ebird checklist from Pelee - Oct 6, 2012

Ken and I birded the tip briefly, then decided to do a mega-hike along the east beach.. We parked 2 Concessions north of the park (at the start of the road for Marentette Beach), and parked another car at the Visitors Centre.. Probably about 9km of walking when it was all said and done... Birding was fantastic, although we couldn't produce the mega...

eBird time! ---->


Point Pelee NP--NE Beach & Marshes, Essex, CA-ON
Oct 6, 2012 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
25.0 kilometer(s)
Comments: Went to the tip first thing, then walked from Marentette Beach south along the east beach to the VC in the park. Activity was pretty good, particularly in the north 2/3 of the park.
67 species

Canada Goose 75
Wood Duck 2
Double-crested Cormorant 2500
Great Blue Heron 10
Turkey Vulture 45
Northern Harrier 10
Sharp-shinned Hawk 35
Red-tailed Hawk 2

Sora 1--     Flushed from the grasses along the beach!

Black-bellied Plover 1
Killdeer 45
Sanderling 5
Bonaparte's Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Herring Gull (Vega) 1 --  Continuing bird from previous days. Seen well first thing at the tip.
Great Black-backed Gull X
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker 8
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 4 --  Good numbers this weekend
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 120
American Crow X
Horned Lark X

Purple Martin 1 --  Female-type seen well.

Tree Swallow 650 --  Large numbers taking shelter along the east beach
Barn Swallow 4

Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
Brown Creeper 10
House Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Eastern Bluebird 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling X

Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Cape May Warbler 2 1 --  drab female and a rather bright male
Blackpoll Warbler 32 --  Good numbers for the date
Palm Warbler 85
Pine Warbler 2 2 females
Yellow-rumped Warbler 665 --  Large numbers present everywhere!

Chipping Sparrow 10
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 --  Adult seen well. 

Song Sparrow 5
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 30
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Rusty Blackbird 2
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Purple Finch 5
House Finch X
Pine Siskin 60
American Goldfinch 10
House Sparrow X

Some record pics

Not a Brewer's

PIWA

No mega's yet for 50 days of rare, but I feel like I'm starting to get in the groove! 

=======

Burrowing Owl in IL on Lake Mich (Chi) - 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jengel5230/8060416106/in/photostream

=======

The 7 day rarity outlook:

Could be some vagrants still from this last system, but it didn't produce all that much...

Today (auto post to Tuesday) - SW winds = Port Burwell/Stanley for me

Wed: W winds... Maybe I'll try the Niagara River and Fort Erie

Thursday: More SW winds! not sure what I'll do..  Maybe just something local.. Confederation Park?

Friday: north winds! If I have my work done for the week, maybe I'll take the day to do some serious hawkwatching...

Saturday: transition day? Dunno... too far to plan.. unless:

Sunday: the models are starting to lock onto a well formed low pressure system travelling through the Great Lakes next Sunday and Monday (rather rapidly)... 50+ kmh S winds leading into it.... Looks pretty fun for mid October...

Very much something I'm going to keep an eye on.. Although at 6-7 days out, things change... Case in point is the "north winds on James Bay" that were appearing in the forecast but never materialized as the storms passed... Hopefully its not another year of "bust" systems for southern James Bay - or maybe it just means things will start to switch for late Oct and November up there... But for now, there is nothing inspirational in the 16 day forecast by the GFS... No worries though, if we start getting mega's here in the south! 

Pelee yesterday + cool stuff

Spent the day yesterday hawkwatching at Seacliffe in Leamington  (well, 9:30 to 2:45ish) until the showers started.. Not nearly as much as I would have liked, but still fun. Some "migrants" -


Double-crested Cormorant 700

Turkey Vulture 1021
Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 42
Cooper's Hawk 5
Bald Eagle 11
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 38 one bird was a dark morph adult

American Golden-Plover 40 flock flying E, later refound behind the days inn

Chimney Swift 16 single flock of 10, then a few others

Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1

American Kestrel 7

Western Meadowlark 1 heard funny call notes, saw sitting in nearby field with an EAME

Purple Finch 10
Pine Siskin 50


Not much else afterwards, although the photography was really good at times - got my first pics ever of an Orange-crowned Warbler!

Dark adult RTHA

This light adult RTHA struck me as pretty odd looking... 

Will try to post some stuff from previous days at Pelee when I have a bit more time.


