Nov 13 Cave Swallow pics from Pt Pelee

Uploaded one good one onto a new CASW page for the website:

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_CASW.htm

This one:

Here's a look at the same photo (part of it) at 100%: 

And for fun, some of the "record" flight photos I got:

Not birding right now, so i'm really stretchin this pelee stuff... Not sure why, but I am! 

Pelee Day 4 - Nov 13, 2012

A loose association of Ken Burrell, Josh Vand and I worked Pelee for one last morning (my last, at least)... We ran into a few others along the way!


Tip watch:

Highlight here was the Red-breasted Mergansers... The previous day, we had a steady flight of birds moving south past the tip (we guessed 15 to 20 thousand).... Little did we know, they must have been landing just beyond our easy vision past the point - because today, they were ALL present at the SAME TIME around the point... It was insanity...

Typical view as the massive flocks re-arranged around the point... 

I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like it before... We had the typical run of ducks here including Gadwall, Pintail, some scoters, mallards etc.. Along with several Common Loons and Horned Grebes... 

Some highlights were another Long-tailed Duck and several flocks of Tundra Swans! One distant flock of Swans contained a small white goose with black wing tips!! Unfortunately they stayed distant, but we could tell without a doubt that it was smaller than your average Snow Goose (Ross's type)... 

The mergies had started to die down, and I just wasn't feelin the waterbirds (cold and windy at the point).. So Ken-tucky and I branched off and went to the visitors centre parking lot to watch for some winter finches and other goodies... We had:

2-3 Evening Grosbeaks

35+ White-winged Crossbills (small groups)

30+ Common Redpolls 

10-ish Pine Siskins

3 Purple Finch

15-ish House Finch

several Eastern Bluebirds

2 House Sparrows (odd fly-overs for the park, although I often see them here in the fall) 

The big hurrah came in the form of 2 CAVE SWALLOWS flying rapidly southwards... We called Josh Vandermeulen, who was still looking for this species on his big year, and he zipped after them towards the tip... Josh called us back soon thereafter with word that he had one sitting on the beach 10 feet in front of him... That got us moving, and I went out for some "point blank" views (and photos) of this obviously stressed out (stupid) bird!

It even flew around for a while, allowing us to test our skills with flight shots! What a beauty! 

I was feeling pretty content at that point (and cold), and decided that even though it wasn't quite noon - that I was going to start my drive home and get prepared for work that awaited me the next day... Although I was soon distracted by a group of parked cars, which were looking at 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows perched on the deck at sanctuary pond!

The rest of the drive was uneventful, including a few quick stops at hillman and the routinely boring Wheatley Harbour... This was my last hurrah for the 50 days of rare (long over now), and a damn good few days of birding! 

Oh, and I also had a Golden Eagle on the drive home (low and close over the 401!) which I thought was a year bird - until I got home and remembered I had one back on Feb 15th eating a road killed Deer in Niagara... Still a beaut though!

Another look at the insane mass of RBME's that was constantly present at the tip of Pelee.. I took some videos of the insanity, so maybe I'll get them online before too long! What a sight! 

Day 3 at Pelee – Nov 12, 2012

This was the rain day, and MAN did it rain.. Josh Vand, Jeremy Hatt and I decided to stand at the tip and get soaked for several hours in the morning... I then walked around getting soaked again with Josh in the afternoon... The birds: 

Thankfully it was all worth it, as the tip was really active with huge numbers of RB Mergies... We guessed that we had seen at least 15,000 to 20,000 birds , and could have undercounted... One of those events that is just fun to witness, as they were almost all streaming down the east side (heading south)... 

We also snagged 2 Long-tailed Ducks, several Horned Grebes, common Loons, Surf + white-winged Scoters, a Lesser Black-backed Gull (juv) and a FORSTER’S TERN travelling with 2 Bonaparte’s during the movement... 

To get a break from the wetness, Josh and I toured The Onion Fields to Wheatley, then back around to Leamington, Seacliffe etc, where we had VERY little... Although there was still some highlights when we had 4 Long-eared Owls (new Pelee bird for me, I think) and twitched the Hooded Mergs at Sturgeon.... 

