The recent lowering of water from Pittock Lake, just east of Woodstock, has begun to yield results. Today [Oct 1], there were 3 Long-billed Dowitcher, 4 Stilt Sandpiper, 1 Baird's and one American Golden Plover, along with good numbers of the usual suspects.
Also present are 6 Great Egret, normally a fixture at the Oxford reservoirs in the fall. One bird is banded and, although views were distant, appeared to be silver [metal] left leg and double red on right, one above the knee joint. The 1st of the soon-to-be-plentiful Common Mergansers appeared today as well. Odds and sods the past week here include a pair of Sandhill Cranes as well as adult Peregrine Falcon and adult Bald Eagle. In terms of passerines, lots of common stuff along the east trail. Ist for fall birds included 2 Lapland Longspur flying over and the the 1st sizable flocks of American Pipit and Rusty Blackbird, as well as a few Orange-crowned Warbler in the thickets. This reservoir [and it's Oxford complement, Wildwood] can and do yield excellent numbers of waterbirds in fall - if the waterlevels are low enough, although those of us with local experience would say the numbers of both shorebirds and waterfowl are a fraction of what they were just 15-20 years ago. Still, if a wandering vagrant is going to show up anywhere locally, it will probably be at these reservoirs. Most of the mud at Pittock is in the east end. To reach it, go north on Innerkip Road until you reach the bridge then proceed east to the parking area. Follow the short trail to the overlook. Don't expect to find any other birders, though, as there are only about 3 of us in the entire county. Cheers, James Holdsworth _______________________________________________ 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/