==============

Now the cool stuff:

Snow X Canada hybrid from the weather network?? --

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7905090/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7905102/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


===============

INSANE record (older) - but just insane in my opinion.. :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/5060126287/in/pool-wisconsinebird/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/5060126237/in/pool-wisconsinebird/

===============

There are a LOT of Western Grebes being seen around the Great Lakes recently (and this fall)

Vega photos

Sorry for the limited action... Didn't auto-post anything before I left, and can't write anything.. Anyways, a bit of internet here, so I'll post the pics of this sweet bird that Kevin McLaughlin found at Pelee on Sep 29th! (Still around today)

50 days of rare: Day 8 - Jaegers B migrating

Got out yesterday afternoon to Van Wagner's Beach - I checked the lift bridge wind reading around noon - NE 19kmh! Good enough for me... Got down to the lake, and it was calm as glass....... WT..heck?

You could clearly see there was a wind "above us" from the NE, but it wasn't until 4pm that we even had ripples... Thankfully something about the weather was "stirring" the Jaegers up, and we had quite a number.. Some birds:

11 Dunlin (out over the lake.. Not the wanted Red Phalaropes)
1 Common Tern (ID made via the good old technique of using field marks that aren't actually field marks)
2 Red-necked Grebes
3 Common Loons
1 Horned Grebe
1 juv. Lesser Black-backed Gull
2 Wood Ducks (floating on the lake, well offshore late in the day)
1 Coopers Hawk
1 American Kestrel

and a healthy smattering of duck (puddle and divers) - along with good #'s of White-winged and Surf Scoters

============


Jaegers - in 2-ish hours, we had at least 10 different Jaegers... Somewhat in order of occurence:

The first 2 were pretty close, but flew at a funny angle and didn't really show much... I was thinking Pom's, but left them as Poms/Para's since I didn't really have a clue...

We then had numerous distant sightings and a few Parasitic's

Max # was 5 together that were pretty distant

1 adult Parasitic gave chase to some gulls (also quite distant)

1 sub adult and 2 Juvenile Parasitics gave excellent views (scope distance) but in spectacular light...

Then an adult went past at a similar distance

very pale Juvenile PAJA behind the wave tower was definitely a new bird (blondie)

-- then an adult and a dark juvenile went for a cruise around.. These and most of the others were making attempts at "migrating" by climbing up quite high and investigating the idea of leaving the lake for good. Quite a number actually left!

- Then another adult cruised past..


Anyways you get the point.. Lots of Parasitic Jaegers on the move... I know for a FACT that the zodiac is CURSED this year, given that I left it at home (expecting it to be windy), when I could have been out ALL afternoon/evening with the calmer conditions.. A-well... At least we had good looks..

We'll see what happens over the next few days.. I'm digging the weather forecast for the first time in a while.. Not too strong of winds, but it seems to be lining up properly for some good days... Probably do some more serious birding starting Thursday!

Some old PAJA pics, since I don't have any from yesterday to show..... 

50 days of rare: day 7

Apparently I'm a sucker for punishment... After work, I decided to go and bird the area around the buildings where I want to buy a Condo...

I birded: West of Millen Road to Green Road, breifly around Edgelake Park, then the extreme end of Confederation park...

In short, I birded exactly where I want my "Home Patch" to be in the future... If I ever actually get a condo... And wouldn't you know it, I had some pretty sweet birds (but nothing rare) Highlights:

Best bird was the above Northern Saw Whet Owl at Confederation Park...  Also:

1 adult Peregrine Falcon

1 Osprey

3 Black-crowned Night Herons

2 Greater Yellowlegs

1 Nashville Warb (lots of warbs have moved out I guess)

Linc's Sparrows

+ awesome numbers of expected migrants... Confederation Park has awesome habitat.. Kept seeing Eastern Phoebes and had one of these in mind, but it never happened:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgalick/8041709501/in/pool-ebird

-- Not totally motivated for crazy birding, but it looks like low pressure is moving in.... This is the spawn of a tropical disturbance in the Pacific Ocean from a few days ago, so even though its not terribly strong, it should produce some more good birds! 

We'll see if I can get out anywhere today or tomorrow, and maybe the weekend will hold some more serious rarity hunting

==========

Calling for pretty good north winds Friday and Saturday on James Bay - but I think its too close to call for an impromptu trip up there... Will continue keeping an eye on it though... Figures that the year I decide to go "for" a storm, there haven't really been any standouts... 

To be honest, the weather has been pretty boring everywhere for months now... I need exciting weather!

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/marine/forecast_e.html?mapID=08&siteID=06705

==============

Just for fun,  a look at the forecast for Tropical Storm Nadine from a few days ago... This storm has been wandering around the open Atlantic for 20+ days already, and has been kind of funny..

The GFS even got into the fun, when their OFFICIAL forecast track for the system drew a giant question mark............ 

This is an auto-post, for all intensive purposes, I'm birding right now!

Current birding plan:

Monday (today) - work (like most days), and check some sewage lagoons! Maybe watch the skies at dusk near home, just for fun.

Tuesday - VWB maybe? Light east winds don't inspire tooo much in October... Although there have been some good E winds in the St. Lawrence recently.. Kittiwake time? Better?

