Hello All For a drab, gray day in December our hopes weren't particularly high this morning for a good count, but we managed to find quite a few birds today.
In total, we found 95 species in the count circle, with the highlight being a grey-phase Gyrfalcon - a new species for the count. The bird was first spotted near the Leamington Airport (on County Rd 20, east of the town of Leamington). The group who found it had the opportunity to get great views for about 30 minutes before the bird flew off to the northeast, towards Hillman Marsh. Kory Renaud and I later caught a poor look at a large falcon taking out a starling, which may well have been the bird. It was near the church at the main entrance to Hillman Marsh. The wide open lake and marshes in the area, provided great habitat for waterfowl this count period. Puddle ducks and diving ducks were present in big number. The record number of Greater Scaup for our count was shattered with a total of 60 200 (previous record was 17 043) seen off the east and west sides of the peninsula. A record number of Horned Grebes was also noted today 79 (over previous high of 57). Of other note was a group of 13 Killdeer found in a wet field north of Hillman Marsh. Most other species were noted in low numbers - hawks were especially low this year,with little flying at all today. Thanks to everyone who participated and also to the Friends of Point Pelee for hosting the dinner and wrap-up. Good birding everyone! Sarah Rupert Leamington ON _______________________________________________ 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/
