Hey, A brief round-up of some local sightings from the Beachville area today.
A Common Raven was calling from the Carmeuse limestone pit in the morning, just west of Domtar Line. This site, and nearby, has been the host to numerous Raven observations the last two years and it seems likely that most of these records pertain to a resident pair - perhaps nesting in the cliff-faces in the quarries or in some of the abandoned service buildings. I had a single bird fly over my yard on the 13th, likely one of these residents. Nearby, Oxford's only breeding Peregrine pair persist, despite the fact that their [last years] breeding tower was demolished just a few weeks ago. Carmeuse did provide what appeared to be a completely inadequate nesting structure - a metal box no more than 10 meters high - but the female has been seen in the box and the male continues to defend the site vigorously. Along the trail, a male Brewer's Blackbird was singing and calling. This species remains quite rare in the county, with less than 20 records overall. Other migrants and returnee's included 3 singing male Pine Warbler [they breed]. On Zorra Line, a km east of Domtar, the flooded fields [the Beachville High Pond] held 75 Bonaparte's Gull, 5 Pectoral Sandpiper and 5 Lesser Yellowlegs. Butterflies represented well, with five species - Mourning Cloak, Gray and Eastern Comma, Milbert's Tortoiseshell and Cabbage White. Cheers, James Holdsworth, Biological Consulting Services 226-228-1428, [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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