Wednesday: see above? I dunno... Shorebirds grounded by the rain? Uninspiring weather..

Thursday - hawks if the N wind is anything useful? (Swainson's?)

Friday - south winds = lake erie gulls/terns etc?


=====================

Went through the GFS (Global Forecast System) for the next while (long range = unreliable, but worth watching)...  Here's the wind forecast for southern James Bay on the corresponding dates:


Oct 4th: NNW 30kmh late in the day

Oct 5th: NNE 20kmh early turning to ENE 40kmh late

Oct 6th: S 20kmh

Oct 7th: NW 75kmh

Oct 8th: S 30kmh

Oct 9th: SE 30kmh

Oct 10th: NNW 75kmh

Oct 11th - WSW 30kmh

Oct 12th: N 30kmh


Who wants to go to Netitishi? I'm going to keep a very close eye on this ....

=====================


50 days of rare judging... God I said I wasn't going to talk about this! We'll follow the Hamilton "Bird of the year" award for judging

10 points - for overall rarity in the broad sense

5 points - for local rarity

5 points - for the # of people who get to see it...

Puts a bit of a handicap on really inaccessible spots, and besides, it's always more fun to share your rarities, right?

====================


1 month temperature outlook:

Below normal?! What is that good for?! Probably not southern vagrants???

50 days of rare: last technical stuff before straight up birding?

From the Zodiac on the 28th - only Jaeger of the day 

Ok, so instead of getting people mad at me, I dragged some of the original members of this "contest" into a "board of directors", so you can blame them as well.... Some things:

--- You've got to blog, to be a part of the contest... Jacob had a great post yesterday on the subject as well - it isn't "fun" for everyone to follow along (and be a part of it) - if no one knows any sort of story behind your birding!  

Making a blog is pretty easy, and I've also created a blog specifically for the next 50 days:

http://50daysofrare.blogspot.ca/

Anyone who wants to play along, but refuses to make their own blog, can use this one (it will be deleted after Nov 20th-ish)... Email me: about how YOU can post to the above blog, from your own email address, and take part.. Then others can read what you're up to!

--- For sure we're sticking with 50 days.. Don't want it too long ;)

--- No subspecies, so Josh's Harlan's Hawk doesn't count! Why? We don't want Josh to be ahead already, and besides, he's going a big year, and needs the pressure to find something "real" anyways ;)

--- Great Lakes region only for the "official" contest... Anyone can do a "50 days of rare" --- and maybe some areas will start their own "winner/prize thing" --- (CT/NE?), but in terms of judging "rarity" - we'll keep it to States and Provinces that have some Great Lakes real estate available.. 

============================

OK! Now this is going to be the last time I write details about this thing.. I've spent more time answering emails and writing blog posts over the last two days - than I have birding!

50 days of rare: more official plan?

SO apparently this silly idea is actually pretty popular!


Some people who have expressed interest in joining up:


Ken Burrell -  http://kenburrell.blogspot.ca/  ON

Josh Vandermeulen -  http://joshvandermeulen.blogspot.ca/  ON

Jim Pawlicki - ? - NY

Alan Wormington - ? - ON

Adam Timpf - http://adamtimpf.blogspot.ca/ - ON

David Bell - http://ssmbirding.blogspot.ca/ - ON

Tim Baerwald - http://utsj.blogspot.ca/   - MI

Skye Haas - http://theowlranch.blogspot.ca/  MI - UP .... Going to use that old blog for this??

Jen Brumfield -  http://www.northnw.wordpress.com    OH

Alvan Buckley - http://alvanbuckley.blogspot.ca/ -  ON

Greg Neise   ?   IL

Drew Weber   ?   NY

Ben Fritchman   ?    WI

Jacob Bruxer -  ?  ON

Did I miss anyone? Anyone else want to join?

=========


Some notes: the initial goal was to get some regular bloggers in on the fun by posting where they were going birding, their "goals" on what to find, and post their eventual sightings (even the common stuff).. Why? Because your local listserv is NOT the place for daily bird sightings (at least, ontbirds isn't), but sometimes they're still fun to read...

Although now we have multiple people who want to play - but don't have blogs? I guess it isn't a requirement, but it sure would be fun to be able to follow along with where everyone is birding, and what they're seeing...

It isn't very hard to make one (and you can post on it for the next few weeks, then let it go dormant, right?) Check out www.blogger.com if you're interested..


=========


The goal: encourage birding and rarity hunting around our large inland bodies of water... Including all the Great Lakes and James Bay...

Winner: we'll pick a winner based on who finds the rarest bird... To answer some recent questions:

--- How do we pick the rarest? --- Hopefully someone just finds something epic and its obvious... If we have a problem beyond that, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

--- who is winning so far?---  No one, because no one has really found anything crazy...

