Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: Reuven_M on August 27, 2010, 08:35:12 PM
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Hi everyone :D
I've been reading this forum for a bit, and I thought I'd join up.
Im a 16-year old birder in Mississauga, right near Erindale Park.
I've been birding for as long as I can remember.
Mostly I'm visiting Riverwood and Erindale park, also Rattray Marsh and Port Credit are biking distance.
Anyways, this morning I biked aroung Riverwood and Erindale, and had some nice birds:
2 solitary sandpiper in the little pond in Erindale near the Burnhamthorpe bridge
9 warbler species including 1 blackpoll, 4 black-throated green, 3 wilson's, 1 canada, 5 magnolia
But the highlight was an osprey flying over Erindale, only the second I've had there. (not quite as good as the golden eagle soaring in the same spot last spring though!!!:mrgreen:)
Reuven
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Welcome, Reuven, and thanks for posting. It's great to get coverage for these spots.
--Leslie
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Thanks
Much (much) better today , did the same route as yesterday
1 cooper's hawk
1 red-bellied woodpecker
2 great crested and 1 least flycatcher and 3 pewees
5 red-eyed, 2 warbling and 2 Philadelphia vireos
1 Carolina and 2 house wren
2 rose-breasted grosbeak
15 warblers :mrgreen: including: 3 Tennessee, 5 Nashville, 6 chestnut-sided, 11 magnolia, 4 blackburnian, 5 black-throated green, 5 black-throated blue, 3 black-and-white, 9 redstart, 15 Wilson's, 1 Yellowthroat, 2 blackpoll, 2 bay-breasted, 3 Canada and 1 pine.
Not a bad day at all! :D
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Hi Reuven. Welcome to the forum! :D
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Hi Reuven. Nice lists. Keep em coming! Thanks.
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Thanks Jo-anne and Andreas
Another very good day today.
50 sp. total
Best bird was a great black-backed gull (first for Erindale/ Riverwood for me)
3 hummingbirds
4 woodpecker sp. including 1 pileated
1 traill's and 1 least flycatcher
1 warbling, 2 philidelphia and 9 red-eyed vireo
1 carolina and 1 house wren
1 rose-breasted grosbeak and 2 indigo buntings
15 warbler sp. again:
2 nashville, 1 yellow (last of the year?), 7 chestnut-sided, 3 magnolia, 1 black-throated blue, 4 black-throated green, 8 blackburnian, 1 pine, 7 bay-breasted, 3 blackpoll, 4 black-and-white, 7 american redstart, 2 northern waterthrush, 13 wilson's, 3 canada
I think it was mostly the same birds as yesterday, as flocks were in the same areas and similar sizes.
also 2 deer and 100s of green darner dragonflies
Anyone else who visits erindale or riverwood please post what you see
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Reuven,
Hello and welcome.
Quite an impressive list from a park 15 minutes away from me.
I think it's time for a visit.
Do you normally just stay on the paved bike/foot path between the 2 parks?
Meghan
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I normally either bike to Riverwood and walk the main paths there, or enter Erindale at the path off of Credit Heights dr., bike around in Erindale, and then along the path to Riverwood.
I've seen almost 140 species in a little over 2 years birding the parks, including golden eagle, red-shouldered hawk, peregrine, short and long-eared owl, pied-billed grebe, tundra swan (flyover), bufflehead, goldeneye, wilson's snipe, northern shrike, clay-coloured sparrow, white-winged crossbill and hoary redpoll
Last winter at least 4 golden-crowned kinglets, 4 brown creepers 1 hermit thrush 3 robins and 1 winter wren wintered in Erindale
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Best bird was a great black-backed gull (first for Erindale/ Riverwood for me)
Good one! Usually see these birds at Jack Darling Park and Lakefront Promenade Park.
My mom visits Riverwood and Erindale all the time and has been seeing a lot of deer lately.
Many years ago, I lived at Forestwood/Credit Woodlands so used to walk into Erindale daily off Credit Heights. What a trip down memory lane!
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Less birds today, but still much better than usual, I hope this luck stays for the rest of the fall
Best was a black-crowned night-heron, my first for Erindale/Riverwood, and a parula, my first of the fall
2 wood duck
1 cormorant
1 great blue and 1 night-heron
1 vulture and 2 cooper's hawk
2 hummingbirds
2 kingfishers
2 pewees, 1 traill's, 3 unidentified empids and 1 great crested flycatcher
2 warbling and 5 red-eyed vireo
2 carolina wrens
3 grosbeaks
12 warbler sp, in considerably lower numbers than the last 2 days:
2 Tennessee, 2 nashville, 1 parula (singing!), 4 chestnut-sided, 4 magnolia, 1 black-throated blue, 4 blackburnian, 3 bay-breasted, 2 black-and-white, 2 redstarts, 1 canada and strangely, 11 Wilson's.
Has anyone else noticed way more Wilson's this fall? Before this fall I'd seen 3 in total at Erindale and Riverwood and I saw none anywhere this spring, but they've been by far the most common warbler this fall. I've probably seen at least 50 this fall so far.
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I actually counted it, and I've seen 147 species in Erindale and Riverwood, not "nearly 140"
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Much quieter today, with no flycatchers and just 1 vireo (a warbling), I'm guessing because of the heat.
Once again Wilson's are way more common than normal, 13/31 warblers were Wilson's
37 species total
1 wood duck
1 black-crowned night-heron
1 kingfisher
2 red-bellied woodpeckers (I love these guys :mrgreen:)
2 barn swallows
1 carolina and 1 house wren
1 gnatcatcher
1 nashville, 3 yellow (unexpected!), 2 chestnut-sided, 3 magnolia, 2 blackburnian, 3 bay-breasted, 2 "baypoll" (I think one bay-breast and 1 blackpoll, but they are not easy!), 2 redstarts and 13 (!) wilson's warbler
The chipping and song sparrows are starting to flock
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I met up with Will Corrigan this morning, and it was extremely quiet, the only migrant was 1 magnolia warbler
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Great blue heron
1 red-eyed vireo
1 magnolia warbler
6 barn swallow
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Decent today, but I think this is still mostly migrants from 4-5 days ago.
32 species total
1 Hummingbird
4 downy, 1 hairy and 3 flickers
1 red-eyed vireo
4 red-breasted and 1 white-breasted nuthatch
3 house wren
1 veery (first this fall)
10 warblers: 4 yellow (should be gone by now), 1 magnolia, 2 blackburnian, 2 pine, 1 bay-breasted, 1 blackpoll, 2 black-and-white, 4 redstart, 2 canada and 13 Wilson's.
That means that I had 13 Wilson's and only 15 other warblers!
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Went down to erindale for about 40 minutes this evening to look for nighthawks, and found 6
also a flock of 4-500 blackbirds, mostly grackles, an indigo bunting, and 4 bats, I think big brown
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After reading your posts Reuven, I'm thinking you ought to host and lead a bird walk!
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I was at Toronto Islands friday (few birds, and lots of rain), and had a bad cold yesterday, which is a bit better today, so today was my first time in Erindale for a couple days, and I only did parts of Erindale.
1 chimney swift
1 carolina wren
1 magnolia and 1 black-and-white warbler (there were a lot more warblers around, at least 25, but all in inconvenient places (across the river, deep in the woods))
about 20 grackles and 10 red-wings
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This evening at erindale: 4 nighthawks, 3 swifts and 1 red-tail
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Quite a good late afternoon/evening today in weather that felt like end of september/early october
The most common warbler was nashville, surely a sign that the yellow-rumps, kinglets and sparrows can't be far behind.
2 wood duck
1 red-tail and 1 cooper's hawk
at least 15 swifts, probably more
2 pewees
1 tree swallow
2 red-breasted nuthatch
1 house wren
warblers: 12 species including: 3 tennessee, 18 nashville, 5 chestnut-sided, 11 magnolia, 1 black-throated green, 2 blackburnian, 1 blackpoll, 4 black-and-white, 12 redstarts, 1 ovenbird, 1 wilson's and 1 canada
Many warblers were bathing in a little pond at the end of a culvert under the path. In about half an hour (until the flock passed through) I had incredible looks at about 20-25 warblers of 9 species, including tennessee, nashville, blackpoll, black-and-white, redstart and canada no more than 3 metres away at or below eye level! also in this pond were chestnut-sided, black-throated green, chickadees, downy woodpeckers (2) and many grackles, robins and waxwings.
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Very large numbers of warblers, but low variety. Based on brief views and calls, I'd estimate that I passed by at least 150 warblers without identifying, but probably more like 2-300. The warblers were almost entirely magnolias and nashvilles
35 species total
1 Great blue heron
1 vulture, 1 red-tail and 2 kestrel
2 pewees
1 philidelphia and 3 red-eyed vireo
5 red-breasted nuthatch
1 carolina wren
1 catbird (seem to be few around anymore)
2 grosbeak
10 warbler sp. Magnolia and Nashville numbers are rough estimates for obvious reasons.
50 nashville, 6 chestnut-sided, 30 magnolia, 2 black-throated blue, 7 black-throated green, 1 pine, 1 blackpoll, 4 black-and-white, 4 redstart, 5 wilson's
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Less birds than yesterday, but a much better selection.
35 species, plus many monarchs and dragonflies (green darners, saddlebags, twelve-spotted skimmer among others I can't id)
1 cooper's hawk
1 nighthawk
1 swift
1 each of hairy, downy and flicker
1 olive-sided, 1 least and 3 great crested flycatcher
2 red-eyed vireo
2 red-breasted nuthatch
1 catbird
1 indigo bunting
1 flock of about 200 blackbirds, seemingly all grackles
12 warbler sp., mostly tennessee and nashville:
12 tennessee, 13 nashville, 1 parula, 3 chestnut-sided, 5 magnolia, 1 black-throated blue, 4 black-throated green, 1 blackburnian, 2 bay-breasted, 1 black-and-white, 3 redstart, 1 wilson's
Never seen this many tennessees before
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Migration is definitely progressing, today I had 1 blue-headed vireo, 8 palm warblers, 1 myrtle warbler, 5 white-throated sparrow and 1 swamp sparrow
38 sp. total
2 wood duck
1 vulture
1 kingfisher
5 downy and 1 flicker
1 pewee and 1 empid sp.
1 blue-headed, 1 philidelphia and 2 red-eyed vireo
5 blue jay (normally rare in Erindale park for some reason)
2 white-breasted nuthatch
1 house wren
8 warbler species (I somehow missed nashville, tennessee, black-throated green, black-and-white and redstart, which have been some of the most common species until now) 1 parula, 2 chestnut-sided, 6 magnolia, 1 myrtle, 8 palm, 2 yellowthroat, 4 wilson's and 1 canada
3 sparrow species (first time to have more than 2 since May): 15 song, 1 swamp and 5 white-throated
3 rose-breasted grosbeak and 1 indigo bunting
I am having a very good fall :mrgreen:, making up for a really bad spring :(
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I spent about an hour this afternoon on the toboggan hill in Erindale hoping for hawks (although I've seen less than 10 migrant hawks total in erindale ever), and had none, but a great black-backed gull flyover was a highlight. Otherwise just two nashville warblers.
