9. King Eider
8. Common Eider
7. Black Guillemot
6. Northern Fulmar
5. Ivory Gull
4. Thick-billed Murre
3. Yellow-billed Loon
2. Ross's Gull
1. Dovekie
(10 rare's I think we actually have a shot at finding)
So where is this place!? Here:
Click for a better view
Alan Wormington and myself are leaving from Moosonee via Helicopter on Nov 9th to the coast at Netitishi point for ~2 weeks of seawatching. Alan and Doug McRae spent ~6 weeks out here in 1981 to some awesome results (rarities), and the time has come for an adventure. Heck, I spend days and days watching Lake Ontario at Fifty Point and Van Wagner's Beach - why not go to Ontario's "sea-coast" for some real fun?!
Closer look at where Netitishi is on the southern part of James Bay.
Note the perfect location for wind with any northerly component! It's the gales of November that will bring us birds. Deep water also lies (reasonably) close to the north.. All and all, it's looking like a great place to be! I have high hopes of getting (at least) 5 new birds for my Ontario list.
There's also a good (well, as good as it's going to get) chance of finding something new for Ontario, which is the tops - when you like finding birds like me!
Birds we could find, that would be new for the province:
Glaucous-winged Gull (overdue anywhere in ON)
Sooty Shearwater
Great Skua (my biggest hope)Short-tailed Shearwater
Steller's Eider (?) Tufted Puffin? Lysan Albatross? (A bit of a stretch, I know.. but remember that melting sea ice)
I'm not exactly ready to go, but I can't wait!
10 more reasons we're going: Common Eider, Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Great Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Leach's Storm Petrel, Northern Gannet, Ancient Murrelet, Spectacled Eider, Horned Puffin..........
Can you tell im excited?
Sounds awesome. Need a third set of eyes? :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck up there.