Red Phalarope

[Dinusaur]

I hope some of you have made the trip to Colonel Sam Smith Park for this rarity. It has been continuing for three days and providing excellent viewing opportunity as it forages near the shore line on the south-east side of the marina. There's also one in Minet's Point in Barrie.

[Shortsighted]

Good to hear from you. I am acutely aware of the Phalarope at CSSP and would love to go but I just can't justify the long trip from Pickering. Way, way too much traffic, especially on the way back home, and the fuel consumption for a possible, but uncertain photo opportunity also kind of bothers me. Even if I swallow hard re fuel, and leave at 5 a.m. to avoid traffic, there is no assurance that it will be there just because it was reported the day before. May I presume that you saw it?

[Charline]

SS, sure you'll enjoy seeing the birds in Toronto.


Here is an alternative you may wish to consider - get a $10 Go Transit weekend Day Pass (for unlimited trips during the day), get off at Long Branch Station, take #507 Street Car and get off near Humber College. TTC fare is $3.35 which allows you unlimited travel for 2 hours in Toronto TTC system.  With this $10 Go weekend pass, you can go anywhere in the Go Transit System on that day.


Sounds good? Or you can't stand using the public transit?? 


Also you can use this $10 Go Pass the go to Barrie. I was there photographing the Pacific Loons. Now there is a red throat loon too. I may go again someday.

[Shortsighted]

Charline, I'm sure you could handle the logistics of a military campaign; safest routes, most efficacious troop deployment, best place to set up camp, etc. Years ago I used to take the TTC to CSSP although I didn't much enjoy it, ending up with a backache from those seats before I was even out in the field with my backpack. Things are different today. Presto was adopted, which is digital tracking that I will have no part of, and with potentially deadly respiratory viruses now endemic I'm not spending long intervals in the kind of closed spaces implicit with buses, trains, and subways. An N95mask can't handle that scenario. It was kind of you to work it all out for me though.


I also can't just take off for a whole day, having certain responsibilities to wield my magical powers that others rely upon. Family comes first, while bird photography is a distant second. I figure that soon my camera may expire anyway.

Good of you to share your captures again. Strong direct sunlight makes it difficult no matter how compelling the subject. That second shot is amazing and must be what it's like to see a loon while taking psychedelics. You take a trip to be on a trip. Brilliant! You are the rock star of photography. 

[Dinusaur]

.....May I presume that you saw it?

Yes I did. Here's a photo of that happy-go-lucky bird.

[Dinusaur]

....
Also you can use this $10 Go Pass the go to Barrie. I was there photographing the Pacific Loons. Now there is a red throat loon too. I may go again someday.

That certainly beats $10/hour parking fee at Barrie Waterfront.

[Shortsighted]

Nice softly lit shot and you have it entering the frame just the way I like it. Where exactly is this phalarope hanging out? Is it on the north shore of the spit (Whimbrel or the other one) or is it on the south shore of the mainland? I'm trying to imagine it in my mind, not having been to CSSP for years. Is Whimbrel point the tip of the short eastern spit? If so, what is the longer western spit called?

[Dinusaur]

The bird is most often seen along the south-east shoreline of the marina - it's preferred location. It may not be visible from the secondary trail along the marina that goes to the western tip, opposite of Whimbrel point, it's a small bird and mostly obscured by the rocky shoreline. One has to go down through an opening among the bushes to water's edge to see it.

[Shortsighted]

Thanks for bearing Dinu. I recall the spot and the rocky shoreline and shallow water, which can sometimes be so calm as to acquire a glass-like surface. No wonder so many have gotten so close and managed water-level captures. Elsewhere that kind of proximity to the water could resultin sudden immersion, especially when the rocks are slick. It's certainly too cold now to get wet.

[Charline]

Dinu, your shot is beautiful!