Greetings all,
I was on Gull Island-Owen Pt. this morning (20 Oct.05) from 8:30-1100
and saw a few interesting things. There were a lot of ducks and
Horned Grebes but the wind and waves made viewing the distant birds
problematic, but it was clear there were quite a few things out there.
Highlights included:
2 Merlins cooperatively (?) hunting migrant chickadees in the air
like they were dragonflies! I saw three captures, all of which were
eaten on the wing!
1 imm. Harrier feeding on a dead Greater Scaup that was likely
carrion as opposed to a kill (the duck was cold and the eyes didn't
look too fresh)
3 female Black Scoter
3 Black-bellied Plover and 1 Dunlin were the only shorebirds seen
2 ad Little Gull
450 Bon. Gull
520 Bc Chickadee - all were in flocks of up to 150 birds, moving west
off Owen Pt. to Gull Island, then west from there to High Bluff Island.
17 Am. Tree Sparrow
13 Snow Bunting
1 Lapland Longspur
I had a really fun experience with the chickadees when I was near the
west end of Gull Island. I was recording something in my notes when
a chickadee landed on my notebook (there are no trees here and I and
my tripod were the tallest objects nearby), then another landed on my
tripod leg, then one on my head and two more on my scope. I was
actually able to reach out slowly and touch the one that was on my
lens cover hood! The reason for the tameness became apparent when I
looked up to see the two Merlins just holding their position near me
hoping for a flushed chickadee. Soon the Merlins moved on and the
chickadees re-launched themselves toward High Bluff. This was one of
the few times a bird actually landed on me that wasn't a hand-tamed
feeder bird.
Cheers,
Doug McRae
Directions: Presqu'ile is located south of Brighton on Lake Ontario,
and is well signed from either Hwy 401 or 2.
