August 16th, 2009
The first pelagic out into the lake, my Dad and I wandered out into the deep! It was very exciting, even if we didn't see much. The big highlight was finding 8 Black Terns very far from shore. The two pictured below were standing 10+ km's from shore, and allowed for very close approach and dozens of photos. The Swamp Darner migration was also exciting to see.
Sightings:
Common Loon - 4
Sanderling - 1 juv flew around the boat
Bonaparte's Gull - 2
Black Tern - 8 is a pretty high count for the Hamilton Area
Rock Pigeon - 1
Chimney Swift - 1
Barn Swallow - ~20
Swamp Darner - 15+
August 19th, 2009
The second pelagic, Red-necked Phalaropes encountered out in the middle of the lake between Burlington and Stoney Creek added some excitement for the days ahead. Again, it was my Dad and I out in the boat!
Sightings:
White-winged Scoter - 3
Common Loon - ~20
Red-necked Phalarope - 2 Both juv's
Bonaparte's Gull - 2
Black Tern - 1
Bank Swallow - 3
Barn Swallow - ~25
August 24th, 2009
My Dad and I ventured out again, this time exploring deep water. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of note, but we continued to learn where the birds can be found, and what to look for!
Sightings:
White-winged Scoter - 5
Long-tailed Duck - 21
Common Loon - 9
Caspian Tern - ~25
Black Tern - 1
Common Tern - 11
Chimney Swift - 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3
Bank Swallow - 3
Barn Swallow - ~20
August 31st, 2009
My Dad and I ventured out in search of goodies. While we didn't find much, the Two Red-necked Phalaropes allowed for dozens of photos to be taken, including my favourite shown below. One bird was an Adult, which seemed very late. We maybe had higher hopes after seeing 5 Long-tailed Jaegers only a few days previously!
Sightings:
Canada Goose - 1
Mallard - 11
Green-winged Teal - 2
White-winged Scoter - 8
Common Loon - ~10
Red-necked Phalarope - 2 One Juv, one rather late adult
Caspian Tern - ~25
Common Tern - ~15
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5
Barn Swallow - ~20
September 2nd, 2009
Ken Burrell joined me for the day, and we went on a long trip around the Lake. The adult Parasitic Jaeger standing on a board offshore Grimsby was a big highlight. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures, but it was fun to see. In the afternoon, Barry Cherriere found an Adult Sabine's Gull offshore of Van Wagner's Beach, so we slowly made our way into the east wind and waves until we had superb views of the adult and Juv Sabine's and 3 Juv. Black-legged Kittiwakes. The adult Sabine's flew very close behind us at one point, and it was a very exciting day!
Sightings:
Lesser Scaup - 1
White-winged Scoter - 1
Long-tailed Duck - ~15
Common Loon - ~7
Black-legged Kittiwake - 3 One in the morning, 3 in the afternoon.
Sabine's Gull - 4 adult, in stunning breeding plumage. 3 Juv's. All provided great views.
Bonaparte's Gull - 4
Common Tern - 1
Parasitic Jaeger - 1 Light morph adult found standing on a board, 8-9km offshore of Grimsby.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 4
Cabbage White - 1 first non-monarch butterfly seen over the water
September 3rd, 2009
Kevin McLaughlin and Barry Cherriere joined me in the morning off of Van Wagner's Beach. We had a juv. Sabine's within a few minutes of leaving shore. We searched the deep lake unsuccessfully for Jaegers, but we eventually found a record count of Red-necked Phalaropes off of Grimsby (for the Hamilton Area). Barry and I went back out for the afternoon and were rewarded with great looks at the same Juv Parasitc Jaeger on 3 different occasions. The Juv. Sabine's also came very close to the boat for extended periods as we fed the gulls bread.
Sightings:
White-winged Scoter - ~15
Long-tailed Duck - ~15
Common Loon - ~35
Killdeer - 1 (flyover)
Red-necked Phalarope - 15! (groups of 1,4 and 10) new high count for Hamilton.
Sabine's Gull - 1 (juvenile bird, came within 10 feet for bread)
Common Tern - ~20
Parasitic Jaeger - 1 (light intermediate Juv.) seen three times, twice close to the boat as it chased gulls.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3
Barn Swallow - ~15
Swamp Darner - 2
September 5th, 2009
Cheryl Edgecombe joined me for the morning off of Fifty Point. We searched for Red-necked Phalaropes but we couldn't find any! We did get great looks at the Sabine's. I was alone for a while at mid-day, and spent 45 minutes floating with the Juv. Sabine's on calm-as-glass water, taking 300+ photos. Barry Cherriere joined me in the afternoon out near the wave tower. People from shore saw a Parasitic Jaeger fly right past us, but we missed it!
Sightings:
Common Loons, White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Barn Swallows, Hummingbirds etc. All seem to be rather regular out over the lake, so I won't be making note of them anymore, unless we get a really high count!
Greater Scaup - 4
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
American Golden Plover - 1 (flyover way out in the lake)
Sabine's Gull - 1 (very tame and seen from close range)
Bonaparte's Gull - 2
Common Tern - 55 (a tight flock of 45 off Grimsby)
Parasitic Jaeger - 2 (a sub-adult flew close over the boat, two others seen from shore)
songbird sp - 1 (flying several km's from shore)
September 7th, 2009
In what was hardly a "pelagic trip", my Dad and I floated offshore of Van Wagner's Beach for most of the day. We threw bread in the morning, and had dozens of gulls around the boat, but none of the previous days Jaegers (seen from shore) were around. We eventually stopped throwing bread (in fear of wasting it) and floated on the lake for hours, waiting for the activity to pick up in the afternoon. We saw 2 of the 5 Kittiwakes that had been crusing up and down the beach for most of the day. Finally, later in the afternoon we started throwing bread again and quickly had a sub-adult Pomarine Jaeger fly around the boat at close range for about 45 minutes. It ended up being a really amazing day!
Sightings:
Scaup Sp - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1 (adult, landed on the wave tower)
Pomarine Jaeger - 1
Black-legged Kittiwake - 2 (actually flew up and down the beach all day, hardly "pelagic").
