Barrie Waterfront OFO trip Saturday Dec 5,2015 39 people took part in the second Annual OFO Barriewaterfront field trip. Billed as Gulls,waterfowl and winter finches. The gullsand waterfowl did not disappoint. However there were no winter finches. At the start of the trip, by the Barrie docks,participants were treated to a veritable blizzard of gulls and waterfowl ofmany species at very close quarters. Thebirds were feeding on a small bait fish called Emerald Shiners, seeminglyoccurring in the millions. Among thelarge numbers of Bonaparte’s Gulls were at least 2 adult and 2 first winter Little Gulls. Common Loons andDouble-crested Cormorants were also foraging on the shiners. There were severalunusually large concentrations of Common Mallards. A couple of Long-tailedDucks were notable. The morning started off quite foggy which soon dissipatedand we were treated to a beautiful sunny day with a high of 12 degrees. LakeSimcoe was very calm and at Minette’s Point we were presented with the spectacle of100’s of loafing gulls on the shore and swimming close to the shore. Idealconditions for studying the various plumages and delighting both veteransand new birders alike. Here we had aGlaucous Gull, a Thayer’s Gull , Kumlien’s Iceland Gull and a very pale secondwinter Iceland Gull. There were alsonumerous Red-necked Grebes and a single White-winged Scoter off shore. Also present was the “Appledore” Great Black-backed Gull.This gull was banded on Appledore Island of the coast of Maine in 2011 as anadult bird. It has been showing up on the Barrie waterfront each November since then which makes it atleast 8 years old. For a photograph of this bird and a complete list for theday contact me personally at [email protected] Many thanks are due to Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway andBurke Korol for their patient sharing of their expertise and to Chris Evans,president of the Brereton Field Naturalists’ Club of Barrie for his logisticalsupport and thanks to all the participants who made it a fun outing. Jim Coey
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