Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: Ed O'Connor on September 06, 2008, 04:57:54 PM
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The Ruddy Shelduck reported by Julia Freedman on August 21 at Humber Bay East appeared this morning (September 6) around 11:30 at Bay D on the Spit, associating with a flock of Mallards. Orange body, whitish head, black bill and tail feathers, noticeably larger than the Mallards. With most of the other ducks still in some version of eclipse plumage, this was the brightest bird for miles around. We have to assume it's an escapee, on the lam from a zoo or collection.
There was a good variety of other ducks at various places on the Spit, especially in the southeasterly corner of Cell 3. These included Common Goldeneye, Redhead, (?)Greater Scaup, Canvasback, Black Duck, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, and Gadwall. In the Triangle Pond, I found a pair of Wood Duck (more easily seen from the southern observation point), along with a Great Blue Heron, two Green Heron, a Spotted Sandpiper, and the resident beaver.
The only other shorebird I could find was a very vocal Greater Yellowlegs in the newly constructed pond at the end of the Spit, east of the Lighthouse. Raptors consisted of two Red-tailed Hawks and a falcon sp. A couple concentrations of warblers yielded Wilson's, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Common Yellowthroat, Nashville, and American Redstart. Early in the morning there was a mink on the causeway by Bay D.