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This afternoon I headed down to erindale, not expecting much activity with the sun and wind. But I was only halfway down the hill to get into erindale, when a merlin flew low over my head. This is a new species for me for Erindale/Riverwood, and I immediately headed down to the toboggan hill hoping for more hawks (and ignoring one chickadee flock on the way). I clearly made the right decision, as from about 3:40 to 5:40 I had another 48 raptors including:
4 turkey vulture
5 sharp-shinned hawk
4 broad-winged hawk
1 red-tailed hawk
9 kestrel
1 merlin (+ the 1 from before)
3 small falcon sp. (I thought kestrel for all 3)
1 buteo sp. (I thought red-tail)
8 accipter sp. (I thought 2 sharpies, and the rest too far away)
12 more too far away or too brief looks to id beyond just raptor.
Of these, 3 broad-wings, 2 sharpies, the red-tail and 3 accipter sp. landed in the woods beside the hill, but I couldn't find anything perched afterwards
Pretty good, considering it was only 2 hours near the end of the day.
The only other notable birds were one nighthawk and 2 swifts.
Also many monarchs and green darner and saddlebags dragonflies.
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Watched for hawks again today, even better than yesterday, with 199 raptors of 7 species:
2 turkey vulture
1 osprey
1 harrier
3 sharp-shins
159 broad-wings (approx., it was a large kettle I estimated at 140, and 19 more individually or in small groups)
9 red-tails
7 kestrel
also:
2 falcon sp.
3 buteo sp.
4 accipter sp.
8 raptor sp.
Other notables while raptor-watching:
Many chimney swifts (about 30)
Many blue jays (about 30)
5 northern flickers
200 grackles in several flocks
I did look for songbird flocks today, but only got a brief look at one warbler (probably a nashville)
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This hawkwatching thing is addictive!
Today:
350 broad-winged hawks (kettles of 300 and 50)
2 bald eagle :mrgreen:
2 peregrine :mrgreen:
2 kestrel
1 sharpie
1 cooper's
1 red-tail
4 accipter sp.
1 buteo sp.
5 raptor sp.
Also:
3 swifts
4 flickers
40 blue jay
1 red-breasted nuthatch
1 surprise golden-crowned kinglet
2 nashville warbler
4 myrtle warbler
1 palm warbler
1 blackpoll warbler
1 wilson's warbler
1 indigo bunting
A great day :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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The rain conveniently stopped right after school, and the songbirds were active and numerous for the first time in a while. I saw the following:
Many mallards, at least 15, in the flooded marsh.
1 cooper's hawk chasing and being chased by blue jays
2 downy woodpecker and 4 flicker
1 red-eyed vireo
Tons of blue jays, I estimated 75
2 white-breasted nuthatch
Warblers: 7 species including 3 nashville, 1 chestnut-sided, 10 myrtle, 1 black-throated green, 8 palm, 1 black-and-white and 4 yellowthroat.
Sparrows: 4 species including 6 white-throated, 1 lincoln's (first of fall), 8 song and 1 junco (first of fall)
1 rose-breasted grosbeak and 3 indigo bunting
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Much quieter today, not surprising based on the weather, but still some nice birds around.
Weather looked OK for migrant hawks, but I saw nothing but 2 turkey vultures (as well as 1 vulture and 1 cooper's hawk not migrating). However, I didn't watch for that long.
1 hairy woodpecker and 2 flickers
1 Philadelphia and 1 blue-headed vireo
Much less blue jays today, only about 15
Warblers: 6 species: 1 nashville, 1 chestnut-sided, 5 myrtle, 1 black-throated green, 1 palm and 1 black-and-white
no sparrows except 2 song
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Ok this morning, but there was a distinct lack of warblers, and there were far more sparrows than I actually got looks at
2 cooper's hawk
1 blue-headed vireo
Many blue jays (50) and crows (30)
4 white-breasted nuthatch
1 ruby-crowned kinglet (first of fall)
1 swainson's thrush
1 catbird
Only 2 warbler sp.: 5 palm and 1 redstart
3 sparrows, but I got a brief look at a probable lincoln's, and there were many I couldn't see at all:
6 song, 11 white-throated (1 singing!) and 1 junco
4 indigo bunting
tons of goldfinches, about 40.
If anyone is interested, almost all the interesting birds were at the closest end of the big toboggan hill to the parking lots.
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A good morning at Erindale, but only three sparrow species was a bit dissapointing (especially considering that there were loads of sparrows around, just no variety)
Here's what I saw:
1 juv. harrier, great looks :D
1 great blue heron flyover
4 flickers, 1 hairy and 1 downy woodpecker
1 blue-headed vireo
tons of blue jays migrating over, I estimated 100
2 red-breasted and 4 white-breasted nuthatch
3 golden-crowned kinglets
1 swainson's thrush
4 catbirds
Warblers: 7 species including 1 nashville, 1 chestnut-sided, 2 magnolia, 6 yellow-rumped, 1 palm, 4 redstarts and 5 yellowthroats
Many sparrows of 3 species: 26 song, 3 lincoln's and 21 white-throated
3 indigo bunting
Tons of goldfinches again
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Rather quiet today, but still some nice birds:
Weather seemed good for hawks (there clearly were thermals, as the gulls were kettling!), but just 1 resident red-tail and 1 resident vulture
1 kingfisher
1 downy and 1 red-bellied woodpecker
2 phoebes (first migrants of fall)
2 kinglet sp. (heard only)
no warblers!
3 song sparrow
3 indigo bunting
about 100 grackles. I searched through them for a rusty blackbird, but I couldn't even find a red-wing or cowbird.
1 house finch (they seem to have virtually disappeared around here in the last few years.
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I was expecting it to be very quiet today with the heat, sun and wind, and it was, but even though there were very few birds, some of them were very nice.
I didn't try watching just for hawks today, but I still saw 6 vultures, 1 cooper's, 1 sharp-shinned and 1 merlin biking from Erindale to Riverwood.
Few blue jays today, only about 20. However, in about 5 minutes outside in the morning I saw about 40 migrating, so maybe the migrate earlier?
2 white-breasted nuthatch
A flock of about 100 starlings
1 nashville warbler
1 song and 1 white-crowned (first of fall) sparrows
2 indigo bunting
However, the highlight today was a rusty blackbird, my first of the year, first ever at Erindale/Riverwood and only my fourth ever. :D
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Today at Erindale was better, with some decent birds.
Best bird was an adult bald eagle flying low over my head :D
Other raptors included 8 vultures, 1 red-tail and 2 sharp-shinned
Woodpeckers: 1 hairy, 2 downy and 3 flickers
Around 75 blue jays
4 golden-crowned and 1 ruby-crowned kinglets
2 nashville, 25 yellow-rumped and 2 blackpoll warblers
4 song and 10 white-throated sparrows
2 indigo bunting
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Little variety today (but defenitely not quiet!), the only birds of interest were:
1 sharp-shinned hawk
2 white-throated sparrow
2 junco
1 ovenbird
about 150 blue jays, making tons of noise everywhere.
Any point in Erindale not in the woods, and you could look in any direction and most likely see a blue jay within 5 seconds!
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Hi, just wanted to say I appreciate your daily update. It's great, gives me a feel for what is out there, when I can't go birding myself. Thanks.
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Thanks!
Erindale and Riverwood are extremely underbirded, considering how often I see quite good birds, and this is usually in late afternoon, and covering at most 1/3 of the trails at UofT Mississauga, Erindale and Riverwood, and when I'm walking much less than that (and still seen over 150 species in 2-3 years!). And yet I've only met birders twice at Erindale, and no more than 10 times at Riverwood.
Didn't go out today, too windy to see anything. :(
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Maybe your reports will attract more birders over there future-wise.
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I had the good fortune of meeting Reuven in Erindale. He sure knows his birds and is obviously passionate. A nice young man.
Vince
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Thanks Vince
A bit windy this morning, which kept the birds in cover, but still some decent stuff:
2 vultures
3 cooper's hawk (all juveniles soaring together, maybe the young from Riverwood?)
4 killdeer (they breed, but these are the first I've seen since July)
1 kingfisher
Around 50 blue jays
A flock of 12 kinglets, but I only got looks at 2 ruby-crowns and 2 golden-crowns
4 warbler sp: 1 tennessee (I couldn't turn it into an orange-crowned), 3 nashville, 3 yellow-rumps and 1yellowthroat
I also got a poor look at what was almost certainly an orange-crowned, but could have been a very very drab nashville
2 sparrow species, white-throated flocks were scattered everywhere
4 song and 26 white-throated (undercounted)
Many grackles (around 250), I also had some smaller blackbirds, most probably red-wings, but one flock of four seemed off, and may have been rustys
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Good numbers of migrants this morning, clearly movement overnight.
4 killdeer
1 kingfisher
1 downy and 2 flickers
Tons of blue jays, many in trees and small flocks going over continuously, a very, very rough estimate of 250
1 red-breasted nuthatch
12 golden and 3 ruby-crowned kinglets, and at least 20 more kinglets around
8 warblers sp: 2 nashville, 1 chestnut-sided, 1 magnolia, 3 black-throated blue, 10 yellow-rumped, 2 black-throated green, 3 black-and-white, 1 ovenbird
5 sparrow sp: 19 song (probably missed way more), 1 swamp, 26 white-throated (probably missed way more), 1 white-crowned and 2 juncos
2 indigo bunting
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Hey Reuven,
Where did you see these? Erindale or Riverwood?
Vince
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These birds were in the main section of Erindale (where I met you, not the long part along the river), and just across the river at the University.
I found decent flocks at the top of the path from Credit Heights drive down to Erindale, in the clearing halfway down this path, at the base of this path, around the toboggan hill, between the toboggan hill and the parking lots, and across the river, the ridge opposite the gazebo.
Didn't see anything along the river anywhere, too many fishermen probably.
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Only had time today for about 40 minutes at erindale this evening, so didn't see much
1 cooper's hawk
2 downy woodpecker
1 phoebe
about 30 blue jays
5 white-throated and 8 song sparrows
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Very low variety today, despite decent numbers of the most common small migrants
2 vultures, 3 red-tails, 1 sharpie and 1 raptor sp.