Another bird of note was a "green morph" Pine Siskin at the Pelee Wings feeder... It looked a LOT brighter against the dark background of the feeder (vs. the green grass and leaves where I got my record photo)... There were only 2 other siskins present among the goldfinches - so that was cool.. 

We headed back into the park, and a quick check of the Marsh Tower produced some rather late Blue-winged Teal (2) among a respectable collection of ducks... 

Josh and I started our mega-walk of the day (back in the park), with very little fanfare (other than getting soaked)... Highlight came in the form of a big pocket of birds around the far northern end of the Chinquipin Oak trail with 25+ Bluebirds and 25+ Yellow-rumps... The birds weren't very cooperative, the light was bad and they were moving all over the place... It sure felt like a mega-rarity kind of time and place, but we just couldn't pull the trigger... 

Another fun day, where it felt like we were doing everything right for a rarity, but it just didn't fall into place! Part of the fun of vagrant hunting I guess! J

Nov 11, 2012 - Pelee Area Butterflies

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Pelee Butterflies from Nov 11, 2012

A bit late here, but I had some cool leps on the warmth of Nov 11, 2012 at Pelee as well!

It was a very warm day!!! 

The rundown: 

Painted Lady – one rather fresh individual along the west beach footpath was my first lep of the day... 

I poked it with some grass to see the underwing and make the ID!

Question Mark – one along the west beach footpath after the Lady.. Acting kind of tardy, even with the warmth..


Eastern Comma – one at Black Willow picnic area...



Mourning Cloak – had my first at Delaurier, when I overheard a lady tell her daughter “look, a butterfly!” I then saw others driving to Hillman marsh through the onion fields and Hillman Marsh



Orange Sulphur – two at the dyke along the Hillman Marsh trail...



Common Buckeye – three along the dyke at the shorebird cell.. Strange that I saw 5 leps in a short distance near the cell, but none others while walking around Hillman...





Later in the afternoon, it was still sunny, and I decided to try Shoeless Joe’s for more leps – since the birds were stinking up a storm... Even though it was still sunny, I guess it was too late in the afternoon because I didn’t see any!

Others had Clouded Sulphur, Checkered Skipper and a single Firey Skipper here earlier in the day!



Pretty cool that 9 species could still be seen this late in the year!


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

Can't do a separate "ode" post, since I only managed 1 Common Green Darner on the day...

Day 2 at Pelee – Nov 11, 2012

... This was the “warm” day for sure!!! Temps were well above 15 C in the afternoon when the sun broke through... Some highlights:


Tip watch in the morning was fairly slow.. Had some Pine Siskins overhead and a juv Lesser Black-backed Gull make a flyby.. 5 Sanderling flew in and landed. Getting late!!!  A surprising number of birders were present, which worked in our favour when Marianne spotted a Black-legged Kittiwake flying south along the west shore, and not very far away! I think that was my second for Pelee... Maybe third...

I did a mega walk from the tip, through the Loop&Post Woods, The Sparrow Field, The redbud trail, down through the VC to the group campground.. Then some seasonal foothpaths through all the main picnic areas from Black Willow to Sleepy Hollow and the dunes etc... I then switched back, walking the west beach trail all the way back to the tip! 

Noteworthy sightings were slim, but I did manage a Common Redpoll (perched) and an Orange-crowned Warbler.. I probably “worked” at least 5+ Carolina Wrens and 8+ Cardinals that were being very secretive to little reward (other than a CARW pic with my record photo camera) 

Best I could do... 

I also did a decent walk around Hillman Marsh, but was surprised to see a lack of ducks. The only fun came from a group of 50 Green-winged Teal that allowed for close-ish study... I was also surprised to see that the shorebird cell was flooded, although totally overgrown so no ducks were visible (or present) ... One noteworthy sighting there was 3 Yellow-rumps that were acting like tardy vagrants feeding in the weeds over the water... No mega’s though.. 

Had a Northern Shrike at the “memorial forest” near the end of my Hillman Hike... Haven’t seen many at Pelee... 