--- what happens if no one finds anything rare? --- then we all get chopped up and used as chum...


--- can we change the dates? --- A few people have pointed out that rarity season extends beyond November 14th, and have asked that we extend the date into December..

My personal take is to leave it at 50 days... Still fair since everyone has the same days... And then it isn't TOO long... Rarity season here in Ontario usually starts around August 23rd anyways, so the case could be made to extend it the other direction as well...

Another problem would be the goal of meeting at the Niagara River in November for a dinner and to (somewhat jokingly) crown the winner. The weekend of Nov 17/18th or 24/25 would be PRIME gull season when most of (originally, ON and NY) birders would already be going down there for birding...

--- what's the prize? --- prize originally was a mickey of booze from everyone else playing + bragging rights.. Although I'm not sure if this changes with so many people playing from farther flung places???


So what does everyone think? Would you rather change the dates? Or leave them? (we could always make changes next year, if this thing continues - which people have expressed interest in already).. .Any other comments/questions?? Who else wants to play??




=================================================================

To tidy this beauty up, here are some photos from the zodiac on Sep 27th!  (rather quick and poor edits, but very much blog worthy):

The name of the game - sub-adult PAJA (3rd alt?) getting a RBGU to cough up some food..

Better look at the same bird

Two (of 3) juv Lesser Black-backed Gulls that we tamed, and followed us around in the boat at close range 

1st juv Pomarine - stole some bread from a RBGU, ate it, then immediately coughed it back up as if it was totally disgusted... 

Sabine's found floating waay offshore feeding on a "junk line" 

This Juv Little Gull was directly associating with the above Sabines... Probably rarer in Hamilton than all the Jaegers and Sabines... Only in Hamilton can you see 2 Sabine's and 1 Little Gull before any Bonaparte's... 

2nd Juv Pomarine...  Right overhead... 

Worst photo of the day award goes to the juv Long-tailed Jaeger we had

~15 Common Terns was very high for Hamilton in late Sept, yet no Arctics.. I really thought we'd easily get ARTE from the zodiac when I first got it... None yet... 

Striking adult Parasitic with HUGE tail streamers

Another look at the full adult PAJA - almost no white on the underwing, cold toned plumage, probably a LTJA x PAJA hybrid right? 

Not a bad day! 

Weather Network Photos STRIKE AGAIN!

Got to post these beauties:


If you took this in mexico, don't upload it to Ontario! (Gave me a heart attack):

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7694188/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


Hey! Weren't you listening?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7726532/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


Well at least we knew about this one:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7623556/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


But we didn't know about this one:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7758210/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


And we really didn't know about this one.....................

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7697412/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search



=======================

Freakin weather network photos... I tell ya!


Here's some other non rarities:


My favourite bird!:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7653584/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

Pretty cool:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7697634/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

Leucistic House Sparrow I presume:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7810274/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search


Chip! Chip! Where's Chip?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7816502/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

Photoshop gone wrong??

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7856226/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

Funny:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7800360/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

Cool:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7811614/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

American or....... ?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/7826322/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search



==================================================

Zodiac yesterday was surprisingly poor, possibly due to the dreaded SE wind situation... Only 1 Parasitic Jaeger (adult) to show for our efforts...

Maybe next time?

Day 3

Boy I still haven't answered any emails etc.. Here's why --- Woke up early (7:30am is early, right?) and went for a zodiac adventure with Barb Wire! (Barb Charlton)...

To start the day off, I threw some bread at shore to appease the gull gods - then we zipped out to the deep.. Bad idea I guess because apparently right as we were leaving a Franklin's Gull came in.. Whoops...

It was calm early, so we did some deep-lake exploration... Virtually nothing right until the end (maybe 8-10km offshore) - where we eventually found some junk floating on the water and had 2 juvenile Sabine's and 1 juvenile Little Gull feeding among it. 10 Common Terns flew over here as well...

===

Return to shore for a quick break around 1 (I think) - then we started tossing bread -  which was quite productive... Lots of documentation style photos of Jaegers... No time for photos now (fell asleep at 8:30 last night, and now I need to get ready for more birding today)... Here's the ebird checklist:




HSA - off shore zodiac trip - VWB area, Hamilton, CA-ON
Sep 27, 2012 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: with Brandon Holden - in his zodiac. Photos of many of the birds seen taken by Brandon
25 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose X
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 5
Northern Pintail 30
Green-winged Teal 14
Greater Scaup 1
White-winged Scoter 12
Long-tailed Duck 1
Common Loon 5
Double-crested Cormorant X
Sanderling 3
Sabine's Gull 3 all juvs
Bonaparte's Gull 2
Little Gull 1 dark juv
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Lesser Black-backed Gull 3 3 juvenile birds seen together
Common Tern 12
Pomarine Jaeger 2
Parasitic Jaeger 2 adult and sub adult
Long-tailed Jaeger 1
jaeger sp. 5
Peregrine Falcon 2
Horned Lark 1

50 days of rare: day 2 recap

My rarest bird of the day: Pied-billed Grebe in a pond on hwy 6 (while I was driving to work for a meeting).. .

