The Downsview Report

[Rotarran]

Hey!

wuz that you siting on top of the Hill close to the railway tracks

I think the Killdeer finally departed on  Thursday.

Still seeing a Raven about Downsview once in a while.

Naoper

Oh BTW  DE Junco's arrived en mass in Milton this week.

No, I rarely go up the hills or sit down.

[Napper]

I lied

I spotted Two Killdeer today at 9:30 sorry.

Napper


 Yeah,  I zoomed my screen so I can actually see what I am typing  :roll:

[Rotarran]

Wow quite a day at Downsview.  First of all I found yet another new bird for the park, an Orange-crowned Warbler.  This is the bird that I was thinking would be most likely to be 150 but being off by 1 is not bad.  



But perhaps more stunning than that was the fact that I saw 9 species of sparrows....in fact I saw nearly all possible sparrows one could see at this time of the year save for one or two (Chipping / Field) or of course the rarities such as Nelson's or LeConte's.  Here's the list of sparrows all in one park in the span of about 2 hours (in order):

Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Linoln's Sparrow

So the new arrival of course is the American Tree Sparrow, a common but very handsome sparrow.


I also saw a species of Waxwing that I've posted in the ID forum.  It's a juvie and that's what's throwing me off.  It's probably a Cedar, but the sounds I heard ..I thought might be Bohemian.

[Napper]

Snow Buntings

Spotted a Snow Bunting today at 9:30 am and I can hear the them now at lunch time

I am inside the airfield fence near the tracks.

Napper:)

[Rotarran]

Passed by late on Friday for a bit and was a bit quieter than my previous visit but then it was also later.  Didn't find the Snow Buntings but while looking for them, I did bump into an Eastern Meadowlark.  And I saw a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk very close...about as close as I've ever seen one.

[Dinusaur]

Very nice finds - I saw a lark in the spring, haven't seen one in the fall yet. I was at the park on Friday late in the afternoon, did see a harrier and two hawks, one is probably an adult. Saw a whole bunch of Fox Sparrows.

[Rotarran]

Been a while since I birded DV due to my back acting up.  But today I I swung by to see what was happening.  It was windy but not terribly cold.  The most notable sighting was of 12 American Pipits by the big pond.  The Pipits made several attempts to get air and fly over Keele street but the wind pushed them back each time.  

Other than that fairly quiet.  I guess it'll take some time until we get more winter visitors now that most fall migrants and summer residents have left.  Unfortunately with the reduced daylight, I won't have as many opportunities to bird this park as I'd like.

[Dinusaur]

Get well soon Elias. Yesterday I saw a pine siskin and a bunch of house finches together with other regulars that you reported earlier.

[Rotarran]

Dinu and I met at the park today and birded with what little light we had left.  It was very quiet probably because it was so late.  But we did flush a very interesting bird from the grasslands east of the woods.  It was either an American Woodcock or a Wilson's Snipe...my money's on the Woodcock based on my brief observations and the fact that it was in the grasslands.  I would assume the Snipe would prefer to be closer to water.  

We also saw some Black-capped Chickadees which, of course, are very common but at Downsview they're downright rare.

[Rotarran]

Dinu and I met at the park today and birded with what little light we had left.  It was very quiet probably because it was so late.  But we did flush a very interesting bird from the grasslands east of the woods.  It was either an American Woodcock or a Wilson's Snipe...my money's on the Woodcock based on my brief observations and the fact that it was in the grasslands.  I would assume the Snipe would prefer to be closer to water.  

We also saw some Black-capped Chickadees which, of course, are very common but at Downsview they're downright rare.

I may have to correct myself.  After listening to some calls online, the bird we saw and heard definitely made sounds more like the Wilson's Snipe.  It was identical to the "scape alarm calls" on this page: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/wilsons-snipe

[thouc]

And grasslands are actually Snipe habitat (even fairly dry grasslands, like their breeding grounds up in Carden), while Woodcocks prefer more wooded areas as the name suggests.

[Rotarran]

And grasslands are actually Snipe habitat (even fairly dry grasslands, like their breeding grounds up in Carden), while Woodcocks prefer more wooded areas as the name suggests.

Yeah you're right.  Thanks Thouc.

[Rotarran]

Wow I can hardly believe it's been so long since I've done any birding at Downsview.  With the reduced daylight hours, reduced bird activity and increase in workload at work and increase in colds and flus, I was really taken out of the game for a good chunk of time.

But I had some days off, was feeling much better and decided to get back out there.  I was stunned at the warm weather on December 23...the green grass made it seem more like early April than middle of winter.  

Bird activity was low as expected.  But a Kestrel was quite active throughout the park.  Tons and tons of Starlings might explain why a Peregrine Falcon has been seen there lately (but not by me).  A Northern Mockingbird was quite vocal and upset at a small group of these Starlings.  

Other than that, not much else.  No Snowy Owl, no Northern Shrike, no Snow Buntings...maybe later in the winter...I guess we'll see.

[Rob'in'To]

If anyone is seeing further reports of this Peregrine Falcon, could they please share here?

The one I saw a few weeks back, I was able to see the bands and get her number to confirm the bird's ID.  Her name is Ivy.

http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/blog/ ... ne-falcon/

She's also been seen in the downtown area, possibly looking to take over a certain nest site.

[Rob'in'To]