[Ontbirds] Shorebird numbers climbing at West Perth Wetlands (Mitchell)
Hi folks, Just a quick update on the state of the wetland cells at Mitchell. The shorebird cell behind the parking lot is now almost completely dried up with just some water at the west end nearest the bushlot and almost completely covered by an algae pad. The cell behind the plant is great for shorebirds again with algae building up and I observed literally a few hundred birds everywhere in the cell. And finally, the largest cell at the back now has several feet of muddy edge ALL the way around it with smaller numbers of shorebirds. : - Greater Yellowlegs (3) - Semi-palmated Sandpiper (4) - Semi-palmated Plover (2) - Solitary Sandpiper (32 – this is the highest number of this species I’ve ever had at this site and they were found all over the cells) - Killdeer (tons) - Lesser Yellowlegs (tons) - Least Sandpiper (lots – with a fairly large flock of 54 that flew out to the west and then southwest as dark approached) - Spotted Sandpiper (30+ again one of the higher counts I can remember and noted both adults and fresh juvies) - Stilt Sandpiper (1) - Pectoral Sandpiper (3) Best bird of the day ... a wonderful BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO that I first heard in the small trees to the south side of the shorebird cell...and then it literally flew right down the berm towards me before lighting in a tree not 30 feet away! Nice. It sat for a good minute before heading further eastward along the berm to the big tree located there. The fenced in cell is still full of water with little edge to it...but some waterfowl can be found there. Good birding! Dave Directions to West Perth Wetlands: >From the East (Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, GTA) - take Hwy 8 thru Stratford heading west to first lights in Mitchell (Wellington St) and turn left (south) and continue till you hit the "T" intersection at the ball diamond. Lagoon cells are straight back behind the ball diamond and soccer fields and the sewage treatment plant. You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. >From the London areatake Hwy 23 into Mitchell from the south and just after you pass the "Welcome to Mitchell" sign...watch for Frank St...go right on Frank St and head down over the bridge till you get to the ball diamond (will be on your right). Again...the cells are behind the ball diamond and soccer fields. You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. >From Southampton areatake Hwy 21, to Goderich and then Hwy 8 to Clinton and down to Mitchell, turn south on Hwy 23 to Frank St. and turn left on Frank St. and head over the bridge to the ball diamonds (which will be on your right). You can go straight ahead on the gravel and park next to the berm. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
[Ontbirds] RBA Buffalo Bird Report 28 Jul 2016
- RBA * New York * Buffalo * 07/28/2016 * NYBU1607.28 - Birds mentioned --- Please submit reports to dsu...@buffaloornithologicalsociety.org --- AMERICAN AVOCET WILLET SEMIPALMATED PLOVER SEMIPALM. SANDPIPER - Transcript Hotline: Buffalo Bird Report at the Buffalo Museum of Science Date: 07/28/2016 Number: 716-896-1271 To Report:Same Compiler: David F. Suggs Coverage: Western New York and adjacent Ontario Website: www.BuffaloOrnithologicalSociety.org Thursday, July 28, 2016 The Buffalo Bird Report is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200. Press the pound key to report sightings before the end of this report. AMERICAN AVOCETS were the highlight of reports received July 21 through July 28 from the Niagara Frontier Region. AMERICAN AVOCETS continue on the Lake Erie shore, at the Main Street beach at Dunkirk Harbor. Previously reported 15 AMERICAN AVOCETS on the 14th, and recently, 6 AMERICAN AVOCETS on the 25th. Also a WILLET on July 22. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and SEMIPALM. SANDPIPER also on the beach during the past week. There will be a BOS field trip along the Lake Erie shore of Ontario on Sunday, July 31. Meet at 7 AM at Vermont and Busti, near the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. The destination will be Rock Point Provincial Park in Dunnvile, Ontario. The trip will explore the lakeshore and sod farms for shorebirds. There is an entrance fee at Rock Point, proper ID is required to cross the international border, bring a lunch, and visitors are always welcome on BOS trips. The Bird Report will be updated Thursday evening, August 4. Please call in your sightings by noon Thursday. You may report sightings after the tone. Thank you for calling and reporting. - End Transcript ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
[Ontbirds] Presqu'ile Birding Report for Week Ending July 28, 2016
Presqu'ile Provincial Park, like much of southern Ontario, has been experiencing relentless hot weather, but that has not deterred a number of birders from seeking out birds that would otherwise be unwatched. What they are finding includes several species normally seen either as single birds or in pairs that are now showing up in aggregations that, in some cases, are in double digits, which are assumed to be family groups including recently fledged young birds. Readers who are accustomed to listings of birds in a particular (taxonomic) order will have to become familiar with a recently changed sequence that is incorporated below. Three species of swans were off Sebastopol Island this morning: the ubiquitous MUTE SWANS plus single individuals of TRUMPETER SWAN and TUNDRA SWAN (rare in summer). Among the less common ducks seen this week in the Owen Point/Gull Island area were AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, NORTHERN SHOVELER, two GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and two GREATER SCAUP, as well as a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER near the lighthouse. A banded ROCK PIGEON was in a campground on Sunday. This morning a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO was calling at the beach 2 parking lot. A COMMON GALLINULE with nine very young chicks was in the woodpile marssh on Sunday. The algae mats favoured by shorebirds have begun to develop at and north of Owen Point, and a few shorebirds have returned from the north, including an early BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER on Tuesday and Wednesday and an early SEMIPALMATED PLOVER on Sunday. There is likely still time to see the PIPING PLOVERS that nested on the beach last month before the three young ones exercise their newly developing flight skills to leave for greener pastures. An AMERICAN WOODCOCK flushed from the Owen Point trail. A LESSER YELLOWLEGS was on the beach