Sorry for the late post. Jeff Gross, Holly Anderson and myself birded Wildwood Lake on Wednesday to check out the shorebirds and to look for migrant passerines. There was a good variety of birds present, the best of which was a Eastern [Yellow] Palm Warbler between the two bridges. This is about my 6th record [4th fall] for this subspecies for Oxford County, so it seems rare but regular, with most fall records tightly clustered around the last week of Sept and the 1st week of Oct.
Shorebird numbers are coming up slowly, as more mud is exposed by the controlled draining of the lake. Most common was Lesser Yellowlegs [120] Pectoral Sandpiper [60] and Killdeer [300] . New were 28 American Golden Plover, 2 Black-bellied Plover and one White-rumped Sandpiper. 6 Stilt Sandpipers were holdovers from last week. An adult Peregrine Falcon and two Merlins kept us entertained and kept the shorebirds on their toes. The Peregrine was particularly charismatic, making about 5 stooping attacks on the shorebird flocks, driving shorebirds into the water and mud and causing one particularly flighty Yellowlegs to fly right past us and crash into the pine plantation along the edge of the lake. An odd site, seeing this bird poking about in the depths of the conifers! The Peregrine seemed well fed and uninterested in collecting any of the birds it had driven down into the mud or water. Just making a bit of sport, it would seem. To reach the lake, take CR 6 north from the 401 to CR 28. Go west through Harrington and take the 1st right [31st Line] to the bridge. Cheers, James Holdsworth, Biological Consulting Services 14 Marian St, RR#1 Woodstock, On, N4S-7V6 [519]537-2027 [519]535-8760 [cell] [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/