Yeah, I didn't go birding at all... And worse, it looks like I'm no longer in the lead for the big event with Josh V's Nelsons Sparrow/Lesser Black-backed Gull (in North Bay!) duo... Anyone top that yesterday??


==================


Looking forward: Western Lake Ontario Marine Forecast!



Wind light becoming northwest 15 knots this evening then diminishing to northeast 10 before morning. Wind becoming light near noon Thursday.

Friday     Wind light.
Saturday     Wind light.
Sunday     Wind light.

--- you know what that says to me?! --- I'll tell you... Boat Boat Boat Boat! 

Maybe not theeee best way to turn up a real CMF, but hopefully great photos of jaegers will keep me happy 

===================

Check out the birds of Quebec website for some epic CMF photos as well! 

Fork-tailed Fly:

http://www.quebecoiseaux.org/index.php?option=com_oiseauxrares&Itemid=133&lang=fr

What a BEAUTY..... 

50 days of rare: Day 1 breakdown

Yesterday was the start of it all! I had every intention of doing a marathon visit to Port Burwell/Stanley in strong SW winds... Didn't happen, because I decided to wait around home that morning to see if the Spotted Redshank was re found.... It wasn't refound, and I didn't start birding until noon...


Decided to do a poor-mans SW wind birding day, with the Niagara River on tap...

First stop:  Queenston docks:

A handful of Cormorants, a few Turkey Vultures (no Blacks, not that they would count anyways, but nice to see!), a few Bonaparte's and surprising numbers of juv Common Terns...


Adam Beck: not much at all! (not surprising, but figured I'd stop since I was already there)


Above/below the falls:

Below: - lots of gulls and corms below the falls, but nothing of note... They're still running the boats (when does that stop?) which would probably scare off any cool ducks anyways...

Control Gates: 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.. Again, good numbers of birds..

Above the falls: lots of birds to be seen! Had Wigeon, Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Pintail, C Mergies, A Coot, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Great Egret...

I ended up spending over an hour studying some (probable) American Black Ducks, maybe they had some Mallard genes in them (nothing obvious though like curly tail feathers or green heads), but they seemed funny and had obvious white above and below the speculum.... Makes Mottled Duck ID seem very confusing to me... Anyways, it was fun, but not rarity-productive..

Best birds here was another adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and a "Juvenile/1st basic" Lesser Black-backed Gull.... It looked like it had begun molting in some 1st ba feathers on the mantle, but it wasn't close enough to be 100% postive.. Couldnt turn it into a Yellow-legged Gull - even though it was really nice and frosty.....


My real goal was to reach Fort Erie on the SW winds and see what was milling about, but instead I went home to grab a friend from the train station to drink beer and throw darts.. Not exactly "Mega Rare or Die Trying" - but hey, I'm just getting warmed up...

Intoxicated Spotted Redshank Report

Redshank sure looks good considering the weather and location. Redshanks enjoy ugly shorebird habitat with garbage from what I can tell... Great storm just passed... Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in NY fairly close... it's close enough that I can wait for a positive report before trying to break land speed records....


=========================

50 days of Rare competition comments:


Alan: Start a blog, and using ebird, and you're in ;)



Adam: I may try to poach on your area if I get the chance ;) Glad you're in!



Nick: Join in! A great bird in CT could easily steal the show... The only real goal here is to have fun and find mega, right?!


David: you're in! It only takes one bird...


Tim: oh goodness, the Lake Michigan rarity hunting machine is now in on the challenge..... Fair warning to everyone else.......


Alvan: join in as well! Laurel Creek sleeper pick?!



========================


Just for the hell of it, I might as well plan to go to Cape Henrietta Maria on Sept 30th.... Recent history suggests that if I make serious birding plans, something cosmic will be reported and will totally screw up my plans anyways! So yeah

50 days of rare: Competition!? We doin this?!

 Josh Vandermeulen? (anyone ever notice I always spell his name wrong? Sorry Josh) Ken-tucky Burrell?

Maybe Jim Pawlicki? (eh Jim?) Maybe Mike "Happy" Burrell??

A little friendly discourse with Jim (trying to get him to start blogging... peer pressure people - we can make it happen!) turned into the idea of some friendly competition when it comes to "rarity season this fall"

50 days of rare - the competition!


Best bird found over the 50 day period wins pretty much the best prize possible: bragging rights and booze.


Punkbirder self found rules apply: http://punkbirder.webs.com/selffoundrules.htm


General rule of thumb (I think) is to have a blog and post your plans for future birding, methods, results, photos etc......  That just makes it more fun!


