There was a spectacular male Prothonotary Warbler singing at the end of Peninsular D on Leslie Street Spit at about 10:00 this morning. Unfortunately only a lone observer, but the bird was seen again (not heard - it sang persistently for about 5 minutes only at first finding) at exactly the same location about an hour later.
This is a bit of a tricky one because despite much searching by numerous other birders (including John Carley and David Milson's OFO tour) this bird has not been seen since about 11am (to my knowledge). However, it may be still worth a look. It was sticking to the waterside willow and red osier dogwood along the narrow beach area on the southern side of the peninsular, but for all the time that I watched, it was feeding very low in the interior of the vegetation and so was very easy to miss (unless it sang!). If anyone does head out to try and find this bird please be aware that Peninsular D is an active bird-banding station and the public are requested to avoid the net lanes when nets are running (in the morning hours). The net lanes are checked on a frequent and regular basis by trained staff. There are no net lanes in the immediate vicinity of this sighting. I suspect that the bird may have continued foraging along the south beach and may have worked its way east along the Spit to the potentially richer foraging in the baselands at the entrance to the park. Good luck, Paul Prior _______________________________________________ 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/
