The East and the West

Last week two rarities were found in the province. One was a Common Eider in Toronto, and the other a Black-throated Grey Warbler in Burlington. Common Eiders, although they breed in far northern Ontario along the Hudson Bay coast, are quite rare in the south. They winter in the Maritimes (the east) but seldom make their way to the Great Lakes. Black-throated Grey Warblers are warblers from western North America (the west). Although they are the most common western warbler vagrant, they are still quite a treat to come across. Lucky for me, those two rarities stuck around until this past Saturday, when I planned to go and try to see them.

The first stop of the day was Humber Bay park in Toronto. We got there early (with my friend Ethan in tow), as the eider was known to head out further into the lake as the day progressed, It did not take us long to see her.

Some other waterfowl present included Long-tailed Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, and White-winged Scoters.

Long-tailed Duck

There was a lingering Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I don't get to see too many mockingbirds down where I live, or any for that matter, so seeing one was a treat (despite my Toronto friends laughing when I told them that)

We went to quickly check out Colonel Sam Park afterwards. Nothing really of note was found, but Red-necked Grebe and another mockingbird were highlights (I don't see many Red-necked Grebes either!)

Northern Mockingbird

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-necked Grebe

I saw a bunch of this plant, Oriental Bittersweet, on this day.

We went down to Burlington in hopes of spotting the Black-throated Grey Warbler. As soon as we arrived we saw a group of 25 people all looking in the same direction. We figured that was a good sign.

Within a couple minutes we saw our target bird.

After enjoying the warbler, we went out to see what other birds we could find. There was a lot of waterfowl on the bay.

Mallard

Ring-billed Gull

Common Goldeneye

Redhead

Canvasback

Carolina Wren

All three species of swans could be found.

Trumpeter Swans

Mute Swans

Tundra Swan

With all the bird feeders, there were plenty of fat squirrels.

We decided to try and see if we could get any better photos of the warbler before we left. Everyone else had left by that point, so when we found him again we had him to ourselves pretty much, there were a couple other people just arriving to enjoy it as well. It took some patience, and many failed photos due to the warbler hiding behind leaf (so many perfect shots ruined!), but we left with some photos we were very happy with!

Nothing like the feeling of seeing some good birds!

Toronto Twitches...and Dips

Yesterday I went to Toronto to hopefully catch a few of the rarities that have been reported.

My first stop was Colonel Sam Smith park, where I met up with Jeremy and Tim, who were looking to add a reported Purple Sandpiper to their Ontario Big Years. I also was able to finally meet some young birders with whom I have been communicating with online. Unfortunately, the Purple Sandpiper never showed itself, but we did see this Snowy Owl!

I checked out Rotary Park after for the reported Tufted Duck, but saw that the raft of scaup were in fact the next park down the shoreline. I did see a few ducks around this park though.

Redhead

I went to the next park over, just to realize it was actually the NEXT park over...

I finally arrived at the right park, and carefully scanned the scaup, and guess what? I couldn't pick out the Tufted Duck! No doubt he is still there, but I just couldn't find him!

I went to Tommy Thompson Park to meet up with yet another young birder, Owen Strickland. We tried for Long-eared Owls, but couldn't find any! We did hear from another birder that he had what was most likely a PURPLE SANDPIPER!!! After a quick call to Jeremy, we spent the next two hours trying to locate the sucker along the shoreline. Unfortunately, we had to abandon the search due to a sudden snow squall, but at least we can say we tried! The Snowy Owls we saw along the way were a decent consolation prize.

I was almost out of the park, when I looked over and in the fading light, saw what appeared to be a Northern Shrike about 20 feet away from me. "Great", I thought, and snapped a few photos. Imagine my surprise when I checked the photos to see how they turned out, and realized that it was not a shrike, but my Ontario lifer Northern Mockingbird!

I managed to snap a few more photos before it flew away, which I though turned out pretty nice considering that there was very little light left. It was a pretty darn good ending to an otherwise "slow" day!

I can't believe that the year is almost over! Thanks to everyone who made this year super special, and I can't wait to have an even better (and bigger :p) year in 2018!!!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Toronto?!?!

Yesterday, on my way home from the Ontario Nature Youth Summit (more about that later), I stopped into Tommy Thompson Park to look for the reported Fork-tailed Flycatcher. I had first heard about the bird when I decided to check ONTBIRDS between workshops at the summit, and imagine my surprise when I saw that such a rare bird had been spotted in a location that was one my way home (with a minor detour).

For those who don't know, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher is a VERY rare bird to North America and the ABA area. Their normal range is from central Mexico to South America, so one showing up in Ontario, or really anywhere in Canada or the United States, is quite something!

Normal Range of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Source: Cornel Lab of Ornithology 

I arrived at Tommy Thompson Park about an hour before Sunset.

I didn't have a bike, so I began the 15 minute jog to the flycatcher spot...it was quite the warm evening so it wasn't too enjoyable!

I had a little bit of difficultly finding the right spot, but after calling my friend Owen, who had seen it earlier, I was able to sort it out, and before long we spotted the Fork-tailed high in a dead tree.

I had only my 250mm lens with me, so photos are not the best quality, but they turned out better than I thought they would!

It was seen sallying out for insects many times.

For some reason, the photos above make it look the sky was all grey and depressing. That was not the case, and there were many colours as the sunset.

Other than the flycatcher, there were also some Black-crowned Night-Herons, Trumpeter Swans, Caspian Terns, and a Sora.

Black-crowned Night-Herons

Trumpeter Swans

It was a successful day, and I thank Mom for going out of her way to let me see the bird.