I also think we're going to use some discretion on just exactly what the "rarest" bird is... A Long-tailed Jaeger in Buffalo is considerably more interesting than on Lake Ontario.. Just as a Wheatear in the south would easily beat out a Wheatear on James Bay...

But hopefully someone just finds some insane CMF that clearly steals the show!

So yeah, for sure Josh and Ken are in on this... Anyone else? Maybe we'll put together some sort of dinner at Niagara (post-gull watching) later in November to award the winner and give out the prizes!

50 days of rare: Where do I go first?

50 Days of Rare: vagrant hunting... T-minus 2 days..




Looks like this past weather system brought some sweet birds with it:


-- Mud-wit on Lake Ontario - Oshawa

--- Report of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (!) on Lake ON in New York

--- at least 13 Franklin's Gulls in Ohio on Lake Erie (+ a Red Phal)

--- Pacific Loon and Red Phal at Pelee

--- Avocet at Dunnville 

--- Black-headed Gull in NY (on Lake ON)

--- Dark Ibis continue on Lake Erie in Michigan and Ohio

--- Piping Plover on Lake MI (IL)

==========

A pretty healthy dose! Got to love those low pressure sytems... And to be honest, the "return of the wind" has me pretty damn excited right now...


Here's the wind for the next six days in Burlington:

Monday: SW 25kmh

Tuesday: SW 30kmh  

Wed: NW 20kmh

Thurs: NE 15kmh

Fri: NE 10kmh

Sat: E 25kmh


My rarity hunting starts Tuesday, 30kmh SW winds.... Sounds like Lake Erie to me! My goal is Port Burwell and Port Stanley --- probably for several hours... Best way to find rarities (in my opinion) is to look.. Less time driving, more time watching!  You never know what will fly past as well, and if that Brown Pelican is still on Lake Erie - maybe its due for a stop at Stanley..

Wednesday: hawkwatching is always fun, but seems low on rarities in Ontario... I also have a meeting to attend for work at 2pm, so I'll busy myself by checking some local spots like Mountsberg or Cootes if I find the time... Maybe Woodland Cemetery at dawn - if I don't have to do a morning survey for work...

Thursday: looks like a zodiac day to me! Probably have better chance of spotting rarities on shore than in the boat (other than Phalaropes), but I can't say no to the chance at photographs

Friday: Did you see what I said for Thursday? Obviously we are looking pretty far into the future, and it could easily change, but I'm very hopeful for some boat time..

Saturday: getting a bit strong for the zodiac! Way back on Oct 3, 2010 I had Arctic Tern, Pomarine, Brant, Kittiwake etc - only a few days different than Sep 29 --- so maybe we'll get some great "later-season" pelagics?


=============================

Other notes: those are probably the best choices for me personally, but this time of year, there are other great options.

Niagara River + Fort Erie: on a SW Wind, can be very much worth a look this time of year...

Shorebirds: still mega rare possible - sewage lagoons, beaches, marshes and rocky points could be checked any days.. Will check when I get the chance

Pelee: I love pelee on an east or NE  wind, BIG TIME - I just never get down there, mainly due to my greater love of Jaegers..  SW winds are good too, along with N winds for hawkwatching

Never mind that generic "passerine vagrant hunting" at superb geographic locations and good habitat... You just gotta keep looking (and looking and looking) for these gems...

50 days of rare - it's almost time

After not really playing the rarity-finding game for several months, I started to get the urge back... So what's the plan?

Well 50 days of rare! Of course...

Nothing like a little extra added flare to keep ones self motivated, I figured I would create a bit of a "doo" for the blog... 50 days of intensive rarity searching, in the peak fall period of Sep 25 to Nov 14th! Where I'll hopefully get out most days, and post the results of my searching (plus post some predictions and theory about upcoming days)

So what's the goal?

The goal is "mega rare"... And I don't mean Pacific Loon rare... I don't mean Gannet rare... We're talking "less than 10 records" rare... 

I've spent the past week "up north" working on Lake Superior... Returning home late on the 23rd, I figure I will use the 24th to get prepared. Then it all begins!

And hopefully its all worth it! I'm actually painfully waiting for a chance to buy a condo as well, so I figured this will help pass the time ;) 

What do you think? Good idea? Can one simply find "mega rare" just by "trying harder"? Or is it all about luck with birds like this!? Of course I fully hope and expect to find just plan "rare" from time to time over the course of this little adventure. Not only birds, but hopefully some rare insects as well... Only one thing to do, check out the blog for updates!

Long-tailed Jaeger documentation - august

4 documentation photos of the Long-tailed Jaeger Josh V and I had from the Zodiac on August 29.... Was the same day as the Thick-billed Kingbird, so not a bad 1-2 punch! Anyone else say they've had these species on the same day before?!

