tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56966102558755713452024-03-05T03:10:15.575-08:00I'm Just Here for the BirdMy continuing adventure to see all the birds. Check out my 2012 Big Year at my2012bigyear.blogspot.comRobert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.comBlogger162125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-16808730785032449152021-01-18T20:37:00.004-08:002021-01-18T20:37:31.898-08:00Owls and Hawks and Eagles Everywhere - Oh My<p> As I get to know Brant and surrounding counties, one thing has become clear, Bald Eagles rule the roost, supported by hawks, American Crows and owls. Just in the past few days I have seen both adult and juvenile Bald Eagles just about every day. And you can’t drive a mile without seeing American Crows. But the real score this past weekend were the owls. On Saturday I was able to find, with the help of a long time resident and local birder, a Long-eared Owl and following another report, got to see, not one, but five Short-eared Owls on Sunday evening.</p><p>The Long-eared Owls are only easy to find during the day, often high up in evergreen trees, and the Short-eared Owls are only visible at dusk as they take off from their hiding places to hunt mice and other prey during the night. Both are from a family of “eared” owls, but what we’re seeing are not ears but tufts of feathers that to our human eyes just appear to be ears. Both are often difficult to photograph, as the Long-eared Owls are usually high in the trees, in the shadows, obscured by branches. The Short-eared Owls, coming out at dusk, leave you with little light to capture them as the fly, quickly changing directions as they hunt. As a bonus while watching for the Short-eared Owls, I heard a Great-horned Owl calling and watched Northern Harriers, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawk hunting before they turned in for the night.</p><p>Earlier in the week I saw a huge flock of Common Redpolls and one Hoary Redpoll, which is hard to pick out from a giant flock and even more difficult to photograph. This morning I birded along the SJ Johnson (Wax) Trail and spotted a female Canvasback that eBird says is rare for this area and my first Bufflehead of the year. Yesterday morning, after seeing the Long-eared Owl, I saw my first American Tree Sparrows for the year and I enjoyed watching two juvenile Bald Eagles spreading their wings and learning to hunt.</p><p>So, another productive week of birding in and around Brant County. Though I miss birding in Colonel Sam Smith Park back in Toronto, I am quite enjoying myself here on the edge of the country where there is no shortage of open roads and birds to see every day.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0DMewpc75sg1KhGdIVdbHPUhgnzP0AKHnPn5YxxEIKPd_cmP0RMJjgO70ttuFoJvL5l6VerFWowgtuGJz9l4DvOLB6o-sk_LRgvwdVZEr7tih2frAhuOfrCr4xn668Ib2KrM39MqIPU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1508" data-original-width="1508" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0DMewpc75sg1KhGdIVdbHPUhgnzP0AKHnPn5YxxEIKPd_cmP0RMJjgO70ttuFoJvL5l6VerFWowgtuGJz9l4DvOLB6o-sk_LRgvwdVZEr7tih2frAhuOfrCr4xn668Ib2KrM39MqIPU/w640-h640/IMG_8693.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8MoVSeJPfWaCAPNjxwfJLEFvlZ9OG66V9hJQaS9WrNbwF3vZ_VNbSXJSBKe39AqlsEk8HUAtqY_G2Ckc0ITLf4NRUP58eYxNEKQpGTJGDP57fTVAv4CFLrSxC_UWtM06yowt5lTQ1Jg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8MoVSeJPfWaCAPNjxwfJLEFvlZ9OG66V9hJQaS9WrNbwF3vZ_VNbSXJSBKe39AqlsEk8HUAtqY_G2Ckc0ITLf4NRUP58eYxNEKQpGTJGDP57fTVAv4CFLrSxC_UWtM06yowt5lTQ1Jg/w640-h640/IMG_8688.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRX21tDj4fc30WyskXfTt_Gci6qlp3t7l4c3A017ym4ogUUkDNwF8Q2drYecmW0qPLWWj_vONA2BGw05ctVBR7LAP7bs2BtbWFbCT9NrhkSKlRpUBho4gC0S7PrcmrgMnvOloKXW7dH2M/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1999" data-original-width="1999" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRX21tDj4fc30WyskXfTt_Gci6qlp3t7l4c3A017ym4ogUUkDNwF8Q2drYecmW0qPLWWj_vONA2BGw05ctVBR7LAP7bs2BtbWFbCT9NrhkSKlRpUBho4gC0S7PrcmrgMnvOloKXW7dH2M/w640-h640/IMG_8713.