A walk through Rattray Marsh this morning produced 7 species of warblers; namely, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Blue, Magnolia, lots of Yellow-rumped; Bay-breasted; Common Yellowthroat and several Nashvilles. I also had a Philadelphia Vireo and plenty of both Kinglets. Both House Wrens and Winter Wrens were around.
The woods were full of White-throated Sparrows, a few Hermit Thrush and a Swainson's Thrush. A couple of Rusty Blackbirds were along the shore of the marsh on the lake side. There was lots of waterfowl on the pond, including several Hooded Mergansers and Wood Ducks. Jim Watt Oakville, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Oct 8 13:29:45 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts10-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts10.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.54]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EA23547E6D for <[email protected]>; Fri, 8 Oct 2004 13:29:44 -0400 (EDT) Received: from jean-bapu1sw48i.sympatico.ca ([64.229.209.217]) by tomts10-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Fri, 8 Oct 2004 13:35:49 -0400 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 13:35:48 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Jean Iron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]Cackling Geese in Markham X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:29:45 -0000 Dear Ontbirders, This morning about 22 Cackling Geese of the nominate Richardson's subspecies (Branta hutchinsii hutchinsii) were still at Coyote Pond in Markham. They began arriving mid-morning. Many birders are visiting Coyote Ponds to see this new species. Interestingly, we also saw a possible hybrid Canada x Cackling Goose. It was exactly intermediate in body size; its bill shape and bill size also were intermediate in direct comparsion. This was not a runt "interior" Canada from Akimiski Island in James Bay because of its more stubby bill. Cackling Geese have been recorded and banded in Hudson Bay and James Bay in recent summers by Ken Abraham of the Ministry of Natural Resources making hybrids a possibility. Sandra Eadie kindly put three photos of Cackling Geese on the OFO website: www.ofo.ca/photos/ Also seen: two adult white morph Snow Geese and a good migration of American Pipits. Directions: Coyote Pond lies on the north side of Highway 7, 1 km east of the Ninth Line in Markham. There's a big blue real estate type sign near where you can pull off the road to park on the side. Good birding, Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway Jean Iron 9 Lichen Place Toronto ON M3A 1X3 416-445-9297