Photos were uploaded to my picasa ID galleries, to the "Long-tailed Jaeger page" 

Link here to all the galleries: https://picasaweb.google.com/117329578255897846071

OFO weekend was great!!!

Had an exceptional amount of fun at the OFO convention this weekend (Presqu'ile edition) - weather was some of the nicest we've had in 2012, and the actual convention part was very successful (as far as I could tell)!

I drove out with Kentucky, and met up with most of his family contingency.. Along with the digimaster and his ladyfriend...

Some of the birding:

Saturday we hit up one of my favourite places: The Point Petre area in extreme southern Prince Edward County.. Given the weather, the birding was slower than expected, but still extremely pleasant..

Many thanks to Mike for doing some ebird lists for us:

Hawks were really good at Point Petre:

http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S11594405

Nearby Charwell Point is also very enjoyable for birding, and we hit it up, stopping along the road first:

http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S11594408

Then the point itself, which was lacking a bit in waterbirds, but had great habitat:

http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S11594409


Sunday was a few quick stops around Presqu'ile before Ken tucky and I headed for home:

Owen Point was hopping early:

http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S11595101

The lighthouse seemed active as well, but also enjoyable was chatting with several people:

http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S11595102

(if you aren't using ebird, you should start! It's awesome!)

Quick edit of a Variegated Frit... Our B-fly highlights by far! Had a Red Saddlebags at Prince Edward County too... 

=======================


The convention dinner at Coburg was pretty sweet! Portions were a bit small, but the drinks were a great supplement. The "Business" aspect of the convention was very very popular as delivered by Robert Maciver, along with some of the astonishing things that Jim Richards has accomplished (the distinguished ornithologist)...

Mike Runtz was the main speaker for the evening, with a wicked combination of incredible photographs, an enlightening talk about birds, and a heavy dose of stand-up comedy... One of the best talks for an OFO convention ever, I'm sure!


=======================

Also had the chance to talk to numerous friends and new faces while Ken and I manned a table for the OBRC prior to the dinner! I think it went really well, as we informed people about what we do, showed off some examples of reports and documents, had a few cool specimens (Thanks to Ron Ridout and Bird Studies Canada) and discussed some new methods to document rarities.

One of my favourites, although I didn't use it very much, was my "real-time" OBRC report video, which I made for the Common Teal at Hillman back in March (video):

I can really see this type of thing becoming more popular in the future when it comes to documentation of rarities, and hopefully something we start seeing more with the OBRC and submissions!


Anyways, how was your OFO weekend? I'm going away for the week (work), but the weather is slowly looking more and more exciting as we get into the fall season !!! By the time I get back, 50 days of rare will start soon!

Super Typhoon Sanba

Super Typhoon Sanba

Was the strongest tropical storm on the planet over the past few years, back on Sep 13...

Some imagery: 

Cat 5 monster

280kmh winds in the eye wall 

What a beauty! 

===============


Looks like a cool down in the next 5-6 days:

Worthy of its own post!

After doing 2 "fall" trips and 1 "summer" trip to James Bay, and only having one day of really good north winds (summer, of all times), I thought this was worth of its own post:


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4660423272292.186755.1344727060&type=3&l=8eaed28991



Photos from newfoundland of tropical storm Leslie as it came ashore... Winds so strong, it forced SKUA'S inland against their will!

----------------------

Some limited Leslie birding was posted on the nf.birds group:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/nf.birds

Looks like it brought some passerines as well..

OFO convention this weekend!

Presqu'ile Park! (of Thick-billed Kingbird fame) will be having the OFO convention this weekend.... Are you going?

I am! Ken tucky and I are going to be manning a table at the convention (pre-dinner) for the OBRC! So come on down and tell us exactly how you feel about the OBRC, and ways to make it better! We'll also have a few cool props like ways to doccument rarities, some skins, photos etc!


I hear Happy is also going to be manning an ebird table! This is going to be an OFO convention like never before! I hope to see a lot of fellow birders down there :)


=========================


Not much else news to report... A&W sent me a cool newspaper link about the Kelp Gull ...

http://www.leamingtonpost.ca/2012/09/13/rare-bird-spotted-in-wheatley

I mean sure, it sounds like this was written for an english class assignment in GRADE TWO over at Leamington elementary, but its still pretty good... And I must say, REOW!! To that good looking fellow on the far right of the photo in the sunglasses (oh wait, that's me!)

Townsend S.L. - Sep 12, 12

Say WHAAT?! Birding?!

I checked out Port Dover... A few Caspian Terns were the highlight...

I also checked out Townsend Sewage Lagoons.. Highlight was 2 Eared Grebes:

One has been around for quite a while, but I think this is the first time this fall that 2 have been seen here... 

