Hi everyone. There still doesn't appear to be much of note in Essex County apart from the long-staying Spotted Towhee at Point Pelee. I and my brother Robert found the bird again at 8:35 am today at its usual location just east of the 42 latitude sign. (Isn't it time we gave this fellow a name? My brother and I call him "Reggie.") Unfortunately, the tip was surrounded by ice again so there wasn't much in the way of gulls or waterfowl there. Singleton Horned Larks would occasionally fly over from off the lake, but the only other nice bird at the tip is a Carolina Wren that loosely associates with the Spotted Towhee.
Around the DeLaurier Trail parking lot, we were treated to a flock of Eastern Bluebirds which had some of the most stunning males I can ever recall seeing. There were upwards of 40 individuals in all. Over 100 American Robins were in the immediate vicinity as well. Along Concession Road E, "the dyke road," I spotted a male Rusty Blackbird with a group of male Brown-headed Cowbirds, most of which were impressively serenading a few females. The Rusty still had some rusty feather tips on its scapulars and wing coverts, but not much. Wheatley Harbour at last gave us over 100 gulls to go through, and I found one adult "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull in the marina. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk made a brief appearance there. Good birding! Randy Horvath, Windsor __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now at http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/