Unfortunately this bird has not been seen again despite many people looking for it.
To provide more details of the sighting, at 1:42 pm today Barb, Cheryl and I had this bird fly right over our heads at Van Wagners Beach flying east along the Lake Ontario shoreline. We were actually having lunch and cocktails at the Lakeland Bistro outdoor patio after a session of lakewatching so had our optics handy. I happened to look up and saw this large shorebird about 20 m overhead and got the others on it. It was obviously a very large curlew having a very long decurved bill and bright buffy colour on the body and wings. I managed to get it in a scope as it flew down the beach towards Hutches Restaurant then lost it behind some trees. Cheryl grabbed her scope and ran down to the shoreline and picked it up again standing on the shoreline farther down in Confederation Park close to the waterslide. She saw it go to the water and take a drink, then a gull chased it and it looked like it landed on the shore a bit farther down. Barb and I didn't get on it again. Since our lunch had arrived, we asked for it to go, Cheryl put the original post out on Ontbirds, and we made some phone calls to a few local birders, then we drove into Confederation Park and checked the shoreline here but could not refind it. After a while, we went to Fifty Point C.A. since this bird was moving east, but had no luck with it there. We ran into some of the other birders who were out looking but no one had seen it. We eventually went back to Van Wagners Beach and joined others looking for it, but as of 6:00 pm it hadn't been refound. Unfortunately, the beach areas were very busy with people today so there really wasn't anywhere for it to stick around. Too bad, but a very exciting find for us! Directions to Van Wagners Beach: Take the Centennial Parkway (Hwy.20) exit from the QEW in east Hamilton and proceed north to the North Service Rd., turn left and continue west as it turns into Van Wagners Road. Continue to the parking lots at either Hutch's Restaurant or the Lakeland Centre viewing tower and view the lake anywhere near here. Cheers, Rob Dobos Dundas, Ont. [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cheryl Edgecombe Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2009 1:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Ontbirds] Long-billed curlew, van wagners beach, Hamilton At 142 a long billed curlew flew over Rob Dobos, Barb Charlton and I and continued down the beach where it landed and then took off landing down the beach further. Going to look for it now. Cheryl Edgecombe Sent from my BirdBerry _______________________________________________ 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/ _______________________________________________ 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/
