back today. The Harlequin Duck was on the tire just to the west of the gazebo, and there were Scaup, Bufflehead and Oldsquaw scattered around the bay. Interestingly, there were no Goldeneyes. The birds were better at HB East today. In the bay north of the parking lot, there were 5 Am. Wigeons, 1 PB Grebe, and the usual Buffleheads, Black Ducks, Mallards, Swans and Geese. In the Mimico delta, there were 30 C. Mergansers and 4 WW Scoters near the lake. Oldsquaw have increased in numbers relative to recent weeks, but were all far offshore in flocks of 50-100.