When I left the house today to walk down to our Hawk Watch this morning I never would've guessed what was about to unfold. During a not-so-great Watch today (wrong wind, blue sky) we had 3 great birds fly by. The first was a Short-eared Owl at 11:25 AM lazily circling along from the east. As it flew over us it was greeted by 2 Red-tailed Hawks which helped it move out of the area. At 12:45 PM just out over the lake and heading westward was a 'white' Snow Goose mixed in with a flock of 9 Canada Geese. And if that wasn't enough, at 2:00 PM we looked up above us only to see an American White Pelican slowly flying along heading eastward. For several of the Hawkwatchers gathered today at the park during these times, these birds were 'Lifers'. The Short-eared Owl was bird #187 for our 'Park' list since we started counting a few years back and all 3 were new birds for my own personal 'Park' list. What a wonderful day even if we didn't see many hawks!
Note: On ONTBIRDS today an American White Pelican was reported at 12:20 PM over the Toronto Islands (N. Murr) and over Tommy Thompson Park at 1:40 PM (B. Tryon).....same bird?....likely.
Rosetta McClain Gardens is located in Scarborough just east of the Birchmount Rd/Kingston Rd intersection on the south side of Kingston Road.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Walter
