Just thought I'd share a general observation that may (or may not!) be of interest to those conducting Christmas Bird Counts tomorrow.
Between about 2:45-3:00pm today, I counted over 100 robins, as well as a handful of other passerines, moving westward through central Etobicoke. They did not linger. It would appear that this cold snap has gotten birds moving and concentrated them into larger flocks. This is something that many of us expected would occur with the first brace of cold weather after the lengthy spell of relatively mild temperatures. I'm skeptical that my small, local observation this afternoon is an isolated incident confined to one section of the GTA. It will be interesting to see if anyone conducting CBCs today elsewhere in Ontario noticed similar movements of passerines in the late afternoon, or if this type of movement is observed in any of the CBCs being conducted tomorrow. I didn't see any unusual species with the flock that I observed moving through today. However, there's always a chance that such flocks could contain something noteworthy, particularly given the weather patterns this autumn and the precedent of the unusual bird species recently discovered in various parts of the province. David Pryor Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ 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
