May 8th -- Bluffs were a bird super highway
Outdoor Ontario

May 8th -- Bluffs were a bird super highway

Shortsighted

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 I started earlier than usual today and there was a north breeze that made it feel much colder than I expected.  It was cloudy once again, but the sun popped through for a half minute now and then before the shuttle bay doors closed and gloom resumed.  A strange day for sure.  At the brink of the bluffs there were LOTS of birds, including thousands of White-throated sparrows.  The edge of the bluffs was a super-highway for migratory warblers, but also other species.
 
 
 I spent too much time inland (away from the bluffs) before I decided to return to what I previously assessed as a good spot.  Sightings include:  FOY Redstart,  FOY Bay-breasted warbler,  Blackburnian warbler,  FOY Blue-winged warbler,  Palm warbler,  Myrtle warbler,  Canada warbler, FOY Magnolia warbler,  Rose-breasted grosbeak,  Great crested flycatcher,  Baltimore oriole,  B&W warbler,  Ruby-crowned kinglets,  Common yellowthroat,  Red-bellied woodpecker,  Scarlet tanager,  Lincoln sparrow,  Nashville warbler,  Cooper’s hawk, Black-throated Blue warbler, and  Rough-winged swallow.  I’m sure that I missed something.



Lincoln sparrow




American redstart




Black-throated blue warbler




Blackburnian warbler







Rose-breasted Grosbeak




Nashville warbler




American Redstart




Common yellowthroat




Canada warbler






Red-bellied woodpecker




Great-crested flycatcher








Blue-winged warbler






Blackburnian warbler




Scarlet tanager




American Redstart




Rouge-winged swallow




Cape May warbler
 
 
« Last Edit: May 08, 2025, 06:15:24 PM by Shortsighted »


Dr. John

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Sounds like a great day. That’s more warblers than I sometimes see in the season.


Shortsighted

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Yesterday was not a typical day in the park, that's for sure.  All the action was confined to the edge of the bluffs, hence the super highway analogy, because they were moving both east and west in the tree tops and from the brink of the bluffs the treetops are often below the camera.  Feels kind of weird.  I returned to the brink of the bluffs early this morning in full sunlight but the super highway was closed.  There was hardly any activity at all.  I spotted a Blue-headed vireo near the tree-tops, actually below me, but it was too far away for a detailed photograph.  Away from the bluffs there was nada.  I figured that yesterday's warblers may have moved a little farther north so I head up to the Rouge, north of Sheppard, and there were a few warblers, mostly Myrtle, Palm and Parula but I was more interested in a Great crested flycatcher.  Also saw FOY Red-eyed vireo, and FOY Kingbird.  Spotted another E. phoebe too, after not having seen one in a couple of weeks.  What a difference a day makes ... 24 little hours!


Charline

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