Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: Ed O'Connor on October 04, 2008, 07:19:00 PM
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I birded the Spit today and can't remember ever having seen such large numbers of passerines there. From the Baselands out to Peninsula D, which was as far as I got, there was flock after flock of warblers and sparrow, with dozens of birds in every flock. Most of the warblers were Yellow-rumped and Palm, but I also encountered Wilson's, Bay-breasted, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, and Common Yellowthroat. The bulk of the sparrows were Song and White-throated, but there were also flocks of Swamp Sparrows, good numbers of White-crowned, and three Lincoln's. Mixed in with these flocks were Hermit Thrushes, Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Flickers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Phoebes, and Wood Peewees.
In the cattails along the shoreline of Cell 1, I found a very cooperative Marsh Wren (the first I've seen on the Spit) and flushed a Wilson's Snipe. In the pond itself were a flock of 24 Northern Shovelers, and a Great Blue Heron. Bay D had Hooded Mergansers and a single female Ring-necked Duck. The only raptor I got a good look at was an immature Bald Eagle circling overhead.
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I was there on the Sunday and was still busy with passerines, had the same birds but also saw quite a few sharp-shinned hawks migrating overhead with many blue jays, 1 sharpie tried to grab a starling as went by the base, too bad didn't get it :(
Also can add a waterthrush and black and white warbler along the base (not sure Louisiana or Northern as didn't get too long look at it),pine warbler in spruce near the tip ,rusty blackbird, 5 eastern towhees moving through,swainson's and gray-cheeked thrushes and out before the lighthouse at the end was a peregrine falcon flyby and a northern harrier hunting.
Photos from Spit here:
http://flickr.com/photos/andrew-don/
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Birds everywhere it seems. My backyard in Brampton was mobbed all weekend by finches, white-throated sparrows, various warblers (nashville and wilson's I believe). We have a lot of bird friendly flowers plus a couple of large birches. I have never seen so many - several flocks of a two dozen birds each. They were so hungry they would let get within feet o them without moving.