I was able to get some pretty wicked looks and even manged to snap a few shots too!
The pier is a really cool spot, I think it would be a good spot to really do any birding, be it landbird or lakewatching! Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Purple haze!
Well not exactly...but a Purple Gallinule instead! Dan Salisbury and John Black found this guy in a pretty neat spot, in St. Catherines at the Port Wellar Pier. I booked down this morning (which likely wasn't the best idea....getting a speeding ticket in the process!), and managed to find the spot. After about 20 minutes of looking I found the PUGA foraging out in the open.
I was able to get some pretty wicked looks and even manged to snap a few shots too!
I was able to get some pretty wicked looks and even manged to snap a few shots too!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Playin' hookey
Well, yup I did. I decided I'd much rather spend some time birding today along Lake Erie, than sitting in rather boringish class....this morning I got up around 6am and motored down to Port Burwell.
For a few hours I just hung out and went for a really nice walk in the park and on the beach. It was a really nice morning to be out, it was calm, not too cool and there was no one in the park except for the park warden! With that being said, there was also some nice birds around too!
The Little Gull's continue to be one of the main stars here. Today I counted between 22 and 28 Little Gull's!!! That's the highest count I've ever had. Anywhere! It was cool to see all different plumages and to even hear them calling. I managed to get some poor images of 2 birds flying away from me.
Other interesting birds included;
2 Surf Scoters
1 Horned Grebe
lots of the expected songbirds at this time of year; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (4), E. Towhee (1), Hermit Thrush (4), E. Phoebe (8), E. Wood-Pewee (1), Yellow-rumped (40), Black-throated Green (1), and Blackpoll Warblers (2).
After scouring Port Burwell I headed west towards Hawk Cliff. I settled down a few km east of the Cliff....
There was a fairly good flight. From about 11-12:30pm I had the following birds;
Turkey Vulture - 344
Bald Eagle - 5
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 113
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 13
American Kestrel - 41
Blue Jay - 1,940
American Pipit - 200
Around 12:30 though it was getting pretty hot, and many of the birds were flying too high to id or even see, so I decided to pack it up.
It will be interesting to see what Hawk Cliff recorded today! Hopefully nothing too good.... :)
For a few hours I just hung out and went for a really nice walk in the park and on the beach. It was a really nice morning to be out, it was calm, not too cool and there was no one in the park except for the park warden! With that being said, there was also some nice birds around too!
The Little Gull's continue to be one of the main stars here. Today I counted between 22 and 28 Little Gull's!!! That's the highest count I've ever had. Anywhere! It was cool to see all different plumages and to even hear them calling. I managed to get some poor images of 2 birds flying away from me.
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| Little Gull's - Port Burwell - October 5, 2011 |
2 Surf Scoters
1 Horned Grebe
lots of the expected songbirds at this time of year; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (4), E. Towhee (1), Hermit Thrush (4), E. Phoebe (8), E. Wood-Pewee (1), Yellow-rumped (40), Black-throated Green (1), and Blackpoll Warblers (2).
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| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Port Burwell P.P. - October 5, 2011 |
After scouring Port Burwell I headed west towards Hawk Cliff. I settled down a few km east of the Cliff....
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| "A" is where I did a hawk watch for 1.5 hours - October 5, 2011 |
Turkey Vulture - 344
Bald Eagle - 5
Northern Harrier - 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 113
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 13
American Kestrel - 41
Blue Jay - 1,940
American Pipit - 200
Around 12:30 though it was getting pretty hot, and many of the birds were flying too high to id or even see, so I decided to pack it up.
It will be interesting to see what Hawk Cliff recorded today! Hopefully nothing too good.... :)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Seacliffe
Well its been alittle while since I last updated....sorry about that! Things have been uber busy lately. School and work and personal stuff have all sorta gotten in the way of blogging and going birding!!!
Yesterday Brandon Holden and I decided to give our luck a shot, and head down to Seacliffe, just outside of Leamington, near Point Pelee. We ended up picking a pretty sweet day! We had an awesome flight of raptors throughout the entire time we were down there and had closish to 7,000 raptors! Here's a breakdown of what we saw:
Golden Eagle - 1 juv. seen to the north at 12:20pm
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2 adults, seen separately in the afternoon.
