The main highlight this morning for a small group of observers was a male ( definitive alternate ) Harlequin Duck. This bird flew by from east to west with a small flock of Bufflehead about 100 to 150 metres from shore. It headed west towards the Beach Canal at about 10:30am then returned by itself flying towards Confederation Park about 1/2 hour later. Ken Burrell made the call. Other observers were Jim Burrell, Jim Heslop, Richard Pope and myself.
Other sightings were a distant jaeger sp. or two, at least 8 Red-throated Loons including an uncommon in-flight pairing with a Common Loon, 6 Sanderlings and tons of ducks with many scaup, scoters, Bufflehead, 2 Common Goldeneye and some Long-tails. Van Wagner's Beach can be accessed by exiting the QEW at Centennial Parkway then proceeding west along Van Wagner's Road to Hutch's Restaurant. Kevin McLaughlin Hamilton. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Oct 23 17:56:33 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from gouda.execulink.net (gouda.execulink.net [199.166.6.56]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EC6BB63EC9 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:56:32 -0400 (EDT) Received: from mur.odyssey.on.ca (ppp35.ac1.56k.execulink.com [209.239.5.35]) by gouda.execulink.net (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id j9NM1ov12738 for <[email protected]>; Sun, 23 Oct 2005 18:01:50 -0400 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.0.9 Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:53:38 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Dave Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]Amazing Black-capped Chickadee migration at Port Bruce X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 21:56:33 -0000 Today (October 23) at our hawk watch location near Port Bruce [in Elgin County along the Lake Erie shoreline] we witnessed the largest chickadee migration in our 30 some year birding career. Between 1030 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. we tallied 1,406 Black-capped Chickadees migrating in 68 flocks ranging in number from 4 to 58 individuals. The rate of passage was 352 birds per hour [we took about an hour break at one point]. The average flock size was 20.7 birds and the mean was 18 birds. Two flocks exceeded 50 birds [53, 58] 5 flocks exceeded 40 birds and 17 flocks exceeded 30 birds. Flocks were departing from two staging trees about every 3 or 4 minutes during the peak of the flight. The layout of the woods and fields at this location proved perfect for counting. We were stationed at the west end of a 1 km long shoreline woodlot. We were about 100 metres inland from the cliff edge so could see any flock moving between us and the lake silhouetted against the partially cloudy sky. To the west of the woodlot lies a 200 metre harvested bean field before the next patch of woods. The birds were arriving at the west end of the big woodlot low down in the thickets. Along the edge the two largest trees [both ash] had already lost their leaves. The birds worked their way to one of these two trees and climbed up to the very top of the top twigs where they hesitated briefly to survey the situation. Then each flock launched west into what must have been a daunting open stretch for them. If any group launched but detected a hawk overhead within the first 20 or 30 metres all individuals would dart back to the woodlot. Some flocks false-started as many as 4 times before they set out across the gap. If the flock travelled a bit farther before detecting one of the many hawks going over it would dive down into the only cover for the next 200 metres - a very small patch of goldenrod around a hydro pole. [If you've ever been at the last tree at the tip of Point Pelee during a reverse migration in May you'll recognize the scenario of woodland birds pausing momentarily before setting out on an epic journey across vast open spaces]. Although we were hoping for a Boreal Chickadee we didn't see or hear any. Among the chickadee flocks were 8 migrating White-breasted Nuthatches, almost as noteworthy as the chickadees given that very few migrate or, at least, are noticed during migration. Other interesting migrants today included 1 female Black-and-white Warbler, 3 Tree Swallows, 7 Bald Eagles, 4 Golden Eagles, 1 Osprey [among many others]. When I checked back through my notes I found that the last time we had witnessed a large chickadee migration was on October 23, 1993 [note exact same day in October]!! On that occasion we were leading a group so were not able to make a count. I wrote down that we had seen 300 + chickadees migrating past Hawk Cliff and that it was part of a large influx that fall. Raptor Interactions: young Bald Eagle outflies adult Golden Eagle. About 11:30 a.m., a 2nd year Bald Eagle had just caught a thermal to the west of us. An adult Golden Eagle that was flying barely above tree tops and badly needing a lift powered over to the thermal. But as soon as he started rising the Bald Eagle dove down on him. For the next 5 minutes or so we watched as the young Bald Eagle taught the Golden a thing or two about quick turns and quick accelerations out of a turn. No matter which way the Golden turned the young Bald was right on his tail. At one point the Golden turned over with talons extended, as if to say I've had enough of this. But, the young Bald was relentless and finally drove the Golden so close to the ground [i.e., below tree top level] that the Golden made a bee-line straight into the closest woodlot, whereupon we could no longer see if the chase was over! [Although Bald Eagles usually seem like big lumbering awkward teenagers, if you've ever seen one chasing a Canada Goose, duck or gull you'll know that they can fly much faster and with greater agility than you'd ever imagined]. Our October hawk watch location is about 5 km east of Port Bruce at the lake end of Pede Road. From Aylmer drive south on Imperial Road to the village of Copenhagen. Turn left on Nova Scotia Line. Turn right on the first road, Pede Road, and drive to the end - park on the shoulder as all the land around is private. Dave Martin, Linda Wladarski, Ross Snider Harrietsville and Ingersoll [EMAIL PROTECTED]
