The first day of our week's vacation, no long distance travelling this time, and Jean and I would ride our bikes to Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario. Though we did not have our binoculars we observed many birds while riding along 12 Mile Creek and upon seeing 2 Common Terns (first for 2009) flying along the shore of the beach at Lakeside Park a simple bike ride became our first day of GreenBirding. Any future GreenBirding rides will include a backpack containing binoculars.
I first became aware of GreenBirding while reading a few birding blogs last year (blogs responsible for the creation of my 2 cents worth of birding adventures). At the time BIGBY sparked an interest but I never did follow through. A new year and though it is half over, the start of a new list seemed appropriate.
During the ride we covered 20 kilometres cycling to Port Dalhousie and back. We observed a total of 21 species from our bikes and if we had not stopped to talk to Jean's Dad and Ruth (on their daily walk) it most likely would have been less. Frank pointed out a Black-crowned Night-Heron in the willows off of the trail and I spotted a Yellow Warbler in the branches of a nearby tree while we were chatting.
Hopefully we will have some chances to add more species to our "Green List" before the weather takes a turn for the worse. After a couple months of collecting data I will submit a list to the duo at "The Way of the Sparrow".
An American White Pelican has been spotted in Hamilton Harbour. We'll be looking to add it to the year list some time later this week. The same one we observed in the harbour last year?
Bird sightings during Le Tour Update:
During Sunday's stage, Phil pointed out a "local buzzard" as it was flying above the peloton. He added that "....it was most likely looking for roadkill I think...". Or possibly some riders that had "cracked" and had no more courage remaining in their suitcases.
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