Leslie Street Spit 3/25

[bosh]

On my way out of the park today, at dusk, I heard a strange buzzing call that sounded very similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub6A_hh7_r8.
I heard the call three or four times, always just one buzz. I didn't get a visual, as it was already getting dark and the call was coming from the large scrubby baselands area.  It doesn't seem like there are any other birds that sound remotely like this, but I'm not ruling out some sort of insect (although apart from a few clouds of gnats, there don't seem to be many insects around yet). Anyone know any bugs around that might be causing this confusion?

Other observations from today:
Canada Goose  24
Mute Swan  4
Trumpeter Swan  2
Gadwall  26
American Wigeon  2
Mallard  54
Canvasback  16
Greater Scaup  9
Lesser Scaup  4
Greater/Lesser Scaup  11
Long-tailed Duck  121
Bufflehead  53
Common Goldeneye  2
Common Merganser  80
Red-breasted Merganser  50
Double-crested Cormorant (Dark-crested)  70  
Killdeer  12
Ring-billed Gull  5000  
Herring Gull  9
Iceland Gull  1
Rock Pigeon  2    
Mourning Dove  1    
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1  
Eastern Phoebe  1
Tree Swallow  3    
Black-capped Chickadee  6
Brown Creeper  3
Golden-crowned Kinglet  11
American Robin  56    
European Starling  65    
American Tree Sparrow  7
Song Sparrow  56
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)  15
Red-winged Blackbird  71    
Common Grackle  9    
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
House Sparrow  2

[Reuven_M]

Sounds a lot like a woodcock.

[Brian Bailey]

I agree with Reuven.  The time of year, the time of day, location and sound all fit.

BB

[bosh]

I suppose that's possible - I'm not familiar with Woodcocks at all - but I definitely considered them and listened to a few sound samples, and their "peent" call is much shorter and less buzzy than the drawn-out "dzzzzzzzzzzz" call I heard.  Unless there's another call that Woodcocks have that's much longer and buzzier, I'm absolutely sure it was something else.

[bosh]

Checked back this morning and there was no sign of a Clay-colored, so I'll have to leave this one in the uncertain pile.

There were a couple of Northern Mockingbirds and Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the baselands this morning, along with some of the more usual suspects.

[yep]

I'm relatively new to the Spit, but I've been there half a dozen times anyway. What do you mean by the "baselands"?

[bosh]

The scrubby area inside the main gate on Unwin Ave, but outside the vehicle booths. (This is the only part you can access during the week when the park is closed).

[Trillian Flummox]

Here's a link to a good map of the spit:
http://www.friendsofthespit.ca/images/SpitMap-July2007-colour.pdf

@Bosh - I had no idea you could enter the baselands during the week! Do you have to be sneaky when you do it??  Sometimes there are more interesting birds there than the rest of the spit!

[bosh]

It might be technically frowned upon, but in the baselands (unlike the rest of the park) you can stay comfortably away from the road, where there's a lot of truck traffic (hence the ban on entry). But you can easily enter the baselands from the other side, which isn't fenced off in any way, and never come close to the road.

[Napper]

Cause you asked the question

youtube vids
done by various people(s).
I thought they were very well done.
It Looks like the Woodcock's call is
so power full it produces kick back :!:

Napper  

clay colo(u)red sparrow  by  G.Schneider

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atbtzhqd ... re=related


Woodcock by "the music of nature"
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Owj52Xh ... re=related

[bosh]

I think I solved it - it was a Killdeer. Not one of their normal calls, but the "aggressive trill" found here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer/sounds.

It doesn't sound exactly like a Clay-colored in retrospect, but it does have that insect-like quality (and there's no way I would have associated it with a Killdeer).