Ontbirds subscribers, With the weather warnings of potential for violent thunderstorms and possible hail with the passage of the cold front early this past evening, I went to Darlington Provincial Park to make an unplanned check on the two pairs to Piping Plovers there to see if they would be fine.
When I arrived at the Piping Plover pair at the east beach, a thunderstorm was just passing over that part of the lake and there were sustained winds from the southwest of about 40 km/hr with gusts probably more in the 60 - 70 km/hr range. Although this section of the lake has only had a couple of hundred gulls (which have been conditioned by now by our plover guardian watch to stay away from these beaches) in the past couple of weeks, it was immediately apparent that the strong winds and heavy rains had driven much larger numbers of gulls onto shore from well out in the lake. As I walked to the more westerly nest I was flushing perhaps two thousand gulls (mostly Ring-billed and sub-adult Herring gulls). Many more gulls were continuously hovering low over the crashing waves all along the beach edge. At about 7:15 pm on a point just west of the west Piping Plover nest, I noticed that a group of about three dozen Common Terns had landed in a spot that was barely out of the strong wind s. When I scanned these birds, I quickly noted a much smaller tern tucked in among them, and with its fine, bright yellow bill, richly yellow legs and feet, and dark cap with contrasting white forehead leaving thin strips of black through the eyes, I immediately recognized it as an adult Least Tern which I watched for about 10 minutes. On the folded wing, I could just see the dark black tips of the outermost primaries covered by the white shorter inner primaries. As I was checking on the status of the Piping Plover pair, a large group of gulls I had disturbed flushed all the terns and they flew east where it looked like they might have landed east of the first Piping Plover nest. When I got back to that area about 40 minutes later, however, I did not see any terns among the many gulls present on the beach. It appears the worst of the storms passed by Darlington to both the north and out over the lake. The birds at the second nest didn't appear to interrupt their incubation at all and the male sat tight during much of the time I was present. On a sadder note, at the first Piping Plover nest it initially appears that one young is missing. I was only able to locate the male adult with three young in tow. I am hoping the female might have sought cover in vegetation with the fourth young, but it is possible she may have departed and that one young has been lost. We shall see what tomorrow brings. We have had a Plover Guardian who has had to cancel a shift tomorrow morning, so if anyone can cover the area between 8 and noon it would be most appreciated - e-mail me at the address below and let me know what you find at the cordoned off area of the first nest near the fishing hut in the southeast corner of McLaughlin Bay. By the time I left about 10:00 p.m. the majority of gulls had flown back out in the lake or off to the east to roost. My thanks to Ron Pittaway for posting a notice earlier while I was still in the field. Darlington Provincial Park can be accessed by exiting Hwy 401 at exit 425 (Courtice Road) and taking Courtice Road south to the first right turn (west) onto Darlington Park Road where you can follow the signs to the provincial park gate. The entrance fee is $14.50 per vehicle. Upon entrance to the park, follow the beach signage to the roped off nesting territory at the southeast corner of McLaughlin Bay. Please obey all of the access restrictions on the signage on the roped off territory if you visit. Glenn Coady Whitby [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
