Hi Ontbirders, On a quick lunch break today, I headed to Minet's Point Park in Barrie to, once again, follow-up on Dave Szmyr's report of a Ross's Goose (2nd bird in 2 days), among other waterfowl.
The adult, white Ross's Goose, was found where Dave reported it, to the west of the park in a small bay within Kempenfelt Bay among hundreds of Canada Geese, Mallards and American Black Ducks. Scanning the bay it was obvious that the most numerous species out there was Red-necked Grebe, so after finding the target species, I decided to do a count. I ended up with 700+ Red-necked Grebes and that doesn't include the many that were diving as well as many presumed RNGR's that were even beyond scope identification. While scanning I also found 6 Common Loons, 1 Red-throated Loon, 1 Greater Scaup (surprised to see only 1), 1 Long-tailed Duck, 3 Bufflehead, 100+ Common Goldeneye, 4 Hooded Merganser, 500+ Common Merganser, 4 Bonaparte's Gulls, 2 adult Glaucous Gulls and 12 Great Black-backed Gulls. On my way out of the park I stopped to look at a few chickadees and in flew a male Red-bellied Woodpecker, interacting with a male Hairy Woodpecker. Directions (per Dave): Minet's Point Park can be reached by exiting Highway 400 at Dunlop St and heading East until you get to Toronto St. Turn right here as this will turn into Lakeshore Dr. and follow this along the waterfront until you get to Minet's Point Rd. Turn Left at the lights and follow White Oaks Rd until it merges into Brennan Ave, the park will be just on your left. Good birding, Frank Pinilla Cell: (416) 559-7075 _______________________________________________ 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
