I birded the area in early afternoon. I first spotted the sandpiper
from the knoll board walk lookout as it was feeding on a mudflat
closest two where Sheridan Creek breaks through to Lake Ontario. With
my 30x scope I narrowed the ID down to Semipalmated or Western or
Least. I then moved around to the beach ridge on the lake where
streams runs through and got a view of the sandpiper from about 50
feet away and watched it for about 20 minutes. It was feeding close to
one of the two Spotted Sandpiper and they very close in size. Also the
wings on the Baird's were about 1/4' beyond the tail. The breast
streaking was limited to a faint big with no spots on the sides of the
lower breast. The legs were black. The bill was straight and back. It
also had the well-defined black and white scalloping on the wing
covets which is typical of Bairds vs. Semipalmated. The rump was dark
brown. I realize Baird's are very rare in spring migration and only
the juveniles migrate through the Great Lakes flyway in summer and
early fall; but I am 100% certain this was an adult Baird's Sandpiper.
If you go down there tomorrow you will definitely will need the
scope. The two cuckoos were skulking through the thick wild
honeysuckles and regenerate ashes in the wet area on the west side of
the boardwalk lead from the bottom of the hill off Bexhill to the
lake. My sense was that they must be nesting. They were also within
10 feet of the boardwalk.
The mudflats are in great shape for the July-August south-bound
shorebird migration. The weather in the arctic has averaged quite a
bit below normal so we could expect some shorebird movement of failed
breeders by the end of this month which is only 10 days away.
Direction:
Park at the south end of Bexhill Road which runs south of Lakeshore
Boulevard between Mississauga Road and Erin Mills Parkway/Southdown
Road.
Wayne Renaud (289-828-0043)
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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/
