Hi all, Howard Shapiro and I birded various locations around Long Point yesterday (Wednesday), and found a decent amount of song birds although the windy conditions were far from optimal. Nevertheless we had 25 species of warblers over the course of the day, including 3-4 HOODED WARLBERS (1 first spring female at Old Cut, 1 adult female at Camp site 419 in the park, and 1-2 singing males in Backus Woods), 1 CERULEAN WARBLER (male singing in Backus Woods), and BLACKPOLL, WILSON'S and BAY-BREASTED WARLBERS.
A RUFFED GROUSE was heard several times along the road entering into Backus Woods from the west. At Townsend Sewage Lagoons water levels were very high, and hardly had any mudflats suitable for shorebirds. Nevertheless we observed 1 WILSON'S PHALAROPE, 1 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 1-3 LEAST SANDPIPERS, and 20 DUNLINS. Townsend Sewage Lagoons also had 10 duck species, including one male EURASIAN WIGEON. This is probably the same bird that has previously been reported from Lee Brown's, as we failed to see any Eurasian Wigeon there a couple of hours earlier in the day. Good biring, Andreas Jonsson, Toronto -- Directions: Long Point: To get there take Hwy 59 to Long Point and turn left onto Old Cut Blvd (to get to the banding station at Old Cut) or continue to the end of the road to get to the park. Access to Backus Woods is an entrance on Road 24 (to the south) halfway between Road 59 and East Quarter line road (southwest of Simcoe going west from the St. Williams Forestry Station). Townsend Sewage Lagoons: Take Hwy 6 south from Hagersville to the Nanticoke Creek Parkway; go west to the stop in Townsend; go south on Keith Richardson Parkway; go west on Townsend Concession 14 about one km; the lagoon entrance is on the north side. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