I drove the onion fields a bit, to little of note... I saw a Coyote walking up to 2 Sandhill Cranes, and braced for excitement – up until the cranes lazily flew away... 

I tried several other spots, including Wheatley Harb, but the birding was just getting darn slow. About 80 Hooded Mergs at Sturgeon Creek... Nothing at Seacliffe beach or marina... 

What can you do?! Fun day though... 

Mudflat Turkeys, pointed out to me by Josh Vand... 

Drive to Pelee - Nov 10th

On the 10th, I had to head into the office in the morning, but around mid-day I was able to leave and head for Pelee !!! With a big warm front in the works, I wanted to see what kind of goodies were around...  The stops:


Blenheim SL - LOTS of ducks, of many species, nothing of note though!


Erieau - typical scattering of gulls and cormorants, but again - nothing of note... Rondeau back was PACKED with ducks, but the light wasn't good, so I just avoided them... Turns out there are a few Eurasian Wigeon out there!


Wheatley Harbour - about 75 Killdeer in a nearby field, I was surprised to see a huge feeding frenzy of Ring-billed Gulls in the harbour - but not surprisingly - not a single gull of note...

It looked like Sandy had caused a ruckus, as the beach was much smaller and crews were working to dig out the mouth of the channel... 

No rares...

Hillman Marsh  - lots of mud, which is normal for this time of year when they lower the Great Lakes to "winter levels" - ALWAYS after the shorebirds are essentially gone... Thanks "water people" ... 

I after checking multiple vantage points, I fianlly scored into a flock of Dunlin and Killdeeer that were hosting 2 White-runmped Sandpipers... 

There was another huge mass of gulls, with lesser numbers of fowl - but no rares again! The best bird here was an American Bittern that I flushed from a nearby ditch ! 

Last stop before dark was behind the Day's Inn.. Managed about 80 Hooded Mergs at the Marina part... Then at the lookout deck I spotted 2 Cackling Geese (that Kevin McLaughlin had told me about earlier).. Not a bad bird... Also scored 3 Greater and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Sandhill Cranes and a Wilson's Snipe before I lost all light... 

After that I raided the local Value Village (got some sweet pants), the LCBO and watched UFC fights till I passed out!  

Day 2 tomorrow......

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

As far as recent news goes, I noticed (on Nov 13th) that the James Bay coast had a substantial ice build up along the coast already this year!

Pretty early... Usually this is a good (great) time to check your favourite Purple Sandpiper spot (mine is Fifty Point) to find some exhausted PUSA hanging out! 

50 days of rare is over!

Woo!  No more 50 days of rare! Technically the 14th is the last day, but I'll be sitting in on some first aid training at work, so for all intensive purposes, it's over! (for me)...

I've been asked several times about what the winning bird is, and I haven't really given it much thought... What bird do you think is tops??

I think the real goal is to have a combo-birder-gathering to remember the 50days of rare challenge AND birding Superstorm Sandy at the same time... The rough plan right now is December 8th at my new condo (that I don't yet "own") in Stoney Creek, ON... We can split up and head off to the Niagara River for Saturday and/or Sunday for some entertaining birds, and Saturday night for the entertainment..

I should be able to accommodate several people (at various comfort levels) depending on how far people want to travel to be a part of it, how their bank account situation looks and how much alcohol they intend on consuming ..  Leave a comment if you think you'd like to come!

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Since it was already posted to ontbirds, there is no secret that we had some Cave Swallows at Pelee today... SO I figured I'd post an early photo.. More to come in the future of this very cooperative bird!

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Some cool recent weather network photos:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/8492540/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/8470412/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/20461/8522082/Ontario/upload/0?ref=ugc_yourweather_search

--- note on the last one, the snake is wrapped around the owls leg!


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I spent last Saturday to Tuesday down around Point Pelee, so over the next few days (while I'm in the office), I'll run down each days highlights!

Another (short) beach walk + weather

Checked out Burlington Beach yesterday for any additional dead birds of note.. The haul was a much more expected 2 Herring Gulls and 4 Cormorants... The odd's and sod's included a lot of dead fish, lots of golf balls, and a dead squirrel..

