Rondeau's LAUGHING GULL MAY 6 Photo by Alfred H. RiderI have been away birding the last few days, so it is time for an update. It has been interesting, and I managed to get two more life birds! I got wonderful views of the Mottled Duck at Hillman Marsh on Sunday afternoon. Although nothing exciting to look at, that was one life bird. The next day I birded Point Pelee and finally saw a Black Vulture. For those of you who know me, that has been my nemesis bird forever. Even if I was in the same vicinity as a Black Vulture, I would never see it. Birding was on the slow side at Pelee, but that life bird made up for it by a long shot.
Back to the weekend at Rondeau... I did my annual Baillie Birdathon and came up with 142 species. Highlights included two American White Pelicans, two Marbled Godwits, and a Worm-eating Warbler. Actually, the warbler was my last bird! Rather nice to end a Big Day with an uncommon bird.
Of course, lots of year birds were added to my list, including a number of warblers.
Other notables included a Cooper's Hawk on nest. I mentioned this nest in a post a while back, with a photo. Pileated Woodpecker in two spots was nice--not always a guarantee on a Big Day. Great Horned Owls were not difficult. We heard one from the marsh trail Saturday evening. However, early Sunday I came across one accidentally. One was directly over my head on a branch and I didn't even know it. It knocked a piece of bark down that nearly hit me on the head. I looked up to see what it was, and there was an owl! Clay-colored Sparrow was another good one that is not always encountered. It was heard only.
A walk out marsh trail Saturday evening is a traditional thing. We got the usual marsh things including Sora and Virginia Rails, Sedge Wrens, some ducks, and Whip-poor-wills.
It seems like there are a lot more birds to come. Nobody has seen large numbers yets.
Back to the weekend at Rondeau... I did my annual Baillie Birdathon and came up with 142 species. Highlights included two American White Pelicans, two Marbled Godwits, and a Worm-eating Warbler. Actually, the warbler was my last bird! Rather nice to end a Big Day with an uncommon bird.
Of course, lots of year birds were added to my list, including a number of warblers.
Other notables included a Cooper's Hawk on nest. I mentioned this nest in a post a while back, with a photo. Pileated Woodpecker in two spots was nice--not always a guarantee on a Big Day. Great Horned Owls were not difficult. We heard one from the marsh trail Saturday evening. However, early Sunday I came across one accidentally. One was directly over my head on a branch and I didn't even know it. It knocked a piece of bark down that nearly hit me on the head. I looked up to see what it was, and there was an owl! Clay-colored Sparrow was another good one that is not always encountered. It was heard only.
A walk out marsh trail Saturday evening is a traditional thing. We got the usual marsh things including Sora and Virginia Rails, Sedge Wrens, some ducks, and Whip-poor-wills.
It seems like there are a lot more birds to come. Nobody has seen large numbers yets.
I did not see the Laughing Gull depicted in the above photo, but Alf Rider was kind enough to send it out to me.
Congrats on the Black Vulture!! We all have those awful nemesis birds (I still have quite a few). Laughing Gull was actually one of those I always missed but finally got this spring on the east beach of Pelee...new for my Pelee/Ontario list. It was great birding with you on Monday!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to mention it in my last comment but if it's possible, could you send me your complete big day list. I'd just like to see what kind of birds you need to get a 142 species count! If you haven't put it on the computer, don't bother typing it all out but if you have a file, I'd love to see the list.
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