Pleas be aware that this bird was not seen today !! after the 950 K 10 hour
drive , 6 Toronto birders look in vane today for the Guillemot for 4 hours
before a vary nice woman told us of the events that unfolded yesterday
mooring , All though I can not say for sheer that the bird is not there I
witch I wood not have wasted a day looking for it , and just gone to Niagara
..
that's birding
Craig McLauchlan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jean Iron" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 3:25 PM
Subject: [Ontbirds]Black Guillemot: possible eagle predation, age,
subspecies
The Black Guillemot in Massey west of Sudbury was last seen on Tuesday
morning, 21 November, about 8 a.m. by Erwin Meissner. When Erwin saw the
guillemot it was flying upriver about 6 km from the bridge in Massey,
where it was seen by about 100 people on Saturday and Sunday. As the
guillemot flew by a perched adult Bald Eagle, the eagle stooped and in two
flaps was close behind it with its legs extended. Erwin didn't see the
outcome. About 10 birders, including us, searched the river yesterday, but
we could not relocate the Black Guillemot. Today (Wednesday afternoon)
Erwin had not seen it as of 3:15 p.m. For current information, please
phone Erwin at 705-865-1970.
Age and Plumage: In Monday's post, we incorrectly aged it as a winter
adult in definitive basic plumage. However, it is a young bird in
juvenile/first basic (first year) plumage. We have since examined four
excellent photos taken by Joe Houle which show dark mottling and barring
on the mostly white wing coverts, which we did not see in the field.
Adults have pure white wing coverts. Also, its leg colour is orangish
(brighter red in adults) indicating a yearling bird. First year birds are
more likely to wander than adults. See photos
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2006/BlackGuillemot1.htm
Subspecies: We are tentatively identifying it as the Eastern Arctic
subspecies 'Cepphus grylle ultimus' rather than the Atlantic subspecies
'C.g. atlantis' because of its extreme whiteness. The big Sibley Guide
(2000) on page 245 shows a comparison between Arctic and Atlantic birds.
The Massey bird agrees more closely with the whiter northern birds. The
subspecies 'ultimus' is most likely in Massey because it breeds south to
James Bay (Godfrey 1986, The Birds of Canada). Ross James (1991, Annotated
Checklist of the Birds of Ontario, ROM) assigned the Toronto specimens to
'C.g. ultimus'. See photos showing overall whiteness of this individual
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2006/BlackGuillemot1.htm
Previous Inland Ontario Records: There are two specimen records for
Toronto and two sight reports for Kingston. There is an old report for
Hamilton which was accepted by Bob Curry (2006) in the recently published
"Birds of Hamilton and surrounding areas." Black Guillemots seen on Lake
Ontario could originate from either Hudson Bay and James Bay or from the
St. Lawrence River estuary where they also breed. Although not an inland
report, Doug McRae and Alan Wormington saw one or two birds on five days
between 23 October and 14 November 1981 at Netitishi Point (not far from
Moosonee) on southern James Bay (Speirs 1985, Birds of Ontario).
Breeding Record: No breeding evidence was found during the two Ontario
Breeding Bird Atlases. There is very little suitable rocky coastal nesting
habitat in Ontario. The only breeding record for Ontario was on the Hudson
Bay coast published by Harry Lumsden (1959) in the Canadian
Field-Naturalist 73(1):53-55. However, it breeds south to North Twin
Island (Nunavut) in central James Bay.
Photos on OFO Photo Page http://www.ofo.ca/photos/
Acknowledgements: Erwin Meissner, who first reported the bird to OFO, and
Cameron McGregor have been very helpful to us and visiting birders. We
thank Joe Houle for use of his excellent photos. We are grateful to Michel
Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of Nature and Mark Peck of the Royal
Ontario Museum for information.
Jean Iron & Ron Pittaway
Toronto ON
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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