Hi all,
It was a very blustery Halloween day with intermittent rain, sleet and even
a short burst of hail but some 2 dozen hardy OFO members met at 0830 hrs to
enjoy some 'birding around the bend' - pun intended!
Most of the waterfowl flying past the beach were quite far out but both
Black and White-winged Scoter(2 that landed were hard to see in the huge waves)
gave some decent looks along with 2 Common Loon.
The lagoons were quite productive but also featured the first rainfall - 3
Greater and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Hudsonian Godwit, 3 Semi-palmated and 4
Pectoral Sandpiper plus ~20 Dunlin were in the first pond and a Killdeer was
heard from the adjacent field and several American Pipit were found in the
weeds. A total of 14 duck species, including Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye
were found, mostly in the second pond. Sparrows were hard to see in the tall
weeds but 6 of the 9 Emberizids of the day were found as we walked aall the way
back to the 4th lagoon, where we added Yellow-rumped Warbler.
On Klondyke Road we stopped to look at a few more sparrows but no new
species and carried on to Pinery P.P. to warm up at the Visitor Centre, enjoy
feeder watching, lunch and some of Penny's ' Zombie Finger Cookies'. A Brown
Creeper, a dozen Pine Siskin, a Field and several White-throated Sparrow, plus
Purple Finch(male and female), Tufted Titmouse and Red-bellied Woodpecker were
seen.
I missed seeing 2 Sandhill Crane off Northville Road but luckily
'eagle-eye' Pye(Donald) found them and advised me at the next stop (for a
Common Grackle) and we drove around the block to have good views. Along Army
Camp road some saw a Pileated Woodpecker and we stopped at the Ipperwash Swales
area finding a flock of ~16 Snow Bunting but nothing new. At Kettle Point the
sun broke briefly, we admired a rainbow forming until a huge dark cloud loomed
over us and driving rain began. We wrapped up the trip ~1530 hrs after some saw
a Great Blue Heron on a dump truck near the marina.
The day's list totalled 70 - not too shabby considering the difficult
weather conditions - of 12 vehicles at GB Sobeys , 7 carloads of 'diehard
birders' headed home for a well deserved rest.
Cheers! Maris, with
apologies for lateness of this report.
Maris Apse 10094 Red Pine Road, Box 22, RR #2 Grand Bend ON N0M 1T0 (519) 238 -
8415
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