1 killdeer
1 downy and 2 flicker
7 golden-crowned kinglet
14 yellow-rumps, but no other warblers
23 white-throated and 5 song sparrows
1 indigo bunting
about 200 grackles in a flock
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Pretty good today. The highlight was a brief look at an orange-crowned warbler, my first this year. I usually get 2-3 of these guys at Erindale in the fall, but I've never seen one in spring.
3 downy, 1 hairy, 1 flicker and 1 sapsucker (first of fall)
approx. 100 blue jay
1 brown creeper
2 golden- and 4 ruby-crowned kinglets
6 warbler sp: 1 orange-crowned, 4 nashville, 3 magnolia, 2 black-throated blue, around 30 yellow-rumps and 1 yellowthroat. There were many warblers high up in the woods, and I got bad looks at probably tennessee and parula
4 sparrow sp: 3 song, 1 lincoln's 9 white-throated and 1 white-crowned
2 indigo bunting
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Very good again today, my personal highlight was the bluest-headed vireo I've ever seen, with it head not far from the colour of a blue jay!
Also hawk-watched for a while, with some decent numbers, but they were all far away (towards the lake)
70 vultures
2 sharpies
1 coopers
2 red-tails
2 buteo sp.
4 raptor sp.
3 accipter sp.
2 downy and 2 hairy woodpeckers
1 phoebe
2 blue-headed vireo
3 golden-, 2 ruby-crowned and 3 kinglet sp.
2 nashville, 35 yellow-rumped and 2 palm warblers
1 savannah (first of fall), 8 song, 1 swamp, 32 white-throated and 5 white-crowned sparrows
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An amazing morning despite the light rain most of the time. My feet were pretty wet by the end, but it was worth it.
Highlights were 4(!!!!!) orange-crowned warblers, 4 rusty blackbirds, my first hermit thrush and winter wren of the year, and just the sheer numbers of the common migrants. :D
1 harrier and 2 kestrels
1 downy and 1 red-bellied woodpecker
1 phoebe
About 150 blue jays
1 winter wren
about 20 golden- and 35 ruby-crowned kinglets
1 hermit thrush
6 warbler sp: 4 orange-crowned, 6 nashville, 1 magnolia, 2 palm, 1 yellowthroat and at least 80 yellow-rumps
6 sparrow sp: 1 lincoln's, 4 swamp, 4 junco and about 25 song, 50 white-throated and 45 white-crowned
A flock of about 200 grackles included 4 rusty blackbirds, but nothing else except a starling
tons of goldfinches, about 60
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Another very good day with another 4 orange-crowned warblers!!! At least 2 were different individuals from yesterday.
about 30 turkey vultures, 1 red-tail and 2 accipiters
1 red-bellied woodpecker
2 phoebes
2 blue-headed vireo
Many kinglets, I actually got looks at 11 ruby-crowns and 1 golden-crown, but there were at least 50 more kinglets around
6 hermit thrush
4 warbler sp: 4 orange-crowned, 5 nashville, 2 yellowthroat and around 75 yellow-rumps. There was a flock of mixed orange-crowns and nashvilles that I id'd 2 orange-crowns and 3 nashvilles from, but there were at least 6 others I didn't get good looks at.
4 sparrow sp: 40 white-crowned, 35 white-throated, 6 song and 5 swamp
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Tons of birds around this afternoon, including huge numbers of yellow-rumped warblers and my first decent flock of juncos
2 downy and 1 sapsucker
1 phoebe
2 red-breasted nuthatch
approx. 25 of each kinglet
3 hermit thrush
1 catbird
7 warbler sp: 2 ornage-crowned (ho-hum :D), 5 nashville, 1 black-throated blue, 2 black-throated green, 2 palm, 2 yellowthroats and about 120 (!!) yellow-rumps.
5 sparrow sp, mostly white-crowns: 7 song, 2 swamp, 15 white-throated, 45 white-crowned, 20 junco
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Another very good day at Erindale, today the main focus was on raptors
Raptors: 5 species including 750 (!!) turkey vultures, 3 sharpies, 3 red-shouldered (first of fall and my 2nd-4th for erindale), 4 red-tails, 1 kestrel and 8 buteo sp. :D :D
3 downy woodpecker
1 blue-headed vireo
2 ruby-crowned kinglets and 15 kinglet sp. (I didn't spend much time trying to get good looks at them when there were more interesting birds around)
5 warbler sp: 2 orange-crowned, 2 nashville, 4 palm, 1 blackpoll and around 70 yellow-rumped
5 sparrows sp: 4 song, 1 swamp, 6 white-throated, 50 white-crowned and 40 junco
Also a snake which I found out was a brown snake, a first for me. The cold was clearly making it slow, I could pick it up with it barely moving.
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Rather quiet today with all the wind
1 red-tailed hawk
1 downy woodpecker
1 hermit thrush
6 yellow-rumped warblers
The four expected sparrow species: 3 song, 3 white-throated, 9 white-crowned and 5 junco
1 house finch
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I went out with Vince and Sue, and saw some nice birds:
1 great blue heron
2 vultures, 1 cooper's hawk
2 downy woodpecker
2 phoebes
2 white-breasted nuthatch (+ 1 red-breasted heard)
about 25 golden-crowned and 40 ruby-crowned kinglets
5 hermit thrush
6 warbler sp: 3 nashville, 2 magnolia, 2 black-throated blue, 16 yellow-rumped, 1 black-throated green and 1 palm
6 sparrow sp: 1 field (first of fall) and 1 swamp, and about 20 song, 60 white-throated, 60 white-crowned and 30 junco
Quite a few blackbirds flying over, mostly grackles, but at least one red-winged blackbird, my first for quite a while
3 house finch
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Not as many birds today, but my first towhee of fall and 4 field sparrows were nice.
3 red-tails
2 red-breasted nuthatch
6 yellow-rumped, 1 palm and 1 yellowthroat
6 sparrow sp: 1 towhee, 4 field, 15 song, 20 white-throated, 30 white-crowned, 15 juncos
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Vince and I would like to thank Reuven for the super guided tour Sat. morning. We explored some great new areas. It was wonderful to have such a knowledgeable guide along ...as Vince and I are still not great at IDing on sight. We have to look at our pictures and thumb through our bird books. Reuven was most helpful with IDs right away. We'll certainly make many more trips to Erindale.
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Reuven .. were you with us when we saw the Great Blue Heron land in the river? You didn't mention it on your Oct. 9th list.
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Oops! I changed it. Thanks for the kind words.
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Wow! I was at Riverwood on October 9th. I saw a much smaller list. Sometimes I should seek out and talk to other birders in my travels.
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I've had more luck with Erindale Park than Riverwood
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I couldn't tell you why, but Riverwood is almost always way more productive than Erindale in spring, and vice versa in fall.
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This afternoon was rather quiet. However, there was one major highlight, a flock of five fox sparrows! I have only twice before seen 2 fox sparrows in a day, but today I had at one time four in my binoculars at once. Rather good for my first of fall.
If anyone is interested in trying to find them, head from the parking lot to the toboggan hill. Once you reach the hill where the path splits into three, go right, and they were in the first patch of conifers on the left of the path.
I was expecting a nice raptor migration today, and I think there was one, but very high. In about 45 minutes watching all I saw were 8 turkey vultures, 2 red-tails and 3 buteo sp (1 of which I think was a red-shoulder). However, they were very high and hard to find, and the buteos weren't even visible to the naked eye, I only found them by fluke when I looked at a vulture.
1 red-bellied and 2 downy woodpecker
8 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 hermit thrush
2 nashville and 1 yellow-rumped warbler
5 sparrow sp: 5 fox, 5 song, 3 swamp, 3 white-throated, 8 white crowned (and 0 juncos!)
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With little cloud and a north wind I was expecting a nice raptor day this afternoon, but just one local red-tail. The wind kept most other things down, except a few sparrows (2 fox (same place as Tuesday), 1 song, 3 white-throated, 5 white-crowned and 2 junco) and a massive flock (about 500) of grackles. Also some smaller blackbirds flying over (flocks of 15 and 4), but whether red-wings, rustys or cowbirds I don't know.
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Relatively quiet today again, but a couple nice birds.
The highlight was a female purple finch with goldfinches, my first of fall
4 vultures and 1 red-tail
1 kingfisher
2 downy, 1 hairy and 1 red-bellied woodpecker
2 phoebe
2 red-breasted nuthatch
1 of each kinglet
3 hermit thrush
2 yellow-rumped warbler
few sparrows: 4 song, 19 white-throated, 4 white-crowned and 1 junco
a large flock of blackbirds, mostly red-wings (about 100), but also a few grackles and at least 4 rustys
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I went down to Erindale for a bit to check for raptor migration, but my best bird was only sort of a raptor: a northern shrike! :D
Raptor migration was ok, but little variety:
1 accipter, 7 red-tails and 27 vultures
also 2 golden-crowned kinglets and 4 white-crowned sparrows
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Ok day today
3 golden-crowned kinglet
4 yellow-rumped warbler
5 song, 1 swamp, 5 white-throated, 7 whit-crowned, 7 junco
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Well, winter can't be far off... I found a tree sparrows with the juncos this afternoon. Not much else around:
2 red-tailed hawk
1 nashville warbler (getting late)
5 sparrow sp: 1 tree, 4 song, 2 white-throated, 1 white-crowned and 9 junco
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I guess you'll just have to look in different places, Reuven. I'm sure you'll find new birds
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Actually, probably more to do with me not having much time in combination with the time of day and weather.
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I have the morning off school today, so I went down to Erindale for a couple hours. Much more activity than yesterday
At one point I heard an unfamiliar finch call overhead, but I could not find the bird making it :x
3 downy woodpecker
lots of chickadees, at least 30
1 golden-crowned kinglet
2 hermit thrush
6 sparrow sp: 2 tree, 14 song, 1 swamp, 16 white-throated, 1 white-crowned, 20 juncos
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BOREAL CHICKADEE :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Easily my best bird at Erindale ever, and a totally unexpected lifer. Funny thing is that I was thinking about boreal chickadee right before I found it. The flock it was in (20 chickadee, 30 golden, 10 ruby-crowned kinglet, 1 nashville warbler) had so many chickadees that they were clearly migrants, and based on several reports this fall I knew that this was the sort of flock that a boreal chickadee would be in. Still totally surprised when that chickadee had a a brown cap! My post on ontbirds:
I found 1 this afternoon about 4:15 with a large flock of chickadees (about
20) and kinglets (about 30 golden and 10 ruby-crowned)
I first saw it close but only for about 5 seconds, after which I lost track
of it. I refound it about half an hour later (the flock was very spread
out), watched it for about a minute, and then lost track again, and didn't
find it again in another about 30 minutes.
It called once that I noticed, not nearly as similar to black-capped as I
expected, and it was clearly recognizable as different with the naked eye
from a reasonable distance.
