Don Barnett, Tim McCarthy and I spent 14 hours today starting at 5:20 am and had six flocks totaling 482 Whimbrels; flocks were seen in early to mid morning; then between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. Other migrant shorebird consisted of 12 Dunlin and 28 Black-bellied Plovers. We had 18 Common Loons. While 24 May is usually considered the peak Whimbrel movement today was a bit of a disappointment and it possible that many flocks took advantage of the ese winds and flew over out of eye-sight. 24 May totals on the three previous TOC Whimbrel Watch counts were: 2009 (1814); 2010 (48) and 2011 (1553). The total for the first 6 days of the count = 1318. The count continues to 30 June.
Location: The park is located at the end of Kipling and south of Lakeshore Boulevard. The parking lot is located at the end of Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive. If that parking lot is full, free parking is allowed on 13th street which runs along the east side of the park. Wayne Renaud (289-828-0043) _______________________________________________ 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/