on Sunday. Single BONAPARTE'S GULLS have been at Owen Point and at the lighthouse. A few COMMON LOONS have been flying about, as was a juvenile AMERICAN BITTERN with stubby wings. As many as eleven GREAT EGRETS were visible today on High Bluff Island. A GREEN HERON flew across the outer part of Presqu'ile Bay towards the lighthouse. Among the egrets there was also a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON. An immature BALD EAGLE was at Owen Point today, and two GREAT HORNED OWLS were seen from the marsh. Two observers saw a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS flying over the calf pasture yesterday and another observer saw three today, including an adult feeding a fully grown young one near the beach 2 parking area. Three MERLINS were at the calf pasture on Sunday, and one today. It is usually difficult or impossible to differentiate between newly arrived fall migrants and birds that have summered nearby, but the OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER that showed up on July 31 seven years ago was clearly one of the former and remains a reminder that flycatchers and other land birds could be on the move with the next cool front. On the other hand, a group of five GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS seen today was undoubtedly a locally raised family group. The forty BANK SWALLOWS out over the lake, the four BROWN CREEPERS seen together, and the four FIELD SPARROWS including a fledged juvenile were also likely in that category. To reach Presqu'ile Provincial Park, follow the signs from Brighton. Locations within the Park are shown on a map at the back of a tabloid that is available at the Park gate. Access to the offshore islands is restricted at this time of year to prevent disturbance to the colonial nesting birds there. There is also a restricted area at beach 2, where the public is being directed away from the Piping Plover fledglings. Birders are encouraged to record their observations on the bird sightings board provided near the campground office by The Friends of Presqu'ile Park and to fill out a rare bird report for species not listed there. Questions and comments about bird sightings at Presqu'ile may be directed to: fhellei...@trentu.ca. -- Fred Helleiner 186 Bayshore Road Brighton, Ontario K0K 1H0 613-475-5309 If visiting, access via Presqu'ile Provincial Park ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
[Ontbirds] White Pelican nesting in Lake Erie confirmed!
With increasing numbers of White Pelicans showing up in Western Lake Erie over the last couple of years, it wasn't too surprising to finally find evidence of nesting. On July 19, I found several nests on Big Chicken Island (about 7 nautical miles west of Pelee Island). The island is really a large reef just south of Hen Island and is in Ontario waters. Many of the nests were empty but four nests had one egg each and one nest had two eggs. We found about 30 pelicans on the island at the time but interestingly, this past weekend, Paul Pratt reported 70 pelicans there. A few days later, David Moore, while doing a census on Middle Sister Island (roughly 20 nautical miles west of Pelee Island), counted 24 abandoned pelican nests with cold eggs. Pelicans could be nesting on other islands in the archipelago as well. Although the presence of eggs so late in the summer is somewhat unusual, it is not unprecedented in new colonies. We are monitoring the Big Chicken colony and ask that boaters keep their distance for the next month as the birds are easily disturbed. Please send me any observations you have had of pelicans in Lake Erie in the last few years. In an effort to document this most interesting incursion, we'd like to collect past and future records. White Pelicans have been expanding their range into Ontario's north in the last decade with nesting attempts in Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon, and James Bay. For the last three years, numbers of pelicans have been increasing in Lake Erie's western basin and now it appears that they are breeding! Rob Tymstra yrtyms...@gmail.com Pelee Island, Ontario ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
[Ontbirds] Ottawa/ Gatineau-recent sightings to July 28, 2016
Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at k_zbitn...@bell.net or sighti...@ofnc.ca July 28, 2016 Finally, after several weeks, there have been some highlights. On the 25th, at Shirley’s bay, both WHIMBREL and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER flew over. On the 26th, a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was there, and fortunately it stayed, still there as of the 28th. There was a STILT SANDPIPER at Embrun on the 27th, the first of the year. There were a few small signs of southward songbird migration, but the vast majority of the birds are the residents, and their song has dropped off greatly even in the last week. The weather has been warm to hot, with no major weather systems passing through. A COMMON GOLDENEYE at Shirley’s bay was notable among all the usual breeding waterbirds, and the RED-NECKED GREBE continues at Britannia as of the 28th. SHOREBIRDS are around, sometimes in decent numbers but finally this week there have been more than just common species. 13 species have been seen in the region this week. Here are some recent sightings: 1. Richmond CA: 61 birds of 6 species on the 25th. 2. Shirley’s Bay: 60 birds of 7 species on the 28th (4 additional were seen during the last week) 3. Embrun: 90 birds of 8 species on the 27th. 4. Almonte: 60 birds of 6 species on the 25th. 5. Petrie Island: 10 birds of 4 species on the 28th. A few other interesting sightings: 1. LEAST BITTERN at Embrun on the 27th. 2. 11 BLACK TERN on the Ottawa River near Cumberland on the 21st suggests that the breeding colony in Quebec is doing better than originally thought. 3. UPLAND SANDPIPER is still on Panmure Road. 4. RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS successfully nested in Constance bay this year and are being seen regularly. 5. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER at South March Highlands on the 26th. Finally, there are a couple of sightings that give some hints of some southern songbird migration, although neither breeds very far north: 1. A few sightings of NORTHERN PARULA, and 2. A TENNESSEE WARBLER at Shirley’s bay a few times, and one at Petrie Island. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to sighti...@ofnc.ca for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. We encourage everyone to report their bird sightings on ebird for the benefit of the entire birding community. Good birding. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