Erindale Park is on the north side of Dundas St. just on the other side of
the Credit River as Mississauga Road. (between Mississauga and Mavis) From
the entrance, head to the furthest parking lot. From here, continue walking
past the gate (this area is good for sparrows), and turn left when you reach
the hill. Part of the way around the hill is a strip of shrubs and grass
cutting across the lawns, walk along it and down the path towards the river,
where there is an area of lawn (there is a little marsh on the right of this
area). The flock was around the edges of this clearing, but could be pretty
much anywhere in the area.
Location: http://goo.gl/maps/jK1I (http://goo.gl/maps/jK1I)
My notes in the field about 5 minutes after I saw it the second time:
brown cap
black throat smaller than on black-capped
darker grey nape area extending to just below the wing
orangey flanks, much darker than on black-capped
slightly brownish back and wings
smaller and stubbier than black-capped
very fluffy and chubby
call sort of like black-capped crossed with kinglet
Also:
about 15 turkey vultures
3 downy woodpeckers
1 white-breasted nuthatch
40 golden-crowned and 10 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 nashville warbler
6 sparrow sp: 1 tree, 1 fox, 7 song, 1 swamp, 1 white-throated and 20 junco
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BOREAL CHICKADEE :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Awesome! Great sighting. :D I will let my mom know about this as she visits Erindale Park frequently.
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That's great Reuven. It's worth all the visits to the park.
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That's great Reuven. It's worth all the visits to the park.
Defenitely, I knew it was only a matter of time before I found something really good with all the nice birds in the past few years (golden eagle, short/long -eared owl, hoary redpoll (not found by me), brewster's warbler etc. etc.)
Today:
2 red-tailed hawk
1 red-bellied and 1 downy woodpecker
1 white-breasted nuthatch
1 winter wren
15 golden- and 2 ruby-crowned kinglets
1 hermit thrush
2 yellow-rumped and 1 blackpoll (getting late) warblers
8 song, 6 white-throated, 1 white-crowned sparrows and 17 juncos
1 purple finch
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This morning at Erindale:
2 red-tails and 1 sharpie (chasing a red-tail)
3 hairy, 2 downy and 1 pileated woodpecker
9 golden and 1 ruby-crowned kinglets
6 sparrow sp: 3 fox, 18 song, 2 swamp, 5 white-throated, 3 white-crowned and a big flock of about 35 juncos (in the parking lot!)
1 purple finch (probably the same one as yesterday)
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A very good morning at Erindale. Highlights were a marsh wren (first for erindale/riverwood, strangely not in the marsh, but in a tiny patch of cattails near the playground), and 7 sparrow sp.
1 cooper's hawk
1 kingfisher
2 downy woodpecker
1 of each nuthatch
1 marsh wren
11 golden and 7 ruby-crowned kinglets
4 hermit thrush
3 chipping, 3 fox, 18 song, 2 swamp, 11 white-throated and 1 white-crowned sparrows and 42 (!) juncos
2 purple finch
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The wind clearly kept the birds quiet and in cover today.
1 vulture, 1 red-tail and 1 cooper's
1 brown creeper (I've seen incredibly low numbers of these this fall, less than 5, when usually I will see at least 25-30!)
6 golden and 1 ruby-crowned kinglet
2 song, 1 white-throated, 1 white-crowned and 10 juncos
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Wow you are really a thorough bird watcher. I made some notes this morning based on what I could remember (no pen, just memory). I saw:
A Carolina
2 house wrens
A few warblers
Tons of geese
Hummingbirds
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Thanks.
Today before the rain:
2 red-tails
2 white-breasted nuthatch
7 golden and 1 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 tree, 4 song, 2 white-throated, 1 white-crowned and 5 juncos
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A rather good day afternoon considering the late date. The highlight was 20 red-tails and 3 unid'd buteos in ten minutes from 4:30-4:40.
1 great blue heron
1 vulture, 1 cooper's, 23 red-tails and 3 buteo sp.
1 great black-backed gull
1 pileated woodpecker
about 10 golden-crowned kinglets
not 1 but 2(!) warbler sp: a palm and a yellow-rumped
6 sparrows: 16 tree, 1 chipping, 4 song, 1 swamp, 1 white-crowned and 9 juncos
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Another good day, the highlight was a flock of 9 siskins, my first since spring 2009.
4 red-tails
2 hairy woodpecker
lots of golden-crowned kinglets (~40)
a flock of 15 cedar waxwings overhead
6 sparrows: 15 tree, 1 field, 2 fox, 6 song, 8 white-throated and 20 juncos
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My post this morning apparently didn't go through so I will rewrite it:
In about in an hour this morning I saw:
1 white and 3 red-breasted nuthatch
~20 golden and 2 ruby-crowned kinglets
2 myrtle warbler
1 tree, 3 fox, 5 song, 1 swamp, 4 white-throated andd ~30 junco
6 house finch
And what I actually came to post was my hawkwatching this afternoon. I saw
51 red-tails
1 sharpie
22 buteo sp.
other flybys:
2 cormorant
2 kingfisher
a few siskins, goldfinches and house finches
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The highlight today was a pair of bluebirds giving amazing looks from every angle as they fed on top of the toboggan hill.
Not much else around:
2 red-tails
2 hairy woodpecker
1 song and ~10 junco
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Extremely quiet this afternoon at Erindale, I saw only 8 species, all common wintering birds.
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Pretty active this morning, I saw:
2 cooper's and 3 red-tailed hawks
3 downies
1 red-breasted nuthatch
1 golden-crowned kinglet
2 tree, 1 fox and ~15 junco
loads of finches, I estimated 30 each house and gold
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Since migration is essentially over, I though I’d post my totals for every species. I use ebird (http://www.ebird.ca), a very helpful tool for recording your sightings and seeing other people's, I recommend trying it. What I saw august-now at Erindale/Riverwood:
Lifers: boreal chickadee, saw-whet owl (end of October, I’d rather not say where)
New for erindale/riverwood: black-crowned nightheron, bald eagle, merlin, great black-back gull, nighthawk, marsh wren
Almost new for erindale/riverwood: red-shoulder, broad-wing, kestrel, peregrine, olive-sided fly, northern shrike, philidelphia vireo, purple finch
Very good numbers: all raptors, swift, most flycatchers, all vireos, red-breasted nuthatch, Carolina wren, gnatcatcher, hermit thrush, waxwing, all warblers except yellow, parula, waterthush, ovenbird and missed cape may and mourning, all sparrows but savannah and missed vesper, indigo bunting, grackles and red-wings, all finches.
Numbers (sorry its a bit long, obviously many of these are at least partially estimates, and there are a lot of repeat sightings for many species, like chickadees):
Canada Goose 897
Wood Duck 9
Mallard 202
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 7
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 1252
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 3
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 23
Cooper's Hawk 27
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk 21
Accipiter sp. 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 513
Red-tailed Hawk 134
Buteo sp. 45
American Kestrel 21
Merlin 3
Peregrine Falcon 2
small falcon sp. 5
diurnal raptor sp. 30
Killdeer 9
Spotted Sandpiper 6
Solitary Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 1094
Herring Gull 294
Great Black-backed Gull 3
Rock Pigeon 134
Mourning Dove 207
Northern Saw-whet Owl 1
Common Nighthawk 12
Chimney Swift 88
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 30
Belted Kingfisher 17
Red-bellied Woodpecker 12
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 114
Hairy Woodpecker 38
Northern Flicker 60
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Olive-sided Flycatcher 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 16
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's) 3
Least Flycatcher 11
Empidonax sp. 2
Eastern Phoebe 13
Great Crested Flycatcher 14
Northern Shrike 1
Blue-headed Vireo 10
Warbling Vireo 12
Philadelphia Vireo 7
Red-eyed Vireo 53
Blue Jay 1458
American Crow 277
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 36
Black-capped Chickadee 1266
Boreal Chickadee 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 35
White-breasted Nuthatch 40
Brown Creeper 4
Carolina Wren 15
House Wren 52
Winter Wren 2
Marsh Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 52
Golden-crowned Kinglet 286
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 174
kinglet sp. 70
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 3
Hermit Thrush 28
American Robin 959
Gray Catbird 124
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 353
Cedar Waxwing 1107
Tennessee Warbler 23
Orange-crowned Warbler 13
Nashville Warbler 145
Vermivora sp. 6
Northern Parula 3
Yellow Warbler 9
Chestnut-sided Warbler 51
Magnolia Warbler 100
Black-throated Blue Warbler 18
Yellow-rumped Warbler 542
Black-throated Green Warbler 34
Blackburnian Warbler 30
Pine Warbler 5
Palm Warbler 38
Bay-breasted Warbler 19
Blackpoll Warbler 15
Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 49
American Redstart 73
Ovenbird 3
Northern Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 27
Wilson's Warbler 93
Canada Warbler 19
Eastern Towhee 1
American Tree Sparrow 44
Chipping Sparrow 79
Field Sparrow 6
Savannah Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 20
Song Sparrow 417
Lincoln's Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 28
White-throated Sparrow 471
White-crowned Sparrow 337
Dark-eyed Junco 391
Northern Cardinal 716
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 17
Indigo Bunting 37
Red-winged Blackbird 211
Rusty Blackbird 9
Common Grackle 3115
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
Baltimore Oriole 8
Purple Finch 5
House Finch 43
Pine Siskin 9
American Goldfinch 1401
House Sparrow 300
An incredible fall (which is hopefully not over quite yet)
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Not much around this afternoon:
My whole list:
x Canada Goose (heard only)
30 Ring-billed Gull
2 Herring Gull
1 Mourning Dove
3 Downy Woodpecker
3 Hairy Woodpecker
3 American Crow
20 Black-capped Chickadee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Dark-eyed Junco
1 Northern Cardinal
5 American Goldfinch
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A few bird this afternoon, including 2 cooper's hawk, 1 red-bellied and 1 pileated woodpecker
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Migration isn't quite over, I had 3 fox and 1 song sparrow this morning in the fog among various overwinterers
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Surprisingly good this morning, with a few lateish birds that hopefully overwinter, including 2 bluebird, 2 golden-crowned kinglet and 1 brown creeper.
Also:
3 red-tails and 1 sharpie
2 downy, 1 hairy and 1 red-bellied woodpecker
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I left this morning with the ground bare, and it was coated with white by the time I got back. A pretty good morning, probably everything seen is wintering.
1 red-tailed hawk
1 red-bellied and 1 downy woodpecker
2 robins (heard)
1 brown creeper (heard)
A large flock of finches, but unfortunately I couldn't find any purples, siskins or redpolls. I estimated 50 golds and 75 houses.
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And I thought migration was over... golden eagle AND white-winged crossbill today :D :D :D :D
The eagle was a flyover, the crossbill feeding in the first conifers you come to driving in from Dundas St.
