Twenty-seven participants joined Dan Riley and I on a beautiful sunny winter day. The temperatures were quite cold -12C at the start but the forecast strong west winds never materialized, so it was actually surprisingly comfortable weather, plus all of the participants were bundled up, expecting the worst. After exploring the Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park) for just under 5 hours the group managed a respectable 32 species of birds. The highlights were the continuing first year male King Eider, an adult male Northern Pintail, a fly over juvenile Bald Eagle and a Tundra Swan. The Tundra Swan gave the group the opportunity to study the subtle differences between it and the Trumpeter Swans that it was associating with. The remaining group ventured over a couple of blocks to check out the Lark Sparrow. After about a 15 minute wait we were awarded with excellent views of this continuing bird. During the drive over and at the Lark Sparrow location we added an additional 8 species, ending with a good total of 40 species for the day. Thanks to everyone who made this a fun and enjoyable day.
Garth Riley Etobicoke, Ontario [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
