Our Own "Big Year" Review, Ticks Not Yet Posted

2011 is quickly coming to an end and year lists will soon reset to zero. Though Jean and I had some misses this year, 2011 turned out to be better than I anticipated. Currently the list stands at 216 species, 8 more than last year's personal best. No where near Barb Charlton's amazing run of 322 species, but beating a personal best is always sweet. Ticking 300+ species in one year for the provincial list will have to wait until time is more readily available (retirement).

Speaking of time. I never did get the chance to post the late summer and fall ticks. Not sure what happened. There were some really good birds during these weeks. A few required some work (hiking along a trail and climbing over fallen Willows for example) and some simply fell into my lap. Whatever the case, there was never an outing that I did not enjoy.

Looking for Orchard Oriole:


July 30


Over 30 species were observed while walking along the Dofasco Trail 2000 in Stoney Creek and only one of them was added to the year list. We were looking for Orchard Oriole and like last year, there was no sign of North America's smallest oriole. As a consolation, we spotted our first of the year Field Sparrow (#184). I should change my plans for next year. Jean and I will go looking for Field Sparrow and we'll end up finding Orchard Oriole.

August 1


It's been over two years since we last observed Orchard Oriole, even longer when specifically looking over my Glenridge Naturalization Site list. In May of 2007, Jean and I watched a female Orchard Oriole weave a nest while we were birding in the former quarry/municipal dump.

We walked 2.0 km of trails and ticked 25 species.

Still no Orchard Oriole. It's another year without this bird.


 August 7: OFO Rock Point Trip


Thankfully, it was an overcast day. Birding at Rock Point and the surrounding area can be uncomfortable when the sun is blazing down on Haldimand County. I was looking for shorebirds and Rock Point Provincial Park in August is worth your time and energy.

The group spent an hour exploring the shoreline of the park. Jean and I added Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs to the year list. Oddly, we found no Ruddy Turnstone. We've observed this species the last 4 years when birding at Rock Point. Can I really afford to miss this one in 2011?

At the evaporation ponds north of the park, 4 more ticks for the year list. Additional shorebirds added included, Solitary Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Greater Yellowlegs. In the waterfowl category, we observed a Green-winged Teal. The list stood at 194 species and we had yet to scan the sod farms for Black-bellied Plover.

John Black and Dan Salisbury (trip leaders) scouted the sod farms the previous day and found nothing. The day of the trip produced the same result. No Black-bellied Plover. Two shorebirds missed.

Cottage Bound

In mid-August, Jean and I headed up to the cottage my brother-in-law was renting for a week of relaxing on the sands of Inverhuron.

Repeating last year's route, we stopped off at the Luther Marsh in Dufferin County before continuing on to the cottage. In 2010, we purposely stopped at the marsh with the intent to tick a lifer bird. Thanks to the appearance of a lost Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, the Luther Marsh is now a planned stop when travelling to the Kincardine and Inverhuron area.

One day was set aside to act as birding guides for friends and family (as per the kids' request). We hiked the Tower Trail in MacGregor Point Provincial Park and found a good selection for the aspiring birders (we can only hope).

What really caught our undivided attention (at least Jean and I) was the announcement of a future bird blind. As stated in the sign, we should be able to access a bird blind when visiting next year. Do I sense a Pileated Woodpecker tick?

There were no avian additions to the year list in Bruce County, but Jean did some good spotting on the Tower Trail when she found this Spring Peeper. The kids enjoyed seeing this amphibian up close and snapped a few pics themselves.

Heading home last year, we drove through the town of Mitchell and unknowingly let two lifers (possibly three) slip through our fingers. Godwits! This year, I was not about to let that happen again. So, we stopped in the small town that is the "Home of Howie Morenz" to see exactly what all the fuss is about these former sewage lagoons.

Tell a non-birder you visited a sewage lagoon while on vacation and they look at you as if it was a total waste of a good vacation. Tell a birder and they'll ask you, "what you get?".

Waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds and gulls abound.

Including 3 Black-bellied Plover (#195), a shorebird species missed at the sod farms in Dunnville. The lagoons were a worthwhile stop on a late summer afternoon.

In late August, we stopped by another former sewage lagoon, The Wetland Ridge Trail in Niagara-on-the-Lake, after a family picnic. We were there to look or should I say hear our annual Common Nighthawk tick. I could still see my hand in front of my face, but there was not enough light to see any of the 8 Common Nighthawks that were hidden in the trees.

September 5


No luck finding Ruddy Turnstone when revisiting Rock Point for my father-in-law's birthday in early September. There were no tricks involved. He really wanted to go there!