Also:
1 red-tail
1 downy woodpecker
1 robin
loads of finches all over the place, my very rough estimate is 80 each house and gold (I also had a siskin at my feeder yesterday)
:D
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I have the day off school today, and there were a lot of birds around in Erindale.
The obvious highlight was my lifer rough-legged hawk - a dark morph. Before today I'd had four poor looks at probable rough-legs, but I finally got a good look today.
My total list:
Canada Goose 30
Mallard 12
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Herring Gull 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 5
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 45
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
European Starling 120
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Northern Cardinal 12
House Finch 60
American Goldfinch 80
House Sparrow 25
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A few birds this afternoon at Erindale, the best being 1 red-tail, 1 kingfisher, 1 golden-crowned kinglet, and 12 robins
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Very active this morning, maybe they know the storm is coming?
Birds today included:
2 red-tails and 1 sharpie
1 great blue heron flyover
1 kingfisher
9 downy, 4 hairy and 1 red-bellied woodpeckers
loads of chickadees, at least 50-60 total
lots of white-breasted nuthatch, I counted 11
2 brown creeper
2 golden-crowned kinglet
~60 robins in 2 flocks
6 tree sparrow and 14 junco
lots of finches, ~50 house and 40 gold
23 species in all, not bad for winter
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I went down to Erindale for a bit this morning, it was surprisingly active:
1 kingfisher
1 pileated and 2 red-bellied woodpeckers (but no downys or hairys!)
2 red and 3 white-breasted nuthatches
2 creepers
1 golden-crowned kinglet
2 robins
3 tree sparrow and 8 junco
lots of finches: ~40 each house and tree
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Reuven,
I've been waiting for you to post a Pileated sighting there. I often see/ hear them there or by the campus. They are quite common in that whole area. I'm surprised you haven't seen them more often.
Meg
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I used to see them a lot more, not as much recently. A lot easier to find on the trail along the top of the ridge on the University then anywhere else, and I don't usually go there.
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Some decent birds today in Erindale, the only new stuff from yesterday were 1 hairy and 5 downy woodpeckers, 2 white-throated sparrows and a sharp-shinned hawk.
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4 woodpecker day today! : 1 pileated, 2 red-bellied, 3 hairy and 6 downy
I got a good look at the kingfisher finally, its a female.
Otherwise just normal winter birds (no redpolls yet, but hopefully soon!)
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Among the normal birds today was a merlin, my first good look at one for over 2 years. :D
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Today was highlighted by 3 red-tailed hawks, 3 golden-crowned kinglets and a kingfisher (surprisingly, a male, meaning there are 2 around). But best of all was a great blue heron in the river just downriver from Dundas st.
Still loads of house and goldfinches, and increasing numbers of mallards (43 today).
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Very high numbers of finches today (about 130 house and 100 gold), and there were tons of geese yesterday in the field (6-700!)
Also a surprise hermit thrush in the backyard first thing in the morning yesterday. Strangely, one also stopped by for 5 minutes in the middle of last winter, and I never saw it again.
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Little activity today, a robin and a red-tail were the most notable species
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Hey Reuven!
I was wondering if you have been to Riverwood lately? I'd guess not due to no reports since the 7th. Angie and I are thinking of going there over the weekend at some point. We'll post our sightings here after our visit if you don't mind.
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Go ahead and post. I haven't been to Riverwood since the Christmas Bird Count. I've been to Erindale in the past few weeks a few times, but haven't seen anything worth posting.
Make sure you check out the feeders behind the Chappell House, which is where the redpolls were two years ago.
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We will, thanks! :D
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Finally saw some bird worth posting today at Riverwood from about 1:45 - 2:30
1 flyover great blue heron
2 red-tailed hawks
1 red-bellied (male), 3 hairy and 5 downy woodpeckers
3 white-breasted nuthatch
1 white-throated sparrow, and plenty of trees and juncos
I also met 4 people looking at birds at the bottom of the hill below the MacEwan House and Art Gallery. Was that anyone on this forum?
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wasn't us, but we do plan on going tomorrow morning. :)
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Very quiet this afternoon, but I did see 1 black duck/mallard hybrid among 86 mallards, and a pileated woodpecker. Otherwise virtually nothing: no juncos, tree sparrows, house sparrows, nuthatches, robins, cardinals, goldfinches etc.
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No winter finches, but still a very good day for winter. The birds definitely feel spring is coming, with cardinals, house finches and chickadees singing, house sparrows scouting out nesting spots and hairies and downies displaying to each other.
Erindale:
5 downies, 2 hairies, 1 red-bellied
5 white-breasted nuthatch
Riverwood:
1 red-tail
8 downies, 5 hairies, 2 red-bellied
2 red-breasted and 4 white-breasted nuthatch
1 robin
1 swamp (surprisingly nobody had seen this yet) and 1 white-throated sparrow
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We're heading to Riverwood tomorrow, didn't make last weekend.
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Today at Erindale:
1 sharpie
1 red-bellied (female), 1 pileated (heard) and 3 downy
2 white-breasted nuthatch
loads of finches (still just house and gold though)
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We saw on Sunday the 30th...
WBNH's
lots of Northern Cardinals (heard the Spring song of one male... much to our delight)
Downy Woodpeckers
Hairy Woodpeckers
Juncos
Chickadees
Red-bellied Woodpecker (spot on it's belly... male?)... might have seen another further along, but couldn't get a fix on it's stomach for a spot
American Tree Sparrows
Robins
and an unknown something or another, heard it quite a bit across the marsh (south of Burnhamthorpe) making a sound like we've never heard before, caught sight of it temporarily before it fly into some brush...
We always forget how much we enjoy that area until we get there.
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Today at Erindale:
65 mallard
1 red-tail and 2 coops
3 downies
1 creeper
3 robin
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A very good morning for a walk at Riverwood and Erindale. The snow clearly brought lots of birds to the feeders, and brough the chickadees to my hand in larger numbers than ever before. I don't think I've ever seen this many hairy woodpeckers, chickadees or doves in winter before:
2 red-tails
60+ mourning dove
1 red-bellied, 7 downy, 7 hairy woodpecker
50+ chickadees
2 red-breasted and 7 white-breasted nuthatch
1 creeper
3 carolina wrens. 1 was in the section of Riverwood where I know there's a pair, but the other pair was surprising. They were feeding in a low squirrel's nest near the two little bridges in Erindale.
2 golden-crowned kinglets
3 robins
sparrows: 35+ junco, 8 tree, 2 white-throated, 1 swamp
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A very nice morning for a walk at Riverwood, but the birds weren't as active as I expected. Still some very nice sightings.
I had a lot of fun handfeeding chickadees, I'll post some pictures.
Other good birds (some of these were along the road on the walk there):
2 coops and 1 sharpie
3 red-bellied and 4 downy woodpecker
2 white-breasted nuthatch
about 20 robins
1 swamp and 2 white-throated sparrow
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The highlight this afternoon was a very early chipmunk, and hundreds of the winter stoneflies that I posted in the photo forum on the weekend.
Also:
88 mallard and 29 geese
1 red-tail
1 downy and 1 red-belly
1 w-b nuthatch
4 tree sparrow
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Highlights today in Riverwood included 2 singing carolina wrens, great looks at a pair of pileateds (drumming and calling), the swamp sparrow, and 3 chipmunks.
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CHIPMUNKS!!! I must go soon! :D
I have missed them.
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A good day. Not much ambiguity about the highlight today: an adult bald eagle flying over! :D
Other good stuff:
3 red-tails
1 red-belly, 6 downy and 3 hairy
8 w-b nuthatch
1 creeper
1 carolina wren
2 robin
1 white-throated sparrow
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No migrants like I was hoping today, but a carolina wren, 3 white-throats and the swamp sparrow were nice
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No blackbirds yet, but many robins and starlings were clearly newly arrived. Also the pair of red-tails.
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1 KILLDEER, 1 TV, ~60 robins, ~40 starlings this morning at erindale
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1 grackle and about 30 robins at Erindale in the rain, I also had about 10 grackles on my way to school this morning
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Awesome! I don't care what people say... Grackles are cool! I only get a small group of maybe 4 to 6 through the summer. But fall migration can have 60+ stopping in every few days.
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I like the Grackles, too. And we get lots of them around my neighbourhood. I haven't seen or heard any yet but they are a sure sign of Spring.
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Red-wings don't really mean spring to me, because I've seen them occasinally in the winter, but grackles, killdeer and vultures do, and I've had all 3 recently :D
I really like the big (300+) flocks of grackles and other blackbirds in the fall.
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8 red-winged blackbirds, 2 grackles, a killdeer, 40+ robins in the rain at Erindale
also a red-bellied woodpecker
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Not much today (a mockingbird, red-bellied and killdeer), but it was nice to be out without a jacket on.
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This morning at Erindale: 3 hooded (new for me for Erindale/Riverwood), 2 common mergansers, 1 black duck
1 pileated
4 killdeer
1 mockingbird
2 cowbirds
edit: also 3 deer and a muskrat
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Today's birds included a pair of hooded mergansers and 4 song sparrows. Plenty of insects flying around now (midge type things)
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There were plenty of birds concentrated wherever there was food today.
2 creepers, one which was, bizarrely, eating seeds on a platform feeder at Riverwood
1 swamp, 1 white-throated (these have been hanging out together at riverwood since january), 2 song sparrow
a very brief look at a probable fox sparrow in erindale
1 carolina wren
A very large flock of birds near the entrance to riverwood feeding on sumac and a large patch of bare ground including about: 40 robins, 50 starlings, 30 red-wings, 30 grackles, 1 cowbird
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The coopers are definitely nesting near their old nest in Riverwood, and I think they might reuse the nest. I saw the male breaking a branch about 50 m SE of the old nest, and 5 seconds later the female flew in cackling (I saw her 40 minutes before at the main parking lot). Unfortunately, a red-tail then flew over, the birds froze, and didn't move again, even when I left for 10 minutes and came back.
Other bird today included the swamp and 2 white-throated sparrows, red-bellied woodpecker
also a chickadee excavating a nest hole
When is it going to warm up... should be seeing tree swallows, phoebes, fox sparrows, toads, snakes by now... I haven't even seen a flicker yet!
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Awesome re: Coopers! :D ... and can't wait to start seeing snakes again! 8)
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No new sightings for the year today, but many blackbirds clearly arrived today, I'd guess at 80 grackles and 60 red-wings.
Also a vulture, a red-tail, 3 killdeer, 4 tree sparrows and a muskrat
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Still no new migrants, I'm sure if I was out in the morning I could have seen some, hopefully tomorrow morning. Still some nice birds (and loads of chipmunks)
Riverwood:
1 cooper's hawk (soaring), none in the nest area
the swamp sparrow
Erindale:
1 vulture
a male pileated
5 creepers
2 song sparrow
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STILL no new year birds, I don't think I've ever gone through march without tree swallow, phoebe or flicker since I started birding seriously.
