I don't know the observer or the location but report sounds interesting, Green Heron can have bright legs. Report as received follows
Mark Cranford Ontbirds Coordinator Mississauga, OB June 22, 2009 I don't know how to post on the web site. Please post this and edite it as you wish. This afternoon I went for a walk along the Raisen River, just south (downstream) from the Williamstown Bridge. Williamstown is N/W of Lancaster which is on the 401 in Eastern Ontario, and N/E of Cornwall. As I walked along the shore I flushed a heron like bird. It was unmistakable. All black from the distance. I thought it was the size of a green heron but there was one unmistakeable feature, besides the body and wing shape. This feature was the completely red legs trailing behind in flight. Upon returning home I check the bird book. It is definitely a White Faced Ibis in Breeding plumage. To see the bird come to the bridge in the centre of Williamstown. The river runs south to the St. Lawrence at Lancaster. On the West side of the river is the old township office now the home of the Quilt of Belonging. www.quiltofbelonging.ca You can park in the parking lot. I walked South past two houses onto the Parks Canada land. There is the Sir John Johnson house on the site. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng//lhn-nhs/on/johnjohnson/visit/plus_more.aspx I walked along the edge of the historic site and down the bank to the river. As I approached the stone ruins of the old mill I flushed the bird. Later I could hear it calling from the trees. A few years earlier I watched a Glossy Ibis for about 30 minutes in the coopers Marsh, Lancaster, Ontario. Later this evening I walked along the Cornwall Canal, in the West end of Cornwall, at 2nd Street West and Queen Street and saw two Black Crowned Night herons standing on the rotting railroad ties that were part of the historic canal. Rusted hardware, spikes were still visible in the wood and a beautiful blue flag iris bloomed on the ties. I've often seen Black Crowned Night Herons here. They next in a rockery S/W of the power damn along with Snowy egrets, commorants, and 1000s of gulls. Michael Hermann Cornwall ON 613-938-6922 Michael H. Hermann 1402 Leonard Avenue Cornwall, Ontario K6J 1M8 613-938-6922 [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
