Yesterday April 7th Bob Tyler and I birded Ward’s and Algonquin Islands and it is safe to say that migration has ramped up.
Some totals of the following such as Song Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe were under counted as the Phoebes on the western end of Algonquin Island were in and beside thick bushes and trees ( as they were elsewhere ) and were very active fly catching and hard to count and the Song Sparrows where they were in groups on the grass were very skiddish and at times were flushed by frisbie golfers before we could get a good count but all the birds kept us busy so that we didn’t go further on The Islands to Centre, Gibralter and Hanlan’s. Waterfowl species and numbers were way down. Below is a list of some of the birds we found. Pied-billed Grebe – 1 Horned Grebe – 3 Rd-necked Grebe - 1 Eared Grebe – 2 D-c Cormorant – 50+ Great Blue Heron – 5 – flying east Wood Duck – 3 Redhead Duck – 8 Hooded Merganser – 3 White-winged Scoter – 1 Turkey Vulture – 2 – floating east Osprey – 1 – flying east Cooper’s Hawk – 2 – resident pair sitting together Peregrine Falcon – adult overhead Bonaparte’s Gull – 7 – flying east Common Tern – 1 – flying east Belted Kingfisher – 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 6 Eastern Phoebe – 92 Tree Swallow – 75+ - flying east over the harbour White-breasted Nuthatch – 3 Brown Creeper – 10 Winter Wren – 12 Golden-crowned Kinglet – 63 Hermit Thrush – 5 Northern Mockingbird – 1 Northern Cardinal – 24 Tree Sparrow – 2 Chipping Sparrow – 4 Fox Sparrow – 1 – seen by an other birder Song Sparrow – 134 Swamp Sparrow – 1 Dark-eyed Junco – 24 Missed the resident Red-bellied Woodpecker and resident Carolina Wrens. PS – The Ferry schedule switches to the Spring schedule this Friday the 11th so there will be boats to Hanan’s ( starting at 6:30 am ) and Centre Island as well as Ward’s Island. Ferry Schedule - https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-gardens-beaches/toronto-island-park/all-ferry-schedules/ Norm Murr Richmond Hill, On Sent from Mail for Windows 10 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