A pair of hooded mergansers were nice, but not much else except a singing mockingbird. In about 10 minutes I heard him imitate the following:
Ring-billed gull
Killdeer
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
American Robin
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Finch
AND House sparrow!
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I'm not sure who's more talented, the Mockingbird for it's variety of imitations or your knowledge of the different birds.
Very impressive Reuven.
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Thanks Vince.
Finally a few migrants, though not as many as there should be, including 2 wood ducks and 5(!) kingfishers flying over. Also a flying heron that I only saw for a split second, but looked like a night-heron.
There is also a pair of cooper's hawks nesting in Erindale, haven't found the nest yet, but know the area its in.
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Where are the migrants???? Still no migrants today that I haven't been seeing for the last couple weeks! However, the mockingbird imitated a phoebe this morning, so presumably one has been around...
The obvious highlight was finding a accipiter nest, and I'm 95% sure it's a sharp-shinned. One bird was breaking branches and adding them to the nest, and I watched for about half an hour, but still not confident on the id. If anyone wants to see, the nest is at the university here:
http://www.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_ ... 7&t=h&z=16 (http://www.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=43.55351,+-79.66639+&aq=&sll=43.552623,-79.666972&sspn=0.008242,0.013797&ie=UTF8&ll=43.5527,-79.665556&spn=0.008242,0.013797&t=h&z=16)
(On the green arrow)
In front of the paleomagnetism lab, there are three gnarly red pines, the nest is at the very top of the middle one.
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Finally some new migrants this afternoon, including about 15 golden-crowned kinglets and a fox sparrow
also a cottontail, a deer and a bizzare looking grey squirrel that was pale orange all over.
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Finally some decent migration, although the variety is still fairly low:
2 phoebe
4 creepers may have been migrants
~25 golden-crowned kinglet
2 white-throated sparrow
about 50 junco and 30 song sparrow, a significant portion of both must have been recent migrants.
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More migrants today:
1 winter wren
1 phoebe
1 flyover cormorant
5+ creepers
40+ g-c kinglets
Also a red-tail, the nesting pair of coopers at riverwood, and a pair of carolina wren
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Few migrants today, but it was nice to watch the pair of sharpies at the university building their nest
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This is better :)
Best this morning was a woodcock, shuffling away from me into some bushes. The first I've seen at Erindale
Other migrants included:
1 male wood duck
2 flyover cormorants
1 phoebe
1 flyover barn swallow
~20 g-c kinglet
1 white-throated sparrow
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Would the Woodcock have been down in the swamp area?
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No, he was in some bushes at the university. The only reason saw him was because I was the first person to take that path today, so he was feeding on it instead of in cover.
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Very good this morning in erindale:
2 wood duck (m/f)
5 cormorant flyovers
4 flickers (finally!)
~20 golden and 1 ruby-crowned kinglet
However, among birds, the real highlight was the sparrows:
5 tree, 1 chipping, ~30 song, 7 white-throated, ~20 junco, and best of all was the fox sparrows, I had 14 sighted or heard, and I have no doubt that there were many more that were less interested in my pishing. By far the most I've seen in a day.
Even better though was a very brief but close look at a coyote :D :D :D . Only the second I've seen here.
Other mammals included 6 deer and a cottontail
Also my first dragonfly of the year
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I saw my first butterfly of the year... a Mourning Cloak
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nice, I'm surprised I haven't yet
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nice, I'm surprised I haven't yet
Hi Reuven. I haven't seen any up here in Meadowvale yet this year either. Bummer!
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It was very quiet, but I still had a number of nice sightings:
2 flicker, 2 creeper, 1 ruby- and 2 golden-crowned kinglet, 5 fox and 1 white-throated sparrow, 3 deer, a raccoon sleeping up a tree, my first garter snake this year and a green darner.
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I went out twice today between the rain, from about 10:00 to 11:30 and from 5:00 to 6:00. The best things I saw were:
2 wood duck
12 flyover cormorants
1 flyover great blue heron
2 vultures and 2 red-tails
5 flickers
many brown creepers and golden-crowned kinglet
1 hermit thrush
1 brown thrasher (only my second in Mississauga!)
1 chipping, 2 tree, 2 fox, 1 white-throated sparrow among many song and juncos
2 rusty blackbird (my first ever good look at spring birds)
a herd of at least 10 deer
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Rusty Blackbirds? Cool.
I saw my first Fox Sparrow last fall and didn't even know it until I posted a pic on here and I believe you told me what it was. Now I hope to see another, and this time KNOW what I am looking at.
I think Angie and I will be visiting Riverwood soon.
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You better look for the fox sparrow soon - they will probably be gone within a week!
Oddly changing weather today, but it was nice for a good portion of the 2 hours i was at Erindale and UTM. I saw:
4 wood duck
6 cormorant
1 GBH flyover
1 vulture, 1 immature cooper's and the pair of sharpies near their nest
All 5 breeding woodpeckers! (downy, hairy, red-bellied, flicker, pileated)
25+ brown creeper, surely more present as they are often hard to see
1 winter wren
40+ golden- and 10+ ruby-crowned kinglet
1 hermit thrush (singing!)
1 chipping, 3 fox, 6 white-throated sparrow
3 deer
The pine warblers have probably arrived at the spot they breed at the university, but they are impossible to see in the big white pines unless they sing, which they weren't today.
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I checked out Riverwood this afternoon to see if the mix of migrants was any different, and it wasn't really. Still did get a new year bird - broad-winged hawk flyover. Not very satisfying views though.
Other stuff I saw:
1 wood duck
6 flyover cormorants
2 cooper's hawk (1 adult on the nest, 1 juv. elsewhere)
1 vulture, 1 red-tail and 1 broad-wing
2 pileated and 5 flicker
30+ brown creeper
2 carolina and 5 winter wren
30+ golden and 5 ruby-crowned kinglet
7 hermit thrush
1 swamp sparrow (may be the wintering bird, it was in exactly the same spot), also 3 white-throated, 30+ song and 40+ junco
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When is this stupid weather going to change... More of the same today: cormorants, kinglets, creepers, hermit thrushes, fox sparrows, juncos... The only different thing was a swallow sp.
I still had 2 tree sparrows today! And still haven't seen migrant savannah, swamp, field, white-crowned etc. sparrows!
Also 5 deer and the weird pale orange grey sqruirrel
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We're hoping to get there this weekend....weather pending. :P
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Mostly the same stuff this morning, but a merlin powering low over my head was certainly the highlight of this month so far.
Also a singing field sparrow giving great looks.
I think a lot of stuff left last night, I had no tree sparrows, juncos or fox sparrows, and only 4 creepers. Golden-crowned kinglet numbers were unchanged though.
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Migration is definitely gearing up, lots of birds today, although nothing particularly unexpected.
I started this morning about 7 by biking down to springbank park, where I found lots of savannah sparrows but not much else. I then came back to riverwood via erindale park. My total for the day of the most interesting sightings:
2 common loon flyovers
1 TV, 3 red-tails and 1 cooper's at the nest at Riverwood
1 red-bellied, 3 hairy, 5 downy and 12 flickers
2 phoebe
2 distant un-idable swallows
20 creepers
1 carolina and 2 winter wren
22 golden and 8 ruby-crowned kinglet
5 hermit thrush
3 mockingbirds
3 yellow-rumped warbler
4 tree, 8 chipping, 3 field, 12 savannah, 1 fox, 30 song, 3 white-throated sparrow and 10 juncos
edit: forgot to mention a beaver visible in the Credit from the Dundas bridge, the first I've actually seen in Erindale, as well as a meadow vole.
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I checked out Erindale this morning and saw most of your regular sightings but I didn't see the yellow-rumped warblers which I was really after. What area do you see them in?
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Most of the migrants were actually at Riverwood, the yellow-rumped warblers were feeding in the mature woods at the back of Riverwood.
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Pretty good this morning at erindale:
7 wood duck
1 barn swallow
9 creepers
20 golden and 16 ruby-crowned kinglet
3 hermit thrush
2 chipping, 1 field, 1 savannah, 5 fox, ~25 song, 6 white-throated sparrow and ~25 junco
1 deer
1 cottontail
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Very good this morning from 6:30 to 9:30 in both erindale and riverwood, although I expected a little better.
1 wood duck
3 great blue herons flying over together
3 cooper's hawk
3 phoebe
4 tree and 5 barn swallow
8 creepers
2 carolina and 3 winter wren
11 golden and 20 ruby-crowned kinglet
5 hermit thrush
2 yellow-rumped and 3 pine warbler
3 towhee, 16 chipping, 2 field, 1 swamp, ~20 song, 16 white-throated sparrow, 22 junco
5 deer
1 beaver
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Not as much around today, but lots of pine warblers
1 wood duck
1 common loon flyover
1 phoebe
4 tree swallow
3 creepers
1 winter wren
3 golden and 17 ruby-crowned kinglet
2 hermit thrush
2 myrtle and 7 pine warblers
1 chipping, 1 field, 2 savannah, 20 song, 12 white-throated sparrow, 13 junco
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What a difference one day can make! Even though it was raining, windy and I didn't get out until 3 in the afternoon, there were loads of birds around in erindale and riverwood, including 7 new year birds.
1 osprey flyover
1 solitary sandpiper and 1 greater yellowlegs in the puddles on the main lawn at erindale. The yellowlegs is new for me for erindale/riverwood
2 phoebe
1 blue-headed vireo
9 creepers
1 gnatcatcher
3 golden and 17 ruby-crowned kinglet
7 hermit thrush
45+ yellow-rumped, 3 black-throated green, 3 pine, 1 palm, 3 black-and-white warbler
22+ white-throated sparrow
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Got out both this morning and afternoon at both riverwood, erindale and the university, and found lots:
1 wood duck
1 sharp-shin
2 pileated
2 blue-headed vireo
1 barn swallow
21 creepers
7 golden and 42 ruby-crowned kinglet
7 hermit thrush
6 warblers: 1 yellow, ~90 yellow-rumped, 2 black-throated green, 6 pine, 1 palm, 2 ovenbird
8 sparrows: 5 chipping, 4 field, 1 vesper, 2 savannah, ~35 song, 2 swamp, ~35 white-throated, 4 junco
2 purple finch
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very quiet this morning at riverwood:
1 common loon
1 blue-headed vireo
~15 yellow-rumped warbler
~20 white-throated sparrow
1 golden and 2 ruby-crowned kinglet
3 creepers
However, I did hear my first singing toads of the year.
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Not too much around this morning, but still got 2 new year birds: house wren and (finally!) yellow-bellied sapsucker, along with a few recent arrivals.
2 common loon
1 creeper
1 house wren
1 golden and 7 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 thrasher and 1 catbird
1 yellow, 6 yellow-rumped and 7 pine warbler
11 chipping, 15 song, 2 savannah, 1 swamp, 20 white-throated sparrow
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Reuven ... nice sightings! :D Brown Thrasher has returned? Is he close to MacEwan House again?
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It was in generally the same spot, so I guess it could be the same one.
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Rather quiet today again.
9 common loon flyovers
1 blue-headed vireo
3 tree and 1 barn swallow
1 house wren
3 gnatcatcher
4 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 hermit thrush
1 catbird
8 myrtle, 9 pine and 1 blackburnian warbler (I had forgot how incredible adult male blackburnians are, they almost glow!)
~30 chipping, 1 field, 1 savannah, ~20 song, 2 swamp, ~30 white-throated sparrow and 1 junco (getting rather late)
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VERY good today. Almost all the birds were along the ridge at the university that faces Erindale Park and Dundas St.
1 great blue heron
1 spotted sandpiper (FOY)
1 caspian tern (first for Erindale/Riverwood)
1 kingbird (FOY)
8 rough-winged and 8 barn swallow
4 creepers
1 house wren
5 ruby-crowned kinglet
5 gnatcatcher
1 veery(FOY) and 1 hermit thrush
1 thrasher
9 warbler sp: 7 nashville (FOY), 1 parula (FOY), 10 yellow, 4 black-throated blue (FOY), ~75 myrtle, 1 blackburnian, 12 palm, 4 black-and-white, 1 ovenbird
6 sparrow sp: 10 chipping, 1 field, ~25 song, 1 swamp, ~25 white-throated, 1 rather late junco
1 baltimore oriole (FOY)
2 raccoons up a tree
2 cottontails
1 tailless squirrel and the funny orange "grey" squirrel
The toads are starting their mating
1 cabbage white and 1 mourning cloak
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I got caught in the rain this morning, but from 6:30 to 8:30 at Riverwood:
2 wood duck
7 common loon
1 cooper's hawk incubating on the nest
1 pileated
1 kingbird
2 tree swallow
3 creeper
2 house wren (I'm hearing and seeing carolinas pretty much every day)
2 gnatcatcher
6 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 veery
2 nashville, 2 parula, 2 yellow, 8 myrtle, 3 black-throated green, 2 pine, 1 palm, 2 black-and-white warbler
1 swamp, ~15 chipping, ~15 song, ~10 white-throated sparrow
1 rose-breasted grosbeak (FOY)
1 baltimore oriole
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Having lived in Mississauga for quite a while, I do not realize there are so many birding opportunities nearby, Reuven_M.
As a newbie, do you have any suggestions on a good pair of binocular around $200 that I can start? Which part of Riverwood that I should go to see these birds especially the common loon? Thanks in advance for any information.
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The common loons have been flying over early in the morning (6-7:30) for the past week or so, I've never seen on land anywhere in the area. I've seen lots of birds all over, including around the parking lots, underneath the burnhamthorpe and 403 bridges and even once 3 warbler sp. in the median of Burnhamthorpe road! The best areas are generally the low, somewhat open areas along the river.
About binoculars I have no idea, but I recommend asking on this forum:
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=112 (http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=112)
Little around today, but I did see a wood duck, 2 pileated woodpeckers, 1 blue-headed vireo and 2 yellow, 2 palm and 3 black-and-white warblers.
During a fire drill at school today I heard a familiar sound - my first chimney swift of the year.
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Thank you for the detailed information, Reuven_M.
I will also check out the suggested website to learn more about birding binocular.
Thanks again!
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Some decent stuff this morning at Erindale and the University, but I don't think there has been any significant migration in the past three or four days.
2 wood duck
5 common loon
1 black-crowned night-heron
about 10 rough-winged and 8 tree swallow
2 gnatcatcher
1 golden-crowned and 5 ruby-crowned kinglet
2 catbirds and 1 thrasher
warblers: 3 nashville, 10 yellow, 40 yellow-rumped, 2 black-throated green, 15 palm, 5 black-and-white, 1 ovenbird
1 field sparrow among many chipping, white-throated, song
1 baltimore oriole
1 purple finch
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Lots of migrants today, but still dominated by yellow-rumped warblers
8 common loon
1 northern harrier (juvenile)
1 spotted sandpiper
1 kingbird
1 blue-headed vireo
10 rough-winged, 4 tree and 14 barn swallow
3 house wren
2 gnatcatcher
8 ruby-crowned kinglet
2 veery and 2 hermit thrush
2 catbirds and 1 thrasher
7 nashville, 20 yellow, 1 magnolia (FOY), 100 myrtle, 6 black-throated green, 1 pine, 25 palm, 15 black-and-white warblers, 1 ovenbird, 1 yellowthroat (FOY)
15 chipping, 1 field, 30 song, 1 lincoln's (FOY), 1 swamp, 20 white-throated, 1 white-crowned (FOY) sparrows
1 rose-breasted grosbeak
5 rusty blackbird
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Very good today at Riverwood, with little at Erindale/UTM, including my second lifer of 2011, another new bird for erindale/riverwood, and a couple more year birds.
2 common loon
1 kingbird
3 warbling(FOY) and 1 yellow-throated (only my second ever, my first for erindale/riverwood and a year bird) vireo
4 tree and 8 barn swallow
12+ house wren
21+ gnatcatcher
6 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 hermit thrush
12+ catbird and 1 thrasher
10 warblers: 20 nashville, 18 yellow, 2 black-throated blue, 55 yellow-rumped, 7 black-throated green, 3 blackburnian, 24 palm, 19 black-and-white, 2 redstart (FOY), 2 louisiana waterthrush (overdue lifer :D)
35 chipping, 1 field, 40 song, 1 swamp, 1 white-crowned, 25 white-throated sparrow
3 rose-breasted grosbeak
2 baltimore oriole
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After you left around 9:30, I went and checked around the ravine and up the trail to the forest edge and just to add on to your list I also had:
5 Cape May Warblers
1 Orange-crowned Warbler :)
2 Northern Parula
2 Blue-headed Vireos
2 Pine Warblers
1 Coopers Hawk
And I found the Yellow-throated Vireo on the forest edge by the clearing!
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Lots of stuff around this morning at Riverwood. Nothing particularly notable but 58 species is a pretty good count for here.
2 common loon
1 least, 1 great crested (FOY), 1 phoebe (breeding at chappell house)
1 blue-headed and 3 warbling vireo
3 tree, 6 barn and 15 cliff swallow (newly arrived at their nests under the 403 bridge)
10 house wren
12 gnatcatcher
6 ruby-crowned kinglet
8 catbird
11 warblers: 13 nashville, 4 yellow, 1 chestnut-sided(FOY),2 black-throated blue, 25 yellow-rumped, 3 black-throated green, 2 blackburnian, 2 pine, 15 palm, 8 black-and-white, 1 ovenbird
6 sparrows including 1 field, 1 swamp and a rather late junco
7 rose-breasted grosbeak and 1 indigo bunting (FOY)
2 baltimore oriole
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Visited Riverwood yesterday with Will, we saw not too much, but did find a solitary sandpiper, field sparrow and a veery that I didn't see.
Quite good today, although numbers were rather low.
1 common loon
1 spotted sandpiper
1 pileated
4 flycatchers: 1 least, 1 great crested, 1 kingbird, 1 phoebe
3 blue-headed and 1 warbling vireo
rough-winged, tree and barn swallows
9 warblers: 1 nashville, 5 yellow, 1 black-throated blue, 7 yellow-rumped, 2 blackburnian, 2 pine, 1 palm, 1 bay-breasted(FOY), 1 redstart
just white-throated, chipping and song sparrows, but there is a white-crowned at my feeder right now
2 scarlet tanager (FOY) and 6 rose-breasted grosbeak
4 baltimore oriole
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My best day so far this year, with 68 species total and 17 warbler sp. Most of the birds were around the little stream south of the marsh south of the Burnhamthorpe road bridge.
1 spotted sandpiper
4 flycatchers: 1 traill's (FOY as I haven't heard either species yet), 5 least, 1 great crested, 3 kingbird
8 warbling vireo
rough-winged, tree, barn and cliff swallows
3 veery, 1 swainson's (FOY) and 1 wood (FOY) thrush
17 warblers: 1 blue-winged (FOY), 15 nashville, 21 yellow, 8 chestnut-sided, 3 magnolia, 2 cape may (FOY), 2 black-throated blue, 40 yellow-rumped, 4 black-throated green, 4 blackburnian, 2 pine, 6 palm, 1 bay-breasted, 11 black-and-white, 2 redstart, 1 ovenbird, 1 canada (FOY)
12 white-throated and 5 white-crowned sparrow
4 scarlet tanager and 11 rose-breasted grosbeak
13 baltimore oriole
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Loads of birds this afternoon, 76 species is likely my record, and it included about 300 warblers of 19 species.
2 wood duck
3 common loon
1 great blue heron
~15 chimney swift
6 hummingbirds (FOY)
1 pewee (FOY) and 3 great crested and 6 least flycatcher
3 blue-headed, 5 warbling and 7 red-eyed (FOY) vireos
rough-winged, tree and barn swallows
1 brown creeper
4 ruby-crowned kinglet
3 veery, 1 swainson's and 1 wood thrush
1 cedar waxwing (FOY)
my more or less approximate numbers of warblers: 3 tennessee (FOY), 38 nashville, 9 parula, 21 yellow, 49 chestnut-sided, 37 magnolia, 3 cape may, 11 black-throated blue, 39 yellow-rumped, 17 black-throated green, 19 blackburnian, 4 pine, 2 palm, 6 bay-breasted, 17 black-and-white, 5 redstart, 3 ovenbird, 1 northern waterthrush (FOY), 1 yellowthroat
7 white-throated sparrow
2 scarlet tanager, 1 indigo bunting, 4 rose-breasted grosbeak
7 baltimore oriole
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Another great day at riverwood:
1 common loon
1 great blue heron
the cooper's is still incubating
2 swifts
2 hummingbirds
7 least, 1 great crested flycatcher
5 blue-headed, 11 warbling, 4 red-eyed vireo
1 ruby-crowned kinglet
1 veery and 1 swainson's thrush
18 warblers: 1 blue-winged, 3 tennessee, 11 nashville, 3 parula, 25+ yellow on territory mostly, 4 chestnut-sided, 9 magnolia, 1 cape may, 2 black-throated blue, 11 yellow-rumped, 5 black-throated green, 10 blackburnian, 2 pine on territory, 1 palm, 12 black-and-white, 5 redstart apparently on territory, 2 yellowthroat, 1 canada
1 lincoln's, 1 swamp (seems to be on territory, never seen one in summer before here), 2 white-throated, 2 white-crowned sparrow
2 scarlet tanager, 12 rose-breasted grosbeak (mostly seemed to be on territory), 1 indigo bunting (singing in normal breeding spot)
12 baltimore oriole
A highlight and a "lowlight" was a coyote seen well and long... as it limped along on the other side of the river :(
The mosquitoes are out :x
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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By far the best day I've ever had here, I spent over 7 hours birding Riverwood this morning and Erindale and the University this afternoon.