Only birds of note was a few Red Crossbills I heard flying over (2-3ish birds, didn't see them)..


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

Big warm front moving into southern Ontario this weekend - with a big southerly flow... It's nothing tooo crazy from a weather perspective, but it IS the second week of November, so who knows what could happen! 

It's enough to entice me to go to Pelee for a grand finale to the 50 days of rare thing that I've largely forgotten about, and ends on Nov 14th.. .

Would really like to find a mega rare passerine or near-passerine! Although any rarity will do... Still want that Brown-chested Martin 

Dead birds of Van Wagner's

My Mom and I took advantage of the sunny day to walk VWB and look for storm birds to collect... Dead bird tally (of sorta fresh stuff to fresh):

4 Long-tailed Ducks

1 DC Corm

2 Northern Cardinals (????)

1 Northern Saw-whet Owl (wing)  .. We also found a single flight feather several KM's away from this wing..

1 BARRED OWL ...

This is NOT a regular bird in Hamilton, and finding a dead one at VWB is really really odd... I actually just assumed it was a SEOW until common sense took over when I got home and looked at my pics....

Barred Owl above: it was actually mostly buried in the sand... I dug it up and washed it off (with a stick) then took this pic... 

Below: Cardinal and Saw Whet exactly as they appeared when we found them - 

Also 3 Chinook Salmon, 1 Sucker and 1 Virginia Opossum....


Not a single dead gull???

Not much in the way of living bird highlights... A few Common Redpolls and an adult Turkey Vulture.. A Mute Swan swam past Hutches and we saw one of the Lift Bridge Peregrines...


===========

!!!!!!!! I almost forgot, we also had 1 Orange Sulphur and 1 Lady sp on the hike !!

nothing to report...

Several hours at VWB yesterday in East Winds.. 40+kmh at the lift bridge, and I can only assume stronger out over the lake given the size of the waves (huge!)

So what did we get?

NOTHING

Literately nothing... In the sense of noteworthy birds... 2 Peregrine Falcons that live there, where the highlights...

I had very much believed that it was going to be slow, given that we had a lot of north winds recently (allowing most of the "cool birds" to leave) but I didn't expect nothing!

Thankfully it was thee niceset day you could ever have at VWB in November (on east winds) so it was still an enjoyable day at the lake!

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

Since I have  nothing to report, I'm in need of some filler...


From Jim Pawlicki - another "Superstorm Sandy Song" for your entertainment...

Polaris: Hey Sandy


Lyrics:

Hey smilin' strange
You're lookin' happily deranged
Could you settle to shoot me?
Or have you picked your target yet?

Hey Sandy
Don't you talk back,
Hey Sandy

Four feet away
End of speech, it's the end of the day
We was only funnin'
But guiltily I thought you had it comin'

Hey Sandy
Don't you talk back,
Hey Sandy

Hey Sandy
Don't you talk back,
Hey Sandy

Hey Sandy
Don't you talk back,
Hey Sandy

Some late-season bread throwing from the zodaic

Launched the Zodiac yesterday afternoon for a few hours of bread tossing... I was hoping to maybe get some Pomarine Jaegers hanging around after Sandy - but I'm starting to think they've probably vamoosed on these persistent north winds ... Shame...


What I DID get, was some gulls


3 Juv Lesser Black-backed Gulls

1 Juv Kumlien's (or better yet, a Kumlien's/Thayer's genetic grab-bag)

6-7 Great Black-backed Gulls

1 Bonaparte's Gull

(all of these birds were Juv's except 1 GBBG)

1 ad Bald Eagle flying high when I got back to shore


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

Took a bunch of pictures in some sweet light.... Haven't edited them properly, but did a few "rapid edits" to get online as blog material ...

Above: photo quiz?! Name all species and ages

Kumlien's + Thayer's = 

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They're calling for NE winds around 30-35kmh for today (Nov 7th), so I'm planning on doing some lakewatching... Not sure what could possibly happen that would compare with the insanity we had with Superstorm Sandy, but I kind of enjoy being at the lake regardless of what I actually see, so yeah!  That's the plan...

Personal fall count results!