Turkey Vulture - 5,079
Bald Eagle - 10
Northern Harrier - 19
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 741
Cooper's Hawk - 30
Broad-winged Hawk - 432
Red-tailed Hawk - 45
American Kestrel - 199
Other interesting birds seen migrating;
Common Nighthawk - 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Chimney Swift - 17
Definitely one of the better hawk migrations that I've seen! On our way home, we stopped at Wheatley Harbour. A fair number of gulls were on the beach, including 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull's (first-year and an adult). Far offshore a distant Jaeger sp. was seen briefly.
Yesterday Brandon Holden and I decided to give our luck a shot, and head down to Seacliffe, just outside of Leamington, near Point Pelee. We ended up picking a pretty sweet day! We had an awesome flight of raptors throughout the entire time we were down there and had closish to 7,000 raptors! Here's a breakdown of what we saw:
Golden Eagle - 1 juv. seen to the north at 12:20pm
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2 adults, seen separately in the afternoon.
Turkey Vulture - 5,079
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| Turkey Vultures!!!! All those specs are vultures! I blew this pic up and counted 112 Vultures and what looks like an Eagle! |
Bald Eagle - 10
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| Bald Eagle - October 2, 2011 - actively given'er |
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 741
Cooper's Hawk - 30
Broad-winged Hawk - 432
Red-tailed Hawk - 45
American Kestrel - 199
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| Red-tailed Hawk - migrating October 2nd 2011 |
Other interesting birds seen migrating;
Common Nighthawk - 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Chimney Swift - 17
Definitely one of the better hawk migrations that I've seen! On our way home, we stopped at Wheatley Harbour. A fair number of gulls were on the beach, including 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull's (first-year and an adult). Far offshore a distant Jaeger sp. was seen briefly.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
OFO convention
Just got back from a weekend of some fun, and birding! It was the annual OFO (Ontario Field Ornitholigist's) general meeting, so my Dad, my brother Mike and his wife Erica and I trekked down to Point Pelee, to do some birding. I'll give a break-down of each day and what we saw, and where.
Friday:
I had to work (doing some bird surveys!) down near Selkirk. It was a pretty early morning, as we had to be on-site for sunrise (7am). It was really cool, with some very light North winds, so there was some activity.
Tufted Titmouse -2
Philadelphia Vireo - 1
10 species of warblers - Nasvhille (2), Chestnut-sided (1), Blackpoll (4), Blackburnian (1), Black-throated Green (3), Black-and-white (1), Palm (1), Yellow-rumped (1), A. Redstart (3), and C Yellowthroat (2).
After gettting back from work, we headed straight down (sorta) to Point Pelee. Stopping first at Mitchell, we had some interesting shorebirds;
American Golden-Plover - 312!!!
Black-bellied Plover - 4
White-rumped -10
Stilt - 2
Merlin - 1
After hitting up Mitchell, we booked 'er over to the Port Stanley lagoons, and had some decent birds.
Red-necked Phalarope - 2 juvs.
Stilt -1
White-rumped - 2
Saturday - Point Pelee NP, Seacliffe and Holiday Beach
Baird's Sandpiper - 1 Onion Fields
12 species of warblers - new species from Friday (Tennessee, Magnolia, Wilson's, Black-throated Blue and Bay-breasted)
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 at the Pelee Days Inn
Peregrine Falcon - 1 at Seacliffe
Common Nighthawk - 3 at Holiday Beach
Sunday - Tilbury, Prairie Siding
SNOWY EGRET - 1, this was a longish overdue Ontario bird for me!!!
This bird was found the previous day, by one of the OFO field trips. We thought we might as well try for it, since its not too far from Tilbury (and Hwy, 401). As we were driving along the river, we saw 2 egrets flying alongside us, and as luck would have it, one was the Snowy!
