The Downsview Report

[Rotarran]

That's really neat information Rob, thank you for sharing that.  Hopefully we'll have a resident Peregrine at or near Downsview Park.  

I swung by today for a bit since I got out of work early.  I'm glad I did, as I was wrapping up my time at the park, I saw a flock of geese approach the pond.  I quickly checked them out and distinctly saw one was much smaller than the other 4.  Immediately I hurried to get closer to the pond thinking I may have a Cackling Goose and indeed that's exactly what I found.

I always get a kick out of seeing Cackling Geese, this is my third time seeing this species at Downsview.  Sorry for the poor quality photo but it was getting dark fast and every picture came out rather poor.

[Dinusaur]

Lucky you. When I was there in the afternoon around 3 PM there was nothing in the pond. However, saw at least three RTHs flying around - I had the park to myself.

[Rotarran]

I got there around 3:30pm and I've never seen the pond so empty.  Not even one measly Mallard.   The Cackling and the Canadas arrived around 5pm.  

Anything else interesting?  I did see a Song Sparrow which is unusual this late in the year.  I think there may be more because quite often I would hear a faint solitary chip but don't see the bird that made the sound.  My thinking is Song Sparrow.

[thouc]

The call might be American Tree Sparrow?

[Dinusaur]

The call might be American Tree Sparrow?

I did see a pair of American Tree Sparrow and took a crappy photo of one of them as it landed on a tree close to where I was standing.

[Rotarran]

I'll post more details tonight but just wanted to post that I saw likely Lincolns and Swamp Sparrows today. Swamp is for certain but just have to look at pics of Lincolns

Also House Finches in big group of Juncos and Tree Sparrows.

No sign of Geese today but Dinu is still there and may see it later.

[Rotarran]

I have to correct myself, it appears that it was a Juvenile Swamp Sparrow which does bear some similarities to the Lincoln's Sparrow in particular the fine streaking on the breast and sides.

[Rotarran]

Overall it was a fun day...started off really slow.  I didn't see a bird until almost 30 minutes at Downsview.  First bird I saw (and first for the year) was a Red-tailed Hawk soaring over the park.  But then I ran into the large group of House Finches (25), Tree Sparrows (20) and Juncos (15).  It was cool seeing them all hang out together in one large multicultural flock  This picture is a good representation of the inter-species harmony I witnessed today:

A House Finch on the left, an American Tree Sparrow in the foreground (and one in the background) and a Dark-eyed Junco on the right.


A picture of a nice looking House Finch:


Here's a picture of the Swamp Sparrow that I initially mistook for a Lincoln's:

[Rotarran]

This will be my last post in this thread and then I'll start a new thread. But in the meantime I just wanted to get the word out that the Peregrine was very active today at DV. Was frequently chasing the local RTH's.