Yesterday afternoon, I checked out a couple spots along the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, including Rock Point Provincial Park, and the River Rd. Crane location in the Dunnville/Cayuga Township along the Grand River. The highlights of the day definitely had to be the 2 adult SANDHILL CRANES at River Rd., along with an adult WESTERN SANDPIPER at Rock Point. After scanning the nearby fields around the Minor's property along River Rd. for about a half an hour, the 2 adult Cranes finally appeared flying low over River Rd., just east of the Minor's property. They disappeared over the trees to the north, appearing to land in the marshes along the Grand River. The Western Sandpiper was a worn adult molting into non-breeding plumage, with a number of basic scaps coming in close to the tertials. Although the bill was no longer than the longest Semi's bills, it had the typical Western Sandpiper structure, tapering quickly to a fine tip. Other field marks included a slightly larger-headed, broader-chested look compared to Semis, retained rufous on upper mantle/scaps, and arrow shaped spots/streaks all the way down the flanks to the undertail coverts. Other notable birds at Rock Point included: 30+ Semi Sandpipers 20+ Least Sandpipers 5 Ruddy Turnstones 16 Short-billed Dowitchers 1 RED KNOT 10 Sanderlings 5 Semi Plovers 3 Killdeer 23 juv. Bonaparte's Gulls 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 4 Yellow Warblers 1 Osprey Directions: Rock Point PP: Rock Point PP is on the north shore of Lake Erie about 50 km (30 m) west of Fort Erie, Ontario. It can be reached from the east by taking Regional Road 3 west until you arrive at Niece Road. Take Niece Road about 3.3 km (2 m) west to Rock Point. River Rd. Cranes (courtesy Peter Yoerg): Take County Rd. 3 (West) across Grand River from Dunnville. At about 1.8 km (1.1 m), turn right onto cnty. rd. 20 (towards Nelles Cors.). At about 10 km (6 miles) turn right onto S. Cayuga Rd. At about 1.3 km (8/10ths m) the rd. ends at River Rd. Turn left & go about 1.8 km (1.1 m) to the Minors white house (#600) on right & their barn (white w/red roof) & fields on left. The birds were in (frequent) the fields behind...the barn. Jim Pawlicki Amherst, NY
