I stopped by Reesor Pond at about 11 this morning to view the Piping Plover. It was on the small sand spit in the northwest quadrant of the pond. As I watched it, it started to prepare a nest scrape and then did a raised wing display and then did some shaping of the scrape and finally it settled down as if on a nest. It remained this way until I left about 10 minutes later.
As there is only one Piping Plover here this might just be a hormonal response for a lonely bird, or a second unseen bird exists or it recently met another enroute and this is the result of the tryst. Regardless, this should be treated as breeding behaviour until it is known for sure what is going on. Please remember that one is not permitted by law to disturb or harass any endangered species or its habitat, so stay well back when viewing this bird. It can easily be seen from the small car park beside Reesor Road and one does not need to walk along the west berm to see it. I noted that one birder was doing exactly that when I arrived and he was quite close to the bird at one point. Other birds noted here ... 1 Pipit, 4 Dunlin, 1 Least Sandp. 2 Semi-palmated Sandp., 1 Semi-palmated Plover, 1 Black-bellied Plover, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, and 3 Killdeer. Reesor Pond lies just north of Hwy. 407 on Reesor Road in Markham. Reach it by travelling on east from Markham Hwy 7 and then turning south on Reesor Road. Geoff Carpentier www.avocetnatureservices.com _______________________________________________ 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/
