Well it sure is an empty feeling to know that the last of the Whimbrels is finally bound for the breeding-ground boogie. Today we saw just one and waved goodbye to him. There was a Least Sandpiper, 42 Dunlin, 3 Kildeer, 3 Common Loons and some White-Winged Scoters. Incidentally I didn't post yesterday as it was kinduva nothing day, but there were 6 Common Loons and Hughie had a small flock of Black Scoters.
So here's the grand total for this spring - 3319, versus 2047 last year. This year, besides a significant apparent increase in numbers we were able to boast about a few singular events. First was the apparent increase in sightings of Whimbrel early in and throughout the month of May. There could be several reasons for that, either the birds are taking routes familiar to more people and landing to show themselves more often, or it may be just that the birds always used these routes there are more folks this time around who are making the effort to observe and record via the Social Media. Either way, that's good news. Imagine establishing a network of trusted observers all over the Province? In a few years we would be able to connect the dots and see a true picture of a Whimbrel Flyway emerge. I mentioned the term above "apparent increase" because this year we had more observations coming from late in the day, some after 5 pm. In years gone by we used to arrive on the point at 5.30 am or so and go home in early afternoon. Had we been missing half the migration? We re- established some old ties with the folks down in the Nature Conservancy, Virginia Coast Reserve who have been giving us a useful heads-up on what to expect each morning. Half the time we'd be surprised with more or fewer arrivals than expected, which led to some creative thinking. We found some new friends in the Credit Valley Conservation Authority who I hope are going to share our enthusiasm about the Whimbrels we discovered resting on property about to be developed for wildlife habitat. There will be much more on this as we go along. We were visited by a few Whimbrels which landed and stayed, leading to a rather spectacular day. I would like to think that, seeing many more dogs on the leash (rather than off the leash) than I ever did before the signs we designed and made have actually worked. Those 4 signs are now stored ready for next season. I would like to thank the regular Whimbreleers who came out at sunrise every morning and stayed for 10 hour days or more. A fantastic job was done by Wayne Renaud, Jean Iron, Tom Lane (who as far as I know, is the only person to toddle out to the Point on crutches). Hughie Mcneil, Monica Croydon, thanks also to Garth Ryley, Sean Dekelver, Jeff Costa, Kevin Lloyd, Jerry Dewchyshyn, Margaret Kelch, Noam Markus, Mike Johnson, Bruce Wilkinson, Terry Smith, Jerry Dimarco, Anne bell, Petra and Jim Grass, Iain Fleming, Ann Porter, Beth Jefferson, Monique Fischler, Dave Pryor, Kelsi Tanti, Bruce Ferry, Kai Millyard, Adam Caparelli, Herb Elliott, Howard Shapiro, Ron Pittaway, Dave Creelman, Don Burton probably the 50 or so people whom I have missed, and, though we'll never be 100% certain, the irrepressible George Parker. A special thankyou to patient, long-suffering Mark Cranford who's main worry is now over for the summer. It should start up again along with the High Park Hawk Watch. Have a great summer, everybody. We'll see you then. Tim Mccarthy _______________________________________________ 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
