Ruffs - Chatsworth and Cookstown

[Walter Fisher]

The birding gods were definitely on our side yesterday as we (Terry Whittam, Betty McCulloch, Hugh Reid, Allison Zhang and myself) were afforded the chance to see not only one but two Ruffs (rare shorebirds from Eurasia).  As we were viewing the much reported bird up in Chatsworth (west of Owen Sound) a second one was reported in Cookstown (south of Barrie).  Well, who could say no to that opportunity?  So on our way back home to Toronto, we stopped to see the second one.  Both were easily seen at distance through binoculars but scopes were needed to see the bird's beautiful plumage.

Good birding,
Walter

[cairnstone]

Lucky you. I took a drive early this morning to try and catch the Cookstown Ruff. No dice. It appears to have been a one day wonder. There were a few yellowlegs still hanging around. At least I got to see many Wood Ducks along the way and 3 Rusty Blackbirds which I hadn't seen in years.

[Axeman]

Apparently one of the ruff's was here in Mount Forest -- I was told that it attracted birders to the same area as the bald eagle nest we have....nobody told me about the ruff while it was here.

[Pat Hodgson]

This site is not a reliable source for rare bird reports. (I don't mean to say the reports here are wrong, just that many things are never mentioned here.)
You should subscribe to Ontbirds and/or the eBird Ontario rare bird alert if you want to get the best reporting.