This afternoon I found a first-year male SCARLET TANAGER in Tilden's Woods at Point Pelee National Park.
The bird was in the middle of the woods at the Onik Arian memorial bench. I had just finished reading the poem on the plaque when the bird literally appeared beside the bench -- thank you Onik! I watched the bird for quite some time as it mostly fed on the ground, where it was actually obtaining a few items to eat. It was also poking at some berries. It eventually worked its way east along the side trail, and then flew further east into the swampy area that is currently not swampy but very dry, where I lost it. An intense snow squall them blew in, making it impossible to re-find. The bird was loosely associating with a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets, and in the immediate area there were more kinglets and several Hermit Thrushes, Eastern Bluebirds and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I have no doubt that the bird will hang around for a while, its just a question as to if it can be re-located. I believe this is the latest Scarlet Tanager ever recorded in Ontario. The previous late date is listed as "December 5" in the Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ontario (James et al. 1976), and this record might pertain to the two birds reported "in the first week of December" at Navy Island in Niagara by Sheppard (1960, 1970), but the year of observation is not provided. This reported observation is not detailed nor mentioned in either Birds of the Niagara Frontier Region (Beardslee & Mitchell 1965) nor the new Niagara Birds (Black & Roy 2010), so one is left wondering if the record is even valid. The previous late date for Point Pelee is November 25, 1962, when Wilfred Botham saw one at Loop Woods -- associating with an Ash-throated Flycatcher! A photo of today's bird has been sent to the OFO Web Site. Alan Wormington Leamington, Ontario ____________________________________________________________ Mortgage Rates Hit 2.99% If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Gov't Refi Programs http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d000572d209061e94m07duc _______________________________________________ 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/
