No sun? No problem. A dedicated group of birders decided that the "bad weather brings good birds" sentiment made it worth the trip to Presqu'ile Provincial Park for the annual fall migration excursion. In truth, we were actually quite lucky with the weather as we avoided any deluges and were able to bird with little to no steady rain for most of the day. We even had 4 butterfly species, including a small movement of Monarchs.
The biggest contributors to the impressive 102 species haul were the warblers. For the second straight morning, the Lighthouse area was a riot of passerines, with 21 warbler species seen by the group during 4 different circuits. In one of the most active and plentiful passerine flocks seen at Presqu'ile in recent memory were notables such as 1 late NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, many TENNESSEE WARBLERS, 1 CAPE MAY WARBLER, many NORTHERN PARULAS, several BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS, 1 (maybe 2) late YELLOW WARBLERS, several PINE WARBLERS, and at least 1 CANADA WARBLER. A GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH feeding on a mountain-ash with several SWAINSON'S THRUSH, a late GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER and 3-4 PHILADELPHIA VIREOS also showed well in the flock; several BARN SWALLOWS and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS drifted overhead. Another impressive passerine flock near Owen Point yielded brief looks at an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER--warbler species # 22 for the day. Overall, multiples were seen of all common warbler species and there were likely many more flocks at other locations in the Park. The day just had that kind of feel to it... Shorebirds were respectable with 10 total species. All had excellent close-range looks at many SANDLERINGS, 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS (1 adult and 1 early juv.), 2 juv. RUDDY TURNSTONES, 1 juv. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, several LEAST SANDPIPERS and numerous "Semis" of both the plover and sandpiper variety. 2 WHIMBRELS were briefly seen on the eastern tip of Gull Island, albeit distantly as we scoped from Beach 3. 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 2-3 MARSH WRENS, several TREE SWALLOWS and both TEAL spp. were seen at the Brighton Constructed Wetland (BCW) in the early afternoon. The outing concluded at the Gilmour family cottage with a male NORTHERN HARRIER, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and several RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS. A special thank-you goes out to Keith Lee of the Municipality of Brighton for his hospitality at the BCW, Bill Gilmour for access to his backyard, Bruce DiLabio for some mid-day tips and the local Presqu'ile/Brighton birders for scouting before and during the excursion. It was an exhausting day keeping up with so many furiously active songbirds cascading through the trees amidst bouts of light rain, but it was well worth it. Good birding and see you next year! Ian Shanahan, Toronto (but really a Presqu'ile boy at heart) p.s. If you would like the detailed ebird checklist, send me your email and I'll share it. _______________________________________________ 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
