Hello again Everyone, For those of you who don't follow Ebird, I thought I would post a quick report of the interesting birds seen in and around Erieau today. I arrived at the Erieau harbour this morning at 7:10 and Jim Burk came soon after. >From 7:30 until 8:00, Jim and I saw at least 5 *Franklin's gulls* (possibly more) moving through the harbour heading southwest. They were in different plumages from first winter to adult winter birds. Jim left and Allen Woodliffe and I found an adult *Little gull* hunting the harbour. I had to leave just before 9:00 but got a few texts from Allen and Josh and Mike Bouman about numerous Franklin's gulls in a field being plowed along Erie Shore Drive, west of McGeachy Pond. The highest count from them was of 18 birds at one time. I went back to Erieau harbour and was joined by Blake Mann and Garry Sadler. At about 3:30, Blake spotted a *cave swallow* and it was quickly joined by a second one. We got fairly good looks as they circled a bit but eventually flew east towards the Rondeau marsh. Blake and I decided to check the plowed field at 4:30 for *Franklin's gulls* and we found a record 32 of them (counted using a scope). I hadn't seen any ontbirds reports for these species today so I thought I would give everyone a heads up. These strong SW and W winds have obviously created good opportunities for some good birds in our area.
Directions: Erieau is in Chatham-Kent at the southeast end of County Rd 12 (Erieau Rd). When in town, turn left at the first stop sign. Take a quick right onto Vidler Ave and follow it to the end where it meets up with Kerr Ave. Turn right. The harbour area is behind Barnier's Boats and the liquor store at the end of Kerr Ave. The entire village is worth searching, from the harbour at the north end to the pier to the south. Erie Shore Drive is the first left turn after going out of Erieau and past McGeachy's Pond. The gulls were in a plowed field about 1 km from where the road meets the lake. _______________________________________________ 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