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CL_nSGtJY_XJtlLF0fbt6bayGJ9-37OiwVwBhfmoZBVjxve3_hJcSbzfQCtgNAHb3gFxB6gc7kuJeDJZcRIFLckJ-a3ukFT29CiiJTjix1B5WfaANBu-Mftg73i8JXWoM8Tt2C0nArw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1522" data-original-width="1522" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CL_nSGtJY_XJtlLF0fbt6bayGJ9-37OiwVwBhfmoZBVjxve3_hJcSbzfQCtgNAHb3gFxB6gc7kuJeDJZcRIFLckJ-a3ukFT29CiiJTjix1B5WfaANBu-Mftg73i8JXWoM8Tt2C0nArw/w640-h640/IMG_0504.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ01m27VKUqDSyoK8dJRia697gt5TVoPuRQvXv5bPoyT56jx50eKxkt3uC7GdqKyLjHO1vx7bZK4yBPFBjh4ZniXFH-z1LHAmZMtBHHJsiwhGAGqj-M_7bZ0lJE63VisuDw5CwTLlS0g/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="979" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ01m27VKUqDSyoK8dJRia697gt5TVoPuRQvXv5bPoyT56jx50eKxkt3uC7GdqKyLjHO1vx7bZK4yBPFBjh4ZniXFH-z1LHAmZMtBHHJsiwhGAGqj-M_7bZ0lJE63VisuDw5CwTLlS0g/w640-h640/IMG_8855.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMqNv-6IJA-Hplc1qO_pWxO5B1aSY9mn5LZEwTjSrbHmsdG5wGy_Wi6Ny2DnE1_Incn-ju3C89ygHr3BW87FeYTJkKLo4OKJdEQpCBfSbwiCisiF5wzshNp_iC1J0XVOypNm6-Oyycc0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1622" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMqNv-6IJA-Hplc1qO_pWxO5B1aSY9mn5LZEwTjSrbHmsdG5wGy_Wi6Ny2DnE1_Incn-ju3C89ygHr3BW87FeYTJkKLo4OKJdEQpCBfSbwiCisiF5wzshNp_iC1J0XVOypNm6-Oyycc0/w640-h426/IMG_8737.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgif3E4Iho_WoOvAlsnfLmWjEYB2ZpKzqaAB1BX17eCzW5qwooFAKuv75N2o8jXeo8sjEz0YZ33BzEpJBbv8IjlAPHHisYjLKFkXkFDMzwITw0AVLUiQZ0-2MG3uKeyyUVHOZsPUCDGx2Y/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1291" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgif3E4Iho_WoOvAlsnfLmWjEYB2ZpKzqaAB1BX17eCzW5qwooFAKuv75N2o8jXeo8sjEz0YZ33BzEpJBbv8IjlAPHHisYjLKFkXkFDMzwITw0AVLUiQZ0-2MG3uKeyyUVHOZsPUCDGx2Y/w640-h426/IMG_8463.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-32843080558424055362021-01-07T19:47:00.006-08:002021-01-07T19:57:36.112-08:00Getting to Know Brant County<p>A week into my Brant County Big Year and I have seen a few nifty birds already, including a Cooper's Hawk right outside my front door, a Bald Eagle and Red-tailed Hawk at the Mohawk Street Dump and Common Redpolls and a Rough Legged Hawk up in Paris,(Ontario, not France). I've also been hunting, unsuccessfully. for a Hoary Redpoll and Peregrine Falcon, both of which have been reported by other birders in the first week of 2021. </p><p>Driving around the county, I am finding quiet farm roads and an abundance of nature trails, not to mention ditches at the sides of the farm roads, where I saw a couple of Song Sparrows a couple of days ago. Yesterday in a crystal white field of snow I found a flock of Horned Larks and an American Kestrel on a wire, while looking for a Northern Shrike. Seems I don't always get what I want, but sometimes get what I need, which is a new bird for my year list.</p><p>Today, I added a Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Common Goldeneye, Pine Siskin and a Mute Swan on the SC Johnson Trail. Back in Toronto a Mute Swan would be nothing special, but apparently are rare on the Grand River during the winter in Brant County. The last time I had a Mute Swan come up as rare on my eBird List was a few years down in Florida.</p><br /><p></p><p>Common Goldeneye:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv_kPIj1qPOfC7Xn3FHzcyBC5bcDRkZdVFfA_CER19KsqX2GFcJAG9L2-Uxwd58zwkgwBfprejNCAFKxSbnsfTpengyMil6pmxnBAp8hPWBiwpiU1wnJRal2gnEDMVaIrO0pf9jHZ6VU8/s956/IMG_8307.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="956" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv_kPIj1qPOfC7Xn3FHzcyBC5bcDRkZdVFfA_CER19KsqX2GFcJAG9L2-Uxwd58zwkgwBfprejNCAFKxSbnsfTpengyMil6pmxnBAp8hPWBiwpiU1wnJRal2gnEDMVaIrO0pf9jHZ6VU8/w400-h400/IMG_8307.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Mute Swan:<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Mo3KZ7MKPgheP5RtjKsC19edIhuXDsM9ACa1Cc2O5a0XjbB_PZcJyugCjAe0-hbO9ZUIhpj7kzCa-gMlemhADj16W3VF1pbetSpEKAayRkpR1WRqo75zpf865vn3grBlpDAfppNW6aY/s2048/IMG_8300.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Mo3KZ7MKPgheP5RtjKsC19edIhuXDsM9ACa1Cc2O5a0XjbB_PZcJyugCjAe0-hbO9ZUIhpj7kzCa-gMlemhADj16W3VF1pbetSpEKAayRkpR1WRqo75zpf865vn3grