Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: AlvanBuckley on March 13, 2011, 09:41:24 PM
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Hi everyone,
I went in search of the Western Grebe today after work but came up empty handed.
As a consolation I did see a Short-eared Owl (!!) flying/hunting and I heard at least 2 American Woodcocks peenting. The Woodcocks were in the baselands close to the entrance to the park. The owl was near where the King Eiders have been seen (I didn't see the Eiders though).
A couple of Red-winged Blackbirds and White-winged Scoters were there as well.
good birding,
Alvan
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Hi Alvan
I too was there, and didn't see any of the folks (i.e. birds) you mentioned, but did pay a visit to my favorite n. saw whet owl, considered stealing him from his tree branch but thought the better of it, and otherwise came up birdless. Still, I've yet to have a bad time at the L. Spit...
David
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just wondering out loud about the etiquette re: the area to the west of the parking lot. is that area considered closed during the week? or only the area beyond the gate?
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i have been to the west on weekdays, never have had a prob, the wet woods are good for american woodcock, rusty blackbird and warblers in next couple months
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Wow, I've been hoping to spot a short eared but I have not!
Was it out in the open?
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I was biking down the road along Pipit Point when I the mud became to thick for my tires. So I put down my bike and just as I was doing that the owl flew past me within 5 meters. It continued flying out towards the point and at one point it seemed as though it had found something and hovered for a while.
So, yes, it was out in the open! I doubt it will be easy to find the bird while it is roosting so I felt that there wouldn't be any harm in sharing this sighting.
Good luck if you go for it (and the Grebe)!
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i have been to the west on weekdays, never have had a prob, the wet woods are good for american woodcock, rusty blackbird and warblers in next couple months
that's why i want to go
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Woodcocks and Rusty's can be fun too! Rusty Blackbirds are getting more and more uncommon over the years so you should enjoy them while you can ;)
We'll have to wait until early April for the first Warblers to start moving through :) Who isn't excited!!!
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Many more birders at the spit today than usual, which is good.
There wasn't too much excitement besides the Kind Eiders (although I didn't see the adult male) but never a dull day when you're out birding!
I did see 22 species of waterfowl. Here's my eBird list from the day:
Canada Goose 12
Mute Swan 20
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 75
American Wigeon 18
American Black Duck 20
Mallard 40
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal (American) 2
Canvasback 2
Redhead 10
Ring-necked Duck 1
Greater Scaup 70
Lesser Scaup 4
King Eider 2
White-winged Scoter 8
Long-tailed Duck 250
Bufflehead 60
Common Goldeneye 30
Hooded Merganser 20
Common Merganser 40
Red-breasted Merganser 40
Horned Grebe 6
Red-necked Grebe 12
Double-crested Cormorant 30
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer 11
Ring-billed Gull 2000
Herring Gull 50
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Northern Shrike 1
Black-capped Chickadee 5
American Robin 80
European Starling 40
American Tree Sparrow 9
Song Sparrow 20
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Common Redpoll 20
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Good Lord!
Has anyone seen the adult king eider? Any pictures? What a rarity for these parts!
David
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I was talking to someone else as I was leaving the park. He said he saw it where it was originally found. So there's a good chance it will be there tomorrow!
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Great waterfowl list! I've seen the two eiders that were around before but I'd love to see the breeding male, wow! I hope he's around tomorrow.
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O boy o boy!
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To add to yesterdays list.
I saw 1 Trumpeter Swan and 6 American Coots. Meaning we had 23 species of waterfowl at the spit plus the coot and 3 Grebe species (someone else mentioned seeing a Pied-billed). That's just as many as were seen on the Presqu'ile Waterfowl weekend earlier this month.
The adult male King Eider was seen by many this afternoon. A few of us had to chase it as it flew from one side of the cell to the other, but it was worth it!
Good birding,
Alvan
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i didn't see the eider tonight, but i likely would have needed binoculars to see it (water foul wasn't close to the shore).
did get surprised by the shrike. i biked by it twice, thinking it was a robin (it was in the sun)
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Today I birded the spit with Mira Furgoch and although we didn't see the King Eiders or anything totally unexpected we still had a great day with beautiful weather and a good variety of birds with a count of 58 species.
Some of the highlights:
Trumpeter Swan (1), Wood Duck (2), American Wigeon (4), Green-winged Teal (4), Canvasback (18!), Common Loon (2), Black-crowned Night-Heron (7), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1), Northern Flicker (4), Eastern Phoebe (10!), Tree Swallow (15), Winter Wren (3), Hermit Thrush (1), Golden-crowned Kinglet (10).
The Night-Herons were all right here (along the point in the trees): 43.629366,-79.339378
About 5 Eastern Phoebes were here: 43.624489,-79.335086
Good luck and happy spring birding :)
Alvan
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There must have been a wave of migrants push through last night because within one hour of searching the baselands this morning (around 10:30) there were 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers :), 2 Fox Sparrows, 4 Hermit Thrushes, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet and at least 6 Eastern Phoebes.
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Out on peninsula D (bird banding station) we had a good day today before the rains started in the late morning. Some highlights (including many firsts of the year)
are listed below (note, these are my personal observations, not the station totals):
6 Gadwall
2 American Wigeon
4 American Black Duck
1 Green-winged Teal
2 Canvasback
2 Redhead
170 Greater Scaup
30 Lesser Scaup
5 White-winged Scoter
5 Black-crowned Night-Heron
2 American Woodcock
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Northern Flicker
3 Eastern Phoebe
2 Tree Swallow
1 Brown Creeper
1 Winter Wren
2 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
2 American Tree Sparrow
1 Fox Sparrow
4 Song Sparrow
15 Dark-eyed Junco
200 Red-winged Blackbird
100 blackbird sp.
6 Common Grackle
3 Brown-headed Cowbird
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A cold day at the spit this morning. I managed to find 50 species within the 2 hours I was there including 8 sparrow species!
Highlights:
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
Eastern Towhee 1
American Tree Sparrow 8
Chipping Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 30
Swamp Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 15 (and probably more, they were everywhere!)
Dark-eyed Junco 20
Rusty Blackbird 2
Looking forward to the next warm front!
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I couldn't resist the temptation to go down to the Spit for a quick hour of birding after work and found some pretty good stuff!
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5
Blue-headed Vireo 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 4
Winter Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 20
Hermit Thrush 40
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow Warbler 2!
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 80 ............ and probably more
Pine Warbler 5
Palm Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Louisiana Waterthrush 1! heard only though
Field Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 10
Swamp Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 40
Dark-eyed Junco 10+
Rusty Blackbird 12!
Purple Finch 6
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I couldn't resist the temptation to go down to the Spit for a quick hour of birding after work and found some pretty good stuff!
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5
Blue-headed Vireo 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 4
Winter Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 20
Hermit Thrush 40
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow Warbler 2!
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 80 ............ and probably more
Pine Warbler 5
Palm Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Louisiana Waterthrush 1! heard only though
Field Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 10
Swamp Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 40
Dark-eyed Junco 10+
Rusty Blackbird 12!
Purple Finch 6
you must own the following:
rubber boots
warm coat
gloves
I don't think this year will be a good year for the galloshes-less like me to enter the wet woods.
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Biked out on the Spit today and saw 42 species. No huge revelations but a few interesting sightings. Nearly got eaten alive by ants in the wet woods.
Highlights:
1 American Wigeon
7 Canvasback
1 White-winged Scoter
2 Black-crowned Night-Heron
1 Killdeer
1 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
2 Barn Swallow (American)
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Northern Mockingbird
24 Yellow-rumped Warbler
9 Palm Warbler
1 Black-and-white Warbler
1 Eastern Towhee
1 Field Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed Junco
2 Rusty Blackbird
18 Brown-headed Cowbird
5 American Goldfinch
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During the OFO trip we recorded about 84 species of birds. We had 18 species of warbler, high counts of Chimney Swifts, Philadelphia Vireo and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. Here are some highlights:
Black-bellied Plover 1
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Whimbrel 12
Semipalmated Sandpiper 2
Bonaparte's Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Common Nighthawk 1
Chimney Swift 150, huge mob!
Eastern Wood-Pewee 5
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 3!
Willow Flycatcher 10
Least Flycatcher 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 20
Philadelphia Vireo 20!
Red-eyed Vireo 10
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 20
Purple Martin 1
Tree Swallow 50
Bank Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 50
Veery 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Cedar Waxwing 20
Tennessee Warbler 5
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 20
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5
Magnolia Warbler 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 5
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 10
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 20
Northern Waterthrush 2
Mourning Warbler 3
Common Yellowthroat 5
Wilson's Warbler 5
Canada Warbler 5
Savannah Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 2
Orchard Oriole 5
+ a Blanding's Turtle
good birding,
Alvan
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Hi Alvan, where did you have the shorebirds? I am heading down there tomorrow.
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Sorry for the slow reply,
The Whimbrels, Plover and peeps were all on the east coast just east of the road that goes to the banding station. They were in the exact same spot on the exact same date last year!!!
The 2 Solitary Sandpipers were in the "shorebird cell". Which is also on the east coast, about 1 km North of the light house.
Hope you had a good day out there!
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Yesterday I spent a few hours at the Spit. The only semi-unexpected bird was a male Bobolink along the East beach.
A female Peregrine Falcon was hunting nearby as well.
Many butterflies out with 18 Monarchs being my first ones for the year + ten other species.
Alvan
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Hi there,
I too was at the Spit yesterday and was happy to see 4 Bohemian Waxwings towards the northerly beginnings of the park, along the walking trail, lakeside. Also, a juvenile orchard oriole, which was quite a treat! It took me a while to ID the bird, but there you have it...
David
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Hi David,
You likely saw Cedar Waxwings instead of Bohemian Waxwings. They can be very difficult to distinguish and I have made the mistake many times before! Bohemian Waxwings are here typically during the winter (if at all) and during the summer they are much further North.
Nice find with the Orchard Oriole!
take care,
Alvan
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Hmmm
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Can you post them? Would be a very significant find
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No Reuven, I can't post them because I was quite wrong! I hadn't looked at the photos until now and what I'd thought was an orange undertail was actually white. The light played tricks on me! Also, the birds looked rather big to me. Please forgive the hysterical identification and many thanks for the clarification. Four CEDAR waxwings at the L.S.S., damn me to Hades.
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p.s. Like many novices, I am vaguely hysterical when it comes to bird identification. The juvenile orchard oriole I saw (confirmed now by photographs and research) was, to my eye, some kind of female tanager! But not so - the black bib ruled that out. Anyhow, very sorry for the confusion...next time I'll consult my photographs ere I post so as to not make anyone crazy...
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Its okay, I am sure there is no-one on this forum who has never made a really bad id! Cedars are one of my favourite birds anyways ... beautiful plumage and very fun to watch.
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Absolutely, Reuven, and actually I really appreciate your comments, and Alvan's too...very educational. I have some photos from April 11 of this year of a nice flock of Bohemian Waxwings, taken at a park in Richmond Hill. Now that I compare yesterday's photos of CEDAR waxwings, the differences become so clear. I doubt I'll make the same mistake again, which means that today I'm slightly smarter than I was yesterday. Now that I think about it, is April 11 late in the year for Bohemians, or is that still kosher?
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Hello folks
Was there yesterday and only briefly. Not too much cooking, but on the walk out of there my birdwife and I espied a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, quite nearby in a tree. What kind of tree? I don't know! My lady was able to get a couple of ragged pictures, just for ID purposes, and both of us were quite delighted as we'd never ere seen a cuckoo! I think we could have spent a little more time with the notoriously skittish bird, but some lunatic in red came cycling down the walkers' path, ringing his bell and singing HELLO, HELLO. Lucky for all of us, my sweet birdwife turned my thoughts away from murder. Moving on, of some concern is the tern situation. The conservation people there seem to have moved the tern rafts more into the middle of the water, i.e., father from the shore, and two trumpeters are sitting in one raft, and no terns are nesting. This time last year the place was just lousy with noisy breeding terns, but this year there are only a handful so far. Of deeper concern is that approx. 3 weeks ago there were at least 100, maybe 200 terns buzzing around, and now there are a dozen or so...I wonder if any of you LSS experts have some information about the absentee terns...my heart is breaking...
All the best to you all
David
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Dave as always you crack me up with your comments. On a serious note, i've been checking out the western platform from the lookout point every time i go down, i thought the situation looks good compared to last year on that platform . I haven't checked the eastern platforms though. But i'm not an expert. Thats my two cents worth.
I did miss your cuckoo bird.
mike
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2743/5855091942_d4e692849e_z.jpg)
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Mike, that's terrific, and thanks so much for sharing that...actually I missed the w. platform altogether, and I'm delighted to see that there are some little ternlets around! It's the eastern platforms that seem to be bereft of terns, a big change from last year. But anyhow! Great news from the western platform, and thanks again!
David