More on the youth summit soon...there are many exciting things coming!

Charitable Big Day: Toronto Report

This is the second part to the Charitable Big Day report (You can read part one here). Thanks to Owen for writing this report!

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On Sunday, September 10th, I participated in the charitable big day in a joint effort with my good friend Quinten Wiegersma and my father. We had a great time and ended up seeing 103 species, a pretty impressive total! I myself was stuck in one place all day, the Tommy Thompson Bird Banding Station (I was volunteering to assist with banding) but this was no problem, as the migrants were out in full force there. One of the first birds I saw was this Canada Warbler. What a great start to the day!

Other Warblers, such as Black-Throated Blue and Green, Cape May, Nashville and Palm were also numerous.

Tennessee Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Cape May Warbler

As the day went on, I managed to nab a few of my target birds in between net rounds. I found a Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher along the fish gate road, and saw several Caspian Terns.

Caspian Tern

Great Egret and Lincoln's Sparrow were also nice surprises, as was a close-proximity Great Blue Heron flyby.

Lincoln's Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

On the non-bird side of things, I managed to see one Tiny Dekay's Brownsnake sheltering under a rock and several Mink, one of which was leucistic. In addition, I was able to see my first Leopard Slugs!

The biggest surprise of the day was seen on a net round. While approaching one of the mist nets, I spotted a small sparrow fly in and get itself caught. Upon approaching, I realized that it was a Clay-Coloured Sparrow! This was to be the first banded at the TTP station.

Other interesting finds followed. An Olive-Sided Flycatcher, an Eastern Wood-Pewee and a few Lincoln's Sparrows were seen passing through, and a House Wren was heard chattering.

A few shorebird and waterbird species were added to the list around the same time, as I continually checked the shoreline. There was little diversity, unfortunately, but I could hardly complain with the huge assortment of Passerines around! Soon the nets were closing and, tired, I headed home. But as I was leaving, I had one last parting gift: crippling views of a beautiful nonbreeding plumage Scarlet Tanager (Perhaps better called Sulfur Tanager?). I met up with my dad and combined my list with his, adding several species such as American Coot, Northern Harrier and Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

Rose-breasted Gosbeak

Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Northern Harrier

American Coot

Overall, we saw 78 species, with most of these being passerines. 

Definitely a successful day! A huge thank you to Quinten for getting me involved in this!

Photos: Owen Ridgen, David Ridgen, Tommy Thompson Park (Clay-colored Sparrow)

Cumulative day list. Bold means that it was recorded only on the Toronto list:

1. Canada Goose
2. Mute Swan
3. Trumpeter Swan
4. Hooded Merganser
5. Wood Duck
6. Gadwall
7. Blue-winged Teal
8. Northern Shoveler  
9. Mallard  
10. Green-winged Teal  
11. Canvasback
12. Redhead
13. Common Merganser  
14. Pied-billed Grebe  
15. Double-crested Cormorant   
16. Great Blue Heron
17. Great Egret  
18. Green Heron
19. Black-crowned Night-Heron
20. Cooper’s Hawk
21. Northern Harrier  
22. Turkey Vulture  
23. Osprey
24. Bald Eagle  
25. Broad-winged Hawk  
26. Red-tailed Hawk
27. American Coot
28. Killdeer
29. Spotted Sandpiper
30. Solitary Sandpiper
31. Semipalmated Sandpiper  
32. Greater Yellowlegs   
33. Lesser Yellowlegs  
34. Ring-billed Gull   
35. Herring Gull  
36. Caspian Tern  
37. Rock Pigeon  
38. Mourning Dove  
39. Common Nighthawk  
40. Ruby-throated Hummingbird  
41. Belted Kingfisher
42. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
43. Red-bellied Woodpecker
44. Downy Woodpecker
45. Hairy Woodpecker  
46. Northern Flicker  
47. Pileated Woodpecker  
48. Olive-sided Flycatcher  
49. Eastern Wood-Pewee
50. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
51. Least Flycatcher
52. Eastern Phoebe
53. Philadelphia Vireo  
54. Warbling Vireo  
55. Red-eyed Vireo  
56. Blue Jay   
57. American Crow
58. Common Raven  
59. Barn Swallow  
60. Black-capped Chickadee  
61. Red-breasted Nuthatch  
62. House Wren
63. Winter Wren
64. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
65. Swainson's Thrush
66. American Robin
67. Gray Catbird
68. European Starling  
69. Cedar Waxwing  
70. Yellow-Rumped Warbler
71. Black-And-White Warbler
72. Nashville Warbler
73. Common Yellowthroat
74. American Redstart
75. Cape May Warbler
76. Northern Parula
77. Tennessee Warbler
78. Magnolia Warbler
79. Bay-Breasted Warbler
80. Blackburnian Warbler
81. Yellow Warbler
82. Chestnut-Sided Warbler
83. Blackpoll Warbler
84. Black-Throated Blue Warbler
85. Palm Warbler
86. Pine Warbler
87. Black-Throated Green Warbler
88. Canada Warbler
89. Wilson's Warbler
90. Clay-colored Sparrow
91. Lincoln’s Sparrow
92. Chipping Sparrow  
93. Song Sparrow  
94. Scarlet Tanager  
95. Northern Cardinal   
96. Rose-breasted Grosbeak  
97. Indigo Bunting
98. Red-winged Blackbird  
99. Brown-headed Cowbird
100. Common Grackle
101. House Finch
102. American Goldfinch  
103. House Sparrow