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 7(!) in a large field with other shorebirds on Richardson Sideroad
American Golden-Plover - 56 - in the same field as the BBSA's
White-rumped Sandpiper - 14 at Tilbury Sewage Lagoons
Overall a pretty sweet weekend (110 species), we had great weather and even better company!
Friday:
I had to work (doing some bird surveys!) down near Selkirk. It was a pretty early morning, as we had to be on-site for sunrise (7am). It was really cool, with some very light North winds, so there was some activity.
Tufted Titmouse -2
Philadelphia Vireo - 1
10 species of warblers - Nasvhille (2), Chestnut-sided (1), Blackpoll (4), Blackburnian (1), Black-throated Green (3), Black-and-white (1), Palm (1), Yellow-rumped (1), A. Redstart (3), and C Yellowthroat (2).
After gettting back from work, we headed straight down (sorta) to Point Pelee. Stopping first at Mitchell, we had some interesting shorebirds;
American Golden-Plover - 312!!!
Black-bellied Plover - 4
White-rumped -10
Stilt - 2
Merlin - 1
After hitting up Mitchell, we booked 'er over to the Port Stanley lagoons, and had some decent birds.
Red-necked Phalarope - 2 juvs.
Stilt -1
White-rumped - 2
Saturday - Point Pelee NP, Seacliffe and Holiday Beach
Baird's Sandpiper - 1 Onion Fields
12 species of warblers - new species from Friday (Tennessee, Magnolia, Wilson's, Black-throated Blue and Bay-breasted)
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 at the Pelee Days Inn
Peregrine Falcon - 1 at Seacliffe
Common Nighthawk - 3 at Holiday Beach
Sunday - Tilbury, Prairie Siding
SNOWY EGRET - 1, this was a longish overdue Ontario bird for me!!!
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| Snowy Egret - near Prairie Siding, September 18, 2011 |
This bird was found the previous day, by one of the OFO field trips. We thought we might as well try for it, since its not too far from Tilbury (and Hwy, 401). As we were driving along the river, we saw 2 egrets flying alongside us, and as luck would have it, one was the Snowy!
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 7(!) in a large field with other shorebirds on Richardson Sideroad
American Golden-Plover - 56 - in the same field as the BBSA's
White-rumped Sandpiper - 14 at Tilbury Sewage Lagoons
Overall a pretty sweet weekend (110 species), we had great weather and even better company!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Van Wagner's
With some fairly good N/NE winds starting last night and continuing into today, I decided to book it over to Van Wagner's this morning. I arrived around 8:30am, staying until 1pm. Pretty good activity. As soon as I arrived a Jaeger flew by as well as a Whimbrel. Jaeger's put in appearances throughout the day. Shorebirds were also zipping past, overall a pretty enjoyable morning.
Here the rundown of what I saw;
Parasitic Jaeger - 6 - (3 dark juv., 2 intermediate juv. and 1 light adult)
Long-tailed Jaeger - 1 light/intermediate
Unidentified Jaeger spp. - 10 (all were juvenals, 2 of which I think were likely Long-tail's)
Whimbrel - 1
Sanderling - 167!! - all fly-by's
Ruddy Turnstone - 2
White-winged Scoter - 3
Merlin - 1
Some good diversity of ducks flew by as well. I even managed to get a pic. of a juvenal Parasitic!
Here the rundown of what I saw;
Parasitic Jaeger - 6 - (3 dark juv., 2 intermediate juv. and 1 light adult)
Long-tailed Jaeger - 1 light/intermediate
Unidentified Jaeger spp. - 10 (all were juvenals, 2 of which I think were likely Long-tail's)
Whimbrel - 1
Sanderling - 167!! - all fly-by's
Ruddy Turnstone - 2
White-winged Scoter - 3
Merlin - 1
Some good diversity of ducks flew by as well. I even managed to get a pic. of a juvenal Parasitic!