September 17 & 18: OFO Annual Convention


The annual OFO convention is held every other year at Point Pelee. Jean and I have still to visit the national park during the height of spring migration and until then, we'll continue with the biannual autumn sojourn. Being a birder that cannot take a week's vacation in May really does smart.

On Saturday morning, we hiked along the Tip. There was a moment of excitement when I heard someone call out Olive-sided Flycatcher. Jean and I have not seen this bird for over three years. It turned out to be a pewee.

After birding the Tip, the North-West Beach, and Sanctuary Pond, Northern Parula was the only FOY tick.

We travelled along Old #3 early Sunday morning for a day of birding in Chatham-Kent with trip leader Blake Mann. At Rondeau Provincial Park, every effort was made to find a warbler not seen this year. You had to be in the right spot at the right time. Prairie Warbler (a lifer tick) and Blackburnian Warbler were missed.

In Blenheim, we had a great afternoon of birding at the sewage lagoons.

Added to the 2011 Ontario list, Red-necked Phalarope.

....walking toward the sprinkler cell (our backs to the lagoon containing the phalarope) Blake turned around to see a large flock of Bonaparte's and quickly called out Little Gull. The moment Jean and I turned around, we were both on the Little Gull at the same time. #199 for the year.

A good selection of shorebirds in the shallows of the sprinkler cell, including a somewhat shy Stilt Sandpiper.

I always enjoy the convention and we're looking forward to next year's at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. An area of Ontario we have never birded.

October 8: OFO Hamilton Trip


Our last FOY ticks before the "Thanksgiving Purple Gallinule" occurred on the OFO trip in the Hamilton area.

The Windermere Basin has undergone a drastic change since the last visit.

The mounds of earth made observing shorebirds quite difficult. Luck was on our side and we ticked a FOY Dunlin. Needless to say, waterfowl were in short supply.

We hiked in the Dundas Marsh in search of a fall visitor. When we last observed this species (lifer tick), the Emberizid was known as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. This time, the FOY tick is listed as a Nelson's Sparrow.

We continued our walk as far as we could along the creek and reached the mud flats of Cootes Paradise. Here we were treated to our lifer Hudsonian Godwit (#309 and #203 for 2011). Even after noting the size of  the shorebird in our field guide, it was still surprising to see that is smaller than the gulls it was keeping company with.

Overall, it was an exciting year. 2011 is practically over and done with. Our total for the year stands at 216 species, barring any last minute additions today. Although perhaps not a huge number with compared to some others out there, we achieved this total while working full time and staying mainly within Southern Ontario. Let the 2012 madness begin!

Happy New Year and Good Birding!

In Search of an Orchard Oriole

August 1

Once again, birds listed on the Hamilton Naturalists Club birding report caught my attention. A female Orchard Oriole with young was seen on the Dofasco Trail. The report also stated this species will soon disappear from the area. What? I can't let another species slip through my fingers. But is it justified to travel to the area atop the Niagara Escarpment to add only one species to the year list? There was no guarantee it would be there when Jean and I hiked the trail. The week before, a Common Moorhen was spotted at the sewage lagoons in Grimsby. That's better. So a plan was set into place. Travel west to Grimsby, stop at the sewage lagoons to search for the Common Moorhen then climb the escarpment for a return visit to the Dofasco Trail. The fact that we did not tick any first of the years our last visit did not even enter my mind.

Water levels in the north lagoon were high for shorebirds. At first, all we found were Killdeer (2) and Spotted Sandpiper (2) on the edges of the small rocky islands in the lagoon but a relentless Eastern Kingbird chasing a larger shorebird had me hoping we had a first of the year. Though the kingbird chased the bird from one end of the lagoon to the other, Jean and I were able to view long yellow legs and a white rump as it flew in a panic-like motion. So we did not find a Common Moorhen but we left the lagoons with a Lesser Yellowlegs added to the year list. On to the Dofasco Trail to look for an Orchard Oriole.

Well, once again we could not find the reported bird. But east of 10th Road, we added two more species to the year list. In a bush at the side of the trail, we found 2 Field Sparrows, a species that Jean and I attempted to view on July 1. The forest edge was full of activity. Indigo Bunting, Yellow Warbler, House Wren, Northern Cardinal and Gray Catbird jumped from branch to branch right in front of us. Then finally, a species I was afraid I might miss this year. 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers joined the mix.

From the shoulder of 10th Road, we scanned the shorebirds found in the shallow pool south of the trail. No new ticks amongst the 45 Killdeer and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs.

