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Not quite a red-letter winter bird in the deepest south of Ontario, but an
Eastern Phoebe this morning at the T.J. Dolan Natural Area in Stratford was a
pretty unusual find in southwestern Ontario's interior. This is likely the
same bird found during the Stratford CBC on December 27, but apparently not
seen since.
Today's bird was manifesting the "Sedgewick Phenomenon", apparently feeding on
cold-weather Chironomid midges hatching at the surface of the water of the
sewage tanks. (I seem to recall James Holdsworth reporting a phoebe at the
Ingersoll wastewater plant a couple of winters ago). Other birds at Dolan
today included 3 Hooded Mergansers and a Great Blue Heron (found by the
Stratford Field Naturalists Group), and Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglets
and White-throated Sparrow.
Directions: Take John Street south from Highway 8 (Huron Street) in the west
end of Stratford to the T.J. Dolan parking lot by the Avon River bridge. The
water treatment plant is a few hundred metres along the trail to the west. The
frothing water tanks are on the south side of the plant -- they are fenced, but
good viewing is accessible by footpath.
Jarmo Jalava
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