A "roseate" colour-marked RING-BILLED GULL was seen well in flight on
Saturday morning, April 23rd, 2005, at 10.00 AM by Michael Biro's group (4),
at the North side of the flats. The bird was uniformly coated, back and
breast, in pink. There were no colour leg bands but the presence of a
standard stainless steel band remains a possiblity.
Two expert opinions, including a personal correspondence with CWS colonial
waterbird biologist Chip Weseloh, reveal no known research project involved.
This begs the question of who might be up to this task and how many Ontario
birders might have previously encountered such distinctively marked gulls.
Please contact me privately at the address listed below with any
information, or, if you are engaged in this sanctioned colour-marking
project, please illuminate the work for the birding community at large.
In the same area, we observed a coyote, a NORTHERN HARRIER and a male HOODED
MERGANSER. Elsewhere, near the foot-bridge, we saw a single male
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and a female COMMON GOLDENEYE and, in the "improved"
wetland, six GLAUCOUS GULLS.
Other sightings among 41 species seen included BROWN THRASHER, HERMIT
THRUSH, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN CREEPER (numbers dwindling), SWAMP
SPARROW, BARN SWALLOW, COMMON TERN and AMERICAN WOODCOCK.
The Spit is accessed at the foot of Leslie Street on Toronto's waterfront.
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( *V* )
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"To glimpse is exhilarating.
To linger is liberating.
These are the good old days."
MICHAEL BIRO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