Dave Bell and I tackled Windemere Basin to LaSalle Park in Burlington for the Hamilton Fall Bird Count on Nov 4th...


Some highlights: lots of ducks, grebes, White-winged Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak, Eastern Towhee, 5 Black-crowned Night-Herons, etc

The bird of the day was spotted by Dave at LaSalle Park - an American Redstart! Even more unusual was the fact it was in a garden shrub in front of the pavilion...

We tried to twitch the Western Tanager found by Cheryl Edgecombe and Rob Dobos, but failed.... Also tried to poach some pelagics at VWB and failed... Ah well - the Chili was delicious as usual afterwards!!


Ebird list totals:


Canada Goose 186
Mute Swan 30
Trumpeter Swan 28
Gadwall 8
American Black Duck 68
Mallard 427
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Northern Shoveler 44
Northern Pintail 4
Green-winged Teal 43
Canvasback 25
Redhead 57
Ring-necked Duck 45
Greater Scaup 653
Lesser Scaup 108
White-winged Scoter 17
Long-tailed Duck 2
Bufflehead 146
Common Goldeneye 38
Hooded Merganser 33
Common Merganser 9
Red-breasted Merganser 140
Ruddy Duck 433
Common Loon 2
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Horned Grebe 4
Red-necked Grebe 6 fall count - ad's and juv's
Double-crested Cormorant 43
Great Blue Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1 adult perched on tree on SE corner of bay (near steel mills) early in the am
Red-tailed Hawk 12
American Coot 45
Ring-billed Gull 1086
Herring Gull 147
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Rock Pigeon 95
Mourning Dove 9
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 5
American Kestrel 2
Peregrine Falcon 2 lift bridge pair
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1
Horned Lark 2
Black-capped Chickadee 35
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
American Robin 29
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 24000 coming from the skyway bridge roost, apparently missed by the people in that area (pers comm) so added here
American Pipit 7
Cedar Waxwing 64
American Redstart 1 female spotted by Dave Bell in front of the pavillion at Lasalle Park - in a decorative garden shrub!
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Eastern Towhee 1 Windemere Basin - male
American Tree Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 7
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Dark-eyed Junco 9
Northern Cardinal 4
Purple Finch 1
House Finch 2
White-winged Crossbill 1 perched in spruce on NE corner of bay - male
Pine Siskin 8
American Goldfinch 39
Evening Grosbeak 1 flyover male at Windemere Basin
House Sparrow 37


73 species!!!


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Some awesome ebird rarity photos... A lot of these birds could very very easily be related to Superstorm Sandy and her massive wind field bringing birds from far and wide in many directions:


Our Ross's Goose in ON:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/osteopteryx/8152038311/in/pool-ebird


Cory's Shear on shore in RI:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_shamgochian/8146020487/in/pool-ebird/

Lapwings in MA:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbosler/8156347396/in/pool-ebird

Brown Pelican in MO:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nvarvel/8156215507/in/pool-ebird

Ash-throated Fly in MA:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jryandoherty/8155725454/in/pool-ebird

Lapwing in MAINE! :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22247688@N04/8151864645/in/pool-ebird

Black-headed Gull in MD:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlc_enigma/8152145543/in/pool-ebird

Franklin's Gull in NJ:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrybird13/8154209866/in/pool-ebird



2 Black Skimmers in Pittsburgh, PA - only 230kmh DUE SOUTH of the tip of LONG POINT!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_mcdonald/8155776523/in/pool-ebird

Woman is 53 But Looks 25 .... Also - TERRIBLE TERRIBLE NEWS

Straight from Alan Wormington's Ontbirds post:


HURRICANE SANDY SUPER-TIDE:

Super-tides on southern James Bay are extremely dangerous, since they can flood areas that are normally dry. We once experienced such an event at White Top (adjacent to Ship Sands Island) in early October 1972, and it was not a pleasant experience. Late yesterday our low tide was higher than most high tides, then the relentless NW wind intensified. The incoming high tide was massive, re-arranging the whole waterfront at Netitishi Point. Luckily Netitishi Point itself is high and dry with a spruce forest, so we were never in any danger. However, both the "gyrfalcon" pole and wind shelter, constructed mostly by Brandon Holden two years ago, is now history. Thanks a lot Hurricane Sandy!