Some time was left before heading home so we checked out the boardwalk section of the trail. A few birds but again nothing special or new. Possibly a spring visit to the Vinemount Swamp will yield some good results.



August 2

On the holiday Monday, Jean and I continued our search for an Orchard Oriole at the Glenridge Quarry Naturalization Site. Based on a previous observation of a pair of Orchard Orioles (the female was seen weaving a nest) in 2007, we thought it was worth a try. It was very hot the Civic holiday so we did not hike the former quarry/landfill until late in the afternoon. The Niagara Region has done an excellent job restoring the property into a naturalization site and the success of the transformation was discussed in a recent article in the St. Catharines Standard.

We walked the Loop and Meadow Trails searching the different environments of the site for the bird that will soon leave for its winter home.

27 species were ticked and the only oriole found was a male Baltimore Oriole on the eastern edge of the site that borders with farmland and remnants of an orchard. Has it really been 25 years since I conducted quadrats and transects for a first year biology lab in the nearby field?

So the long weekend ended without an observation of an Icterus spurius. It's looking like I will miss this species of blackbird. The Field Sparrow and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ticks were a relief though. There are only so many species that I can afford to not encounter. Shorebirds are next on the agenda. Let's hope species seen last year are repeated during the OFO trip to Rock Point. Is it too much to ask for a lifer Buff-breasted Sandpiper?

A Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day

Don't let it get away

Bono

Beautiful Day

During the week of June 30, the nation's birthday shortened the work-week on Thursday July 1 and when there is day off, Jean and I usually spend part of that day birding.

On June 30, the Ontario year list stood at 163 species. The last 2 additions were incidentals and they are described on eBird Canada as "observations made when birding was not your primary purpose." We spotted a Great Egret in flight as we headed for the Canada-U.S. border for a day at the Buffalo Zoo with our niece and nephew. Though it was not a birding trip, I started a New York list with some usual suspects. A Peregrine Falcon was #163 and it could not have been an easier tick. Jean and I were sitting on the back steps after a day's work when a bird flew towards us from the east. For a brief moment I thought the bird was very large for a dove but as it past over our position and then our house, there was no doubt that we had seen a Peregrine Falcon.

OK. So we knew we would be birding on Dominion Day but the question was where? An e-mail settled the dilemma quite easily. The weekly Hamilton Naturalists Club birding report came through on Ontbirds and informed all that some good birds were seen in the fields surrounding the Dofasco Trail on 10th Road East near Hamilton. Birds needed for the year list included, Willow Flycatcher, Field Sparrow and Black-billed Cuckoo. So off to Saltfleet we went.

Prior to this latest visit, Jean and I have birded the area surrounding 10th Road East a handful of times. All due to reports on Ontbirds.

In July of 2007, we observed a lifer Eurasian Collared-Dove at the intersection of Ridge Road and Fifty Road (east of 10th Road E). The dove was the second record for the Hamilton area and fourth for the province of Ontario. Later that year, we returned to the area on Boxing Day to view a Northern Hawk Owl (lifer #227). The owl stayed in the area for quite some time and we ticked it again in late January for the 2008 year list.

July 1 was the first time we hiked along the Dofasco Trail. The trail is used for cycling,walking and cross-country skiing and provides good vantage points for observing shorebirds resting in the flooded fields in the spring. From the 10th Rd parking area, we walked east along the trail.

American Goldfinches were plentiful.

No Field Sparrow along this section of the trail but a Savannah Sparrow sat still long enough for a digiscoped image.

Many Song Sparrows were observed as well.

After a short break and an exchange of lifers seen over the past year with another birding couple, Jean and I walked along the trail west of 10th Road.




Still no Field Sparrow. More Eastern Kingbirds and quite a few more Song Sparrows.

We decided to turn around before reaching 8th Road East. West of 8th Rd. the trail continues, cutting through Vinemount Swamp and eventually reaching the Devil's Punch Bowl. We thought it best be left for another day, when we are more prepared for a mosquito infested environment. On the way back to the car, Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink were observed in the field north of the trail. The best bird of the day was right on the trail. A Brown Thrasher!

For all of 2009, we went without observing this species. "Bummer.", another birder I recognized from OFO trips replied upon hearing of my thrasher woes. Though we had ticked a thrasher during the Carden Alvar trip, I was thrilled to get a closer look at this bird as it strolled along the gravel path.

No additions to the year list on this hike. Field Sparrow and Black-billed Cuckoo remain to be ticked. But as it was Canada Day, it still turned out to be a beautiful day. Happy Canada Day José! Wherever you are.