Greetings from our little corner: The shorebirds are stating to make their return trip from the northern breeding grounds. Present this past weekend at the wetland were Lesser Yellowlegs and two Solitary Sandpipers. The lagoons on the north side of County Road 64 had 10 Spotted Sandpipers, a Lesser Yellowlegs and three Bonaparte's Gulls.
The Virginia Rail continue to be one of the two popular summer residents at the Wetland. George and Gracie have done / are doing an exceptional job with Hunter and Junior. I am sure keeping food in these two very quickly growing offspring must be a challenge. Hunter and Junior can be seen standing on the edge of the nest flapping their very well developed wings. As of yet, the two have not taken to the air. This morning I dropped by the viewing platform and get quite excited when I notice an Osprey taking off from the edge of nest. There was two Osprey already in the air. It was George who took off flying just above the water on the south cell. He landed on the platform at the east end of the cell. After a couple minutes of some serious screaming the two adult intruders left the area of the wetland. Hunter and Junior then appeared above the edge of the nest. I remained at the viewing platform for 20 minutes. During that time Gracie did not leave the nest. I guess the 2 intruders were still relatively close. I know many of you out there have seen Osprey on many occasions but being able to watch this family (almost) in your own backyard is a totally amazing experience. In the next couple of weeks I shall give a complete listing of the feathered friends who are currently or have been seen at the wetland. Tiny and I thank everyone who has made the trip to the Wetland. I thank Tiny for taking "his" time to open the Wetland to the public. We must also request that no one enter the Wetland without Tiny's knowledge and permission. An individual entered the wetland last week without permission. Activity like this could result in the wetland being deemed "off limit" to those of us who wait patiently to enter the Wetland. The Wetland is located exactly 7.2 kilometres from where the eastbound exit (509) off the 401 meets Highway 30. Follow this road right through Brighton. The Wetland is on the southeast corner of County Road 64. Most sincerely Maureen _________________________________________________________________ Stay in the loop and chat with friends, right from your inbox! http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9671354_______________________________________________ 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/
