Hello Birders: Mark Wiercinski, John Haselmayer and I are recovering after completing our 10th annual Bruce Peninsula birdathon yesterday (May 19), reaching a total of 167 species - our third best total.
Calm conditions were ideal to hear the expected nocturnal species. Morning at MacGregor Point Provincial Park was chilly, but once it started warming up bird activity came alive and remained good throughout most of the cool day, as we worked our way north to finish in Bruce Peninsula National Park. Birding highlights: -Whip-poor-wills: calling at many locations, notably the Duck's Unlimited pond at MacGregor Point Provincial Park (MPPP) -Least Bittern and Common Moorhen: great views at the DU pond @ MPPP -Piping Plover: at Sauble Beach -Brewer's Blackbird and Upland Sandpiper (local specialities) in the agricultural lands around Ferndale -Red-necked Grebes and Horned Grebes in Dyers Bay -25 warbler species (ties our best warbler tally) -low diversity of diving ducks (we didn't find a single scoter) and shorebirds Details for fellow birdathon geeks: Date: Monday, May 19 Start: 2:00am (Wiarton) Finish: 9:00pm (Tobermory) Total Species: 167 Total Hours: 19 Km driven: 380 (a significantly lower mileage than usual, due to a change in route strategy) Overall, we found the diversity of migrant songbirds to be good, including a mix of early and later species. Early breeding birds were well-established on territories, but the later arrivals were either not on territory yet or simply not active. This could have been due in part to the cool temperatures. Our most embarrassing misses included Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrush (all local breeders). We ate relatively healthier on this birdathon than ever, but still included gallons of coffee, Twinkies, pepperonis, chocolate covered almonds and licorice sticks in our high performance birder diet. Cholesterol levels should subside by the time we do this again next year. Happy birding! Ethan Meleg Midland, Ontario email: [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