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| juvenal Parasitic Jaeger - Van Wagner's September 10, 2011 |
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Port Stanley-Townsend
Brandon Holden and I birded the north shore of Erie today, from Port Stanley to Port Dover/Townsend. We stopped first at Port Stanley, where we saw the following;
Hudsonian Godwit - 1
Red-necked Phalarope - 10
Stilt Sandpiper - 3
Next we proceeded east along the lake, where we stopped at Port Burwell. Walking through the park, to the beach, netted a few songbirds (Philadelphia Vireo, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll and Wilson's Warblers). Thousands of gulls were either on the beach, or close to shore. Most notable were at least 17 Little Gull's a few hundred metres offshore. There is likely many more, though this was a minimum count.
Heading east, the last main stop, which yielded 'results' was the Townsend lagoons, where we had the following;
Red-necked Phalarope - 1
Stilt Sandpiper - 2
Baird's Sandpiper - 4
Merlin - 1
Hudsonian Godwit - 1
Red-necked Phalarope - 10
Stilt Sandpiper - 3
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| Hudsonian Godwit - distant record shot - September 4, 2011 |
Next we proceeded east along the lake, where we stopped at Port Burwell. Walking through the park, to the beach, netted a few songbirds (Philadelphia Vireo, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll and Wilson's Warblers). Thousands of gulls were either on the beach, or close to shore. Most notable were at least 17 Little Gull's a few hundred metres offshore. There is likely many more, though this was a minimum count.
Heading east, the last main stop, which yielded 'results' was the Townsend lagoons, where we had the following;
Red-necked Phalarope - 1
Stilt Sandpiper - 2
Baird's Sandpiper - 4
Merlin - 1
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Eastern Ontario
This past week I was working just south-west of Cornwall, I've been doing some pretty sweet birding around this area of Ontario. I haven't done any birding in this area, but it was really productive.
Tuesday and Wednesday led me to bird some good areas. First up, I headed over to Osgoode, where I picked up a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, found earlier in the day. I managed a VERY poor shot of it poking its head out of the grasses.
Next stop was the Casselman lagoons. I had gone here the previous night (Monday). I had pretty much the exact same stuff, minus Red-necked Phalarope, but managed a few pics of the Red Knots, which were still present.
This lagoon is pretty sweet. Tuesday evening I also had a Stilt Sandpiper.
Wednesday evening I headed up to Alfred, to try for a Hudsonian Godwit, seen two nights previously, by Jacques Bouvier. These lagoons are AWESOME! Its a shame they're so far from Waterloo! No sign of the HUGO, but shorebird numbers were impressive, nonetheless. I had the following shorebirds;
Semipalmated Plover - 30+
Killdeer - 70+
Spotted - 1
Solitary - 2
Greater Yellowlegs - 10
Lesser Yellowlegs - 120
Semipalmated Sand - 140
Least - 25
Baird's - 8!
Pectoral - 8
Stilt - 1
Just down the road at one of the sod farms, while hoping for another Buff-breasted Sandpiper, I stumbled across this 'getting late' Upland Sandpiper in one of the fields.
Anyways, I just got back, was a pretty interesting few days!
Tuesday and Wednesday led me to bird some good areas. First up, I headed over to Osgoode, where I picked up a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, found earlier in the day. I managed a VERY poor shot of it poking its head out of the grasses.
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| worst pic of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper - EVER |
Next stop was the Casselman lagoons. I had gone here the previous night (Monday). I had pretty much the exact same stuff, minus Red-necked Phalarope, but managed a few pics of the Red Knots, which were still present.
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| Red Knot - Casselman sewage lagoons |
Wednesday evening I headed up to Alfred, to try for a Hudsonian Godwit, seen two nights previously, by Jacques Bouvier. These lagoons are AWESOME! Its a shame they're so far from Waterloo! No sign of the HUGO, but shorebird numbers were impressive, nonetheless. I had the following shorebirds;
Semipalmated Plover - 30+
Killdeer - 70+
Spotted - 1
Solitary - 2
Greater Yellowlegs - 10
Lesser Yellowlegs - 120
Semipalmated Sand - 140
Least - 25
Baird's - 8!
Pectoral - 8
Stilt - 1
Just down the road at one of the sod farms, while hoping for another Buff-breasted Sandpiper, I stumbled across this 'getting late' Upland Sandpiper in one of the fields.
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| Upland Sandpiper - Alfred Bog |
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