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My fort!!!!!!!!!!

One of the best damn wind breaks anyone could ask for.... I guess you really don't know what you got, till it's gone... 

Many thanks to Barb "Wire" Charlton for this one... 

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I'm sure virtually anyone who reads this blog also knows what JV is up to, but just in case, here's the links:

Alan's Post:

http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=271997&MLID=ON&MLNM=Ontario

Josh's blog for more updates and photos:

http://joshvandermeulen.blogspot.ca/

Sure sounds like an epic trip!

Nor'easter moving up the Atlantic Coast mid week....

Herald/Trindade Petrel in PA:

http://blog.aba.org/2012/11/abarare-herald-petrel-pennsylvania.html


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

The models are currently picking up on a moderate to strong "early season" Nor'easter moving up the US Atlantic coast mid week...

Weather Network is calling for E winds @ 20kmh Wednesday and N @ 25kmh Thursday... This will pale in comparison to superstorm sandy, but would be very very notable in a "regular" year as potential for NE coast birds like Kittiwakes and maybe a Gannet or two (not to mention to always enjoyable "yet unknown rarity") ... 

With Sandy so close in our (and avian) memories, maybe it will be a nice system to bring us a few more goodies?! I know I wouldn't complain... 

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

Tomorrow is the Hamilton Fall Bird Count!!! Very exciting... My area is from LaSalle Park to Windemere Basin (the NE corner of Hamilton Harbour) with a bit of inland space (to the highways).. Teaming up with David Bell to hopefully do some damage! 

AND THEN,, DO NOT FORGET... That our very own blogger Ken-tucky Burrell is the speaker at the Hamilton Bird Study Group Meeting on Monday night! 

The talk is on his reverse migration work at Pelee Island!!!

It doesn't get any better.. Don't miss it!

Ducks shouting obscenities

.

There was an obscene number of ducks flying west past Fifty Rd this morning... Possibly the biggest flight of LTDU's and WWSC's I've seen...

When I arrived, birds were flying through my scope at a rate of 250-400 per minute (rough counts)

Typical view when I arrived....

I was there from 8:10am to 11:10am... Some totally guessed totals:

Long-tailed Duck - 15, 000
White-winged Scoter - 8,000
Red-breasted Merganser - 5000
Common Goldeneye - 500
Greater Scaup - 400
Surf Scoter - 200
Bufflehead - 80
Lesser Scaup - 25
Mallard - 15
American Black Duck - 10
Black Scoter - 8
Canada Goose - 8
Common Merganser - 2
Northern Shoveller - 2 (singles)

I tried to document some flocks from time to time.. Some BUFF's... 

Decent number of Lesser's mixed in... 

The "movement" of LTDU's was a steady stream of individuals and small flocks, unlike the epic masses when they aren't "moving"

Greata's! 

RB Mergies were one of the only species actively moving east (as well as west) 

Often the "closest" species flocks (other than the few Buffles) - Common Goldeneye

Also:

Merlin 1 - caught a passerine way out over the lake

Bonaparte's Gull - 75

Common Loon - 25
Horned Grebe - 10
Red-necked Grebe - 1
DC Cormorant - 5

Euro Starling 2 - out over the lake
White-winged Crossbill - 4
Snow Bunting - 10

BOGU's

Got me excited for a bit.... Common Loon... 

Superstorm Sandy: Frankenstorm - that's the name, don't wear it out...

I'm in my happy place...

Only slightly decent pic I took today

Team awesome was back at it today, birding with Mike/Ken Burrell, Ross Wood and Brett Fried, David Bell and Barb wire Charlton - we had plans to bird Port Wellar...

We had been talking about how it could very well have been a great vantage point throughout this awesome storm system, but we weren't sure if anyone had checked it yet... 