Ebird Checklist from the site: 

Townsend Sewage Lagoons, Haldimand, CA-ON
Sep 12, 2012 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: 2 EAGR. 1 Previously reported here for several days back into August
31 species

Canada Goose 50
Mute Swan 1
Wood Duck 5
American Wigeon 2
American Black Duck 3
Mallard 85
Blue-winged Teal 25
Northern Shoveler 100 yup
Green-winged Teal 8
Ruddy Duck 5
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Eared Grebe 2 adult joined by prob juvenile bird
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Great Blue Heron 4
Green Heron 3
Killdeer 10
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Least Sandpiper 3
Pectoral Sandpiper 2
Ring-billed Gull 8
Mourning Dove 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
American Crow 2
Tree Swallow 200
Bank Swallow 30
Barn Swallow 100
European Starling X
American Pipit 6
Vesper Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
========================




Just practicing for the 50 days of rare coming up  !

we uhhh.. we.....

Didn't see it.......

Kelp Gull? For the love of god... I just want to go out in my boat!

But instead I've got to drive to freakin Wheatley Harbour to look for a Kelp-ish like freak gull this evening...

Not happening in 2012 so far...... 

I guess if I want to find something rare, I'm going to have to go birding.. Starting Sept 24th probably, since I'm busy with work.... 

====================

Side Note: previous records of Kelp Gull from Texas, Colorado, Maryland, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, and nearby Mexico + tropical islands....... 

Florida: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cambriaphotos/sets/72157625738449636

More: http://www.pbase.com/andreapicoestrada/kelp_gull&page=all

Texas:  http://tbrc.tripod.com/kelpgull.htm

Different Texas: http://surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20081116111104.jpg

Maryland: http://www.pbase.com/paulasullivan/image/38642966

Good one from MD: http://www.pbase.com/paulasullivan/image/38643552

Colorado: http://www.pbase.com/rhopper/image/90986914

Barbados: http://home.bway.net/lewis/birds/trind/kelp-1.jpg

=============

Probable Kelp Hybrids:

Indiana: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~hopkinse/KELP-04-10-16-IDSP-IN.htm

Michigan: http://berrienbirder.blogspot.ca/2012/09/happy-10th-gull-nasty.html

More: http://berrienbirder.blogspot.ca/2010/10/maybe-it-is-chandeleur-gull.html

Texas: http://www.martinreid.com/Gull%20website/keguhp01.html

=======

Article on hybrids in LA: http://www.aba.org/birding/v37n3p266.pdf

Ebird range map: http://ebird.org/ebird/map/kelgul?eyr=&byr=&bmo=&emo=&neg=true&_neg=on

=====================

Prediction: If its still here, it'll show up in the afternoon - when gulls usually start to build in numbers at Wheatley.....

=====================

Scary thought: I didn't want to publish this, but I'm going to........ Hurricane Isaac traveled through the Caribbean and hit Louisiana.... That's Kelp Gull territory as far as North America is concerned....

And even though I said it wouldn't bring anything (HA, whoops) there was also this beauty of a Shearwater on Lake Michigan at the same time:

http://aviantendencies.blogspot.ca/2012/09/a-lake-michigan-shear.html

Funktato Ground Raptors + RARES this week!!!

This epic cold front seems to have done the trick and brought some rarities with it... Reports of grounded shorebirds + Jaegers are starting to trickle in (Saturday evening), along with word of some rarities...

Townsend's Warbler (probable) - at Magee Marsh, OH

Great Shearwater - Like Michigan in MI (probable)

Brown Pelican - was seen last week on Lake Erie again, this time in Ohio (twice)

--- Not to mention some CMF's that are still lurking around the great lakes prior to the front like Frigatebird and Sandwitch Tern.....

---- Starting Monday, some high pressure will fall into place, making for some beautiful days to get out and spot some rarities... Either recent storm blown, or just hidden gems that have been lurking for a while!


=====================================


Funktato Ground Raptors!!!

In the same day last week, I had a few "Ground Raptors" throw me for a loop.. First up to bat:

Yup, thats a HAHA.. Down on Lake Erie, eating grasshoppers... If it wasn't wearing such lovely jewelry, I would almost consider counting it ;) 

I wonder how annoying it would be to do falconry, only to watch it fly away and never return?? And I wonder if it'll eventually fly over one of the Erie hawkwatches??

Next up to bat is the rare "ground falcon":

On a sod field south of the Hammer, on the dirt... No bands and funny look, made me wonder if its a rare "anatum" bird..... 

Both of these birds in the same day!!! I guess I'm slowly awakening from my birding slumber and am now paying my dues towards something mega.... 

Funky Bug?

(underside, sitting on my camera lens) 

Funky bug from Sudbury back in August... I don't really know what to call it......... 

==========================

Pie-plate Great Blue from the Grand River (Dunnville) in September 

========================