Normally point blank range views of a lifer would be the highlight of my day, but I spent less than 5 minutes watching the yellow-billed cuckoo before going and enjoying more of the hordes of warblers.
The fog was pretty heavy much of the day, meaning a lot of warblers up in trees went unidentified.
Most of the higher counts are not exact, but rather a combination of estimates and exact counts.
1 wood duck
2 spotted sandpiper
1 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (lifer!)
3 hummingbirds
1 pileated
1 pewee, 1 kingbird, 7 least and 3 great crested flycatcher
1 YELLOW-THROATED, 4 blue-headed, 10 warbling, 2 Philadelphia (FOY), 20 red-eyed vireo
rough-winged, tree, barn, cliff swallows
7 swainson's thrush (very bizarre was 3 moving through the canopy foraging)
21(!!!) warbler species: 6 tennessee, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED (FOY), 47 nashville, 6 parula, 44 yellow, 46 chestnut-sided, 46 magnolia, 2 cape may, 2 black-throated blue (shockingly low number!), 49 yellow-rumped, 30 black-throated green, 27 blackburnian, 2 pine, 3 palm, 24 bay-breasted (but no blackpoll!), 39 black-and-white, 26 redstart, 4 ovenbird, 1 MOURNING (FOY), 1 yellowthoat, 4 canada. Also at least 100 more went unidentified because of fog/distance/I can only look one place at a time.
3 savannah, 5 white-throated, 6 white-crowned sparrow
9 scarlet tanager (all males!), 11 rose-breasted grosbeak, 4 indigo bunting, 21 baltimore oriole
75 species in total
Extrapolating to the areas I didn't cover, I'd say 2500+ warblers, vireos and flycatchers in the natural areas between Dundas and the 403 along the credit river.
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I don't think there was any migration (coming or going) last night, so much of the same birds, but I only had about 2 hours with light enough rain.
3 hummingbird
5 least, 1 great crested, 1 kingbird
3 blue-headed, 6 warbling, 1 philadelphia, 11 red-eyed vireo
3 swainson's thrush
18 warblers: 5 tennessee, 9 nashville, 2 parula, 14 yellow, 18 chesnut-sided, 14 magnolia, 1 cape may, 1 black-throated blue, 9 yellow-rumped, 7 black-throated green, 8 blackburnian, 5 bay-breasted, 12 black-and-white, 9 redstart, 2 ovenbird, 1 northern waterthrush, 1 wilson's (FOY), 1 canada
3 scarlet tanager, 6 grosbeak, 1 indigo bunting, 4 baltimore oriole
despite the weather, still a very good day, but not nearly as good as yesterday. Weather looks like very limited migration again tonight, hopefully I'll be able to cover some areas I haven't yet before all these birds move on.
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Another excellent day in not-so-excellent weather:
2 swifts
6 least, 1 great crested, 3 kingbird
12(!) blue-headed, 7 warbling, 2 philidelphia, 6 red-eyed vireo
1 bank swallow among the trees, barns and rough-wingeds. This is a year bird, and an extremely overdue first for me for erindale/riverwood
2 swainson's thrush
20 warbler sp: 1 blue-winged (my 3rd this spring!), 2 tennessee, 18 nashville, 8 parula, 21 yellow. 35 chestnut-sided, 22 magnolia, 4 black-throated blue, 38 yellow-rumped, 24 black-throated green, 24 blackburnian (at one point I had 4 adult males in one binocular view!), 1 palm, 2 bay-breasted, 1 blackpoll (FOY, strangely in the same little patch of small cedars I had my FOY in 2010), 4 black-and-white, 10 redstart, 1 northern waterthrush, 2 yellowthroat, 1 wilson's, 2 canada
1 swamp sparrow
11 rose-breasted grosbeak, 1 indigo bunting, 4 scarlet tanager
4 baltimore oriole
I spent far too long trying to identify a house sparrow! In my defense, it was in a bizarre spot: way up a tree in the middle of a completely natural area.
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That's a good list.
Fairly solid numbers of Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided. Nice.
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Both those species have been very common this year so far for some reason.
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Been rather quiet the past couple days, but still found some nice stuff, highlights being 13 warbler sp. including canada, lincoln's sparrow and scarlet tanager.
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Happy to finally see some new migrants, and even happier to finally have some nice weather :D
Excellent variety today, even if numbers were way down from last weekend's fallout.
Perhaps the most unique sighting was one small tree at Riverwood with one of each Oreothlypis species (nashville, tennessee, orange-crowned) in it at eye-level. Rather odd considering how scarce those 3 species were today otherwise.
1 great blue and 1 green (FOY) herons
4 chimney swift
long, incredibly close looks at a male pileated
4 flycatchers: 3 least, 1 pewee, 1 kingbird, 2 great crested, plus one other Empidonax
1 blue-headed, 11 warbling, 4 philadelphia, 4 red-eyed vireo.
plenty of thrushes: 1 wood, 12 swainson's, 7 veery
1 mockingbird
22 warbler sp (my highest number ever!). 1 tennessee, 1 orange-crowned, 4 nashville, 8 parula, 21 yellow, 26 chestnut-sided, 22 magnolia, 1 cape may, 15 black-throated blue, 17 yellow-rumped, 7 black-throated green, 27 blackburnian, 2 pine, 5 palm, 15 bay-breasted, 4 blackpoll, 10 black-and-white, 22 redstart, 8 ovenbird, 5 yellowthroat, 1 wilson's, 5 canada
7 sparrows: 2 lincoln's, 1 swamp, 1 savannah, 2 white-throated, 11 white-crowned (+ song and chipping)
1 tanager, 1 bunting, 4 grosbeak, 11 baltimore oriole
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Very few migrants today and yesterday, but I did find my 3rd(!!!!) yellow-throated vireo of the spring yesterday, and the first mourning warbler arrived on territory at Riverwood today. Indigo buntings and redstarts are now common in Riverwood.
Today I only had 2 migrants - a pair of common loon flyovers.
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Some more migrants today, I would have seen more but forgot to set my alarm and didn't get out until 7:00
cooper's hawk still seems to be incubating
1 olive-sided (FOY), 3 least, 1 willow, 1 great crested flycatcher, 1 phoebe, 1 pewee, 1 kingbird (the kingbird, willow and olive-sided must be migrants, the others could be breeders or migrants)
1 grey-cheeked (FOY) and 1 swainson's thrush
2 tennessee, 2 nashville, 1 parula, 1 chesnut-sided, 2 magnolia, 1 black-throated green, 3 blackburnian, 1 wilson's warbler
2 scarlet tanager
+ various breeders I didn't really count (e.g. red-bellied and downy woodpecker, warbling and red-eyed vireo, carolina and house wren, gnatcatcher, catbirds, yellow warbler, redstart, yellowthroat, grosbeak, indigo bunting, baltimore oriole)
+ raccoon, deer, brown snake, american toad, green frog, cabbage white, unidentified dragonfly
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Some definite migrants at Riverwood this afternoon:
2 tennessee, 1 parula, 2 blackburnian, 1 black-throated green, 1 myrtle (rather late) warblers
1 lincoln's sparrow
Very high numbers of red-eyed vireo, including one flock of about 15, clearly migrants.
Also plenty of interesting breeders around, highlights being redstart, yellowthroat, indigo bunting, grosbeak, cooper's hawk, pewee
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Quite a lot of migrants around today, dominated by red-eyed vireos
1 wood duck
1 great blue heron
1 cooper's, 1 sharp-shinned, 1 red-tailed hawk
1 cuckoo sp. (silhouette flyover)
6 flycatcher sp.: 1 olive-sided, 10 pewee, 2 alder (FOY), 1 least, 3 great crested, 4 kingbird (+ 3 traill's and 1 empid)
9 warbling, 4 philidelphia, 70+ red-eyed vireo
1 very very late ruby-crowned kinglet
1 veery and 4 swainson's thrush
16 warbler sp: 1 tennessee, 1 nashville, 25 yellow, 5 chestnut-sided, 10 magnolia, 1 yellow-rumped (late), 1 black-throated green, 5 blackburnian, 4 bay-breasted, 1 blackpoll, 1 black-and-white, 25 redstart, 3 mourning, 6 yellowthroat, 5 wilson's, 2 canada
14 grosbeak, 8 indigo bunting
10 baltimore oriole
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More butterflies than birds today, but did see:
1 pair of wood ducks
2 blackpoll warbler
1 male bobolink - possible breeding? Not seen a migrant this late before
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Had a few migrants on tuesday to finish off May - 2 blackpoll warbler and an alder flycatcher.
Today was notable for large numbers (for me) of swallows and swifts flying around the field and river at Erindale, I eastimated:
10 chimney swift
6 rough-winged, 1 tree, 15 bank, 10 barn, 4 cliff swallow
Also 1 kingbird, 1 great crested flycatcher and 1 pine warbler
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Some interesting breeding birds today:
Cooper's hawk nest
1 great blue heron
2 hummingbird
pewees, kingbird and great crested flycatcher
warbling and red-eyed vireo
rough-winged, tree, barn and many cliff swallow
1 carolina and 6 house wren
1 wood thrush
yellow and pine warbler, redstart and yellowthroat
1 grosbeak and 10+ indigo bunting (very common this year)
baltimore oriole
Other sightings in the toronto wildlife section.
Nice meeting you Kathleen and Ralph (I hope I'm remembering names right)
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Well, I'm off to Algonquin for the summer today, so no more reports from mississauga. This morning I found some stuff:
1 great blue heron
2 red-tails and 4 baby cooper's in the nest (the red-tails weren't in the nest! :D)
spotted sandpiper and killdeer
5 swifts
1 hummingbird
great crested fly, phoebe, pewee
red-eyed and warbling vireos
cliff and barn swallows
1 carolina and 5 house wrens
1 mockingbird and many catbirds
yellow warbler, redstart and yellowthroat
chipping/song sparrow
2 grosbeaks and 12+ indigo bunting
baltimore orioles
2 garter snakes
tiger swallowtail, monarch, cabbage white, summer azure, red admiral, hobomok skipper, peck's skipper, european skipper
eastern forktail, familiar bluet (caught to identify), other bluets, dot-tailed whiteface, green darner, twelve-spotted skimmer, common whitetail
1 deer