It really didn't disappoint... Some sightings:

Arctic Tern - 1 juvenile early in the AM .. it was with:

Forster's Tern - 1

Common Tern - 2 or 3

Lots of expected ducks including abnormal numbers of White-winged Scoters. Also Green-winged Teal and Redhead (3) were unusual

Good numbers of both loons and both "lake" Grebes

1 Sanderling

50-ish Bonaparte's

Passerines included some Siskins and Snow Buntings

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

The Arctic Tern was pretty obvious when we first all saw it with the FOTE... Clearly smaller and different structure, aged as a Juv - silvery/white inner primaries/secondaries.... I don't really feel comfortable enough writing it up for the OBRC, but more than happy enough to count it on my personal list... Another rarity from Sandy...... Jeeesus

After that the terns were really confusing not giving good looks and wandering back and forth and I got a lot less excited about them (personally)...

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

It wasn't too long into the day that we noticed we were largely goofing around and chatting... Sort of the "happy place" after some INSANE crazy days of birding and mega rares around ever corner... 

So we decided to go into town and grab some lunch and brew! Then headed for home..

3 months form now I'll be looking back and wondering why I didn't bird dawn till dusk at a frantic pace with such incredible birds to be found.... Which is ok, because that'll be motivation and excitement building feelings for the NEXT big storm

And don't get me wrong, I'll still be birding a lot over the next few days, but maybe not quite at the same pace... Will probably go to the end of Fifty Rd in Grimsby tomorrow for a Lakewatch in the morning....

Oh sandy... 

Oh my gawd.. Ross's Gull !!! Frankenstorm continues to deliver

Went to Waverly Beach this morning (Lake Erie) .... With Ken/Mike Burrell and Ross Wood... The goal was to work Lake Erie to see if phase 4 would happen... AND IT DIDN'T... No phase 4 -type birds seen...

No worries... because we had an ADULT ROSS'S GULL ......  Always fun to get to do your part in the ID of a mega rare like this... Awesome bird...


Some other birds seen -

42 Brant, in 3 flocks

7-8 Pomarine Jaeger's seen multiple times throughout the day... Could have been upwards of 15 birds, but impossible to count individuals...

Parasitic Jaeger - 2 (one with wing molt)

10-15 Black-legged Kittiwakes ... Again, numerous sightings of birds that I think were "trapped" at the end of the Lake.. Could have easily been more

Sabine's Gull - 1 juv

BLACK-HEADED GULL - 1 adult !!!

Both loons and all 3 scoters in good numbers...

1 light adult Rough-legged Hawk and 2 Turkey Vultures were some other neat birds...

Don't know what to say... Just freaking insane day.... No pics of the Ross's (was too busy with the ID and drooling).. But here's two of the Black-headed Gull:

Low right 

After that insanity I decided to check the falls.. The goal was Little Gull, since I hadn't seen any yet !!! Highlights:

2 adult Little Gulls above the falls

3 Dunlin

10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

1 adult Herring X Great Black-backed Hybrid

3 Dunlin

40ish Northern Rough-winged Swallows

2-3 Tree Swallows 

MEGA insane day... 6 species of small gull... wow... In need of sleep again for tomorrow... What else can happen!?

Some more pics from Fort Erie

Seen a lot of these recently... 

Same for these

PAJA with wing molt 

Pomarines! 

Storm Petrel Wallpaper

I actually fixed this up for a different reason last night, but thought I would share for any who would want it....

Could maybe make a fun wallpaper for the computer???

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Don't forget to go to the hamilton bird study group meeting this Monday night to hear Ken-tucky talk about his reverse migration work on Pelee Island!  A can't miss talk!

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Still out Hurricane birding today... Trying Lake Erie to see if Phase 4 is going to happen... Starting to look like we won't get Phase 4 at all, but you won't know until you look!

(phase 4 - "core" of the storm birds) - hopefully something like a Petrel, Sooty Tern or Royal Tern.. Would also be very happy with Skimmer or Oystercatcher

And hopefully Frigatebirds will start to be sighted around the Great Lakes in the coming days!

If no phase 4, there are still epic rarities around to be found! And I'll probably focus more on Lake Ontario if this is the case..

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Edit --- at the time of writing (6am) this was posted to ebird as a Jaeger.....  But it's a SKUA!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sibirdswildlife/8143122330/in/pool-ebird


I want a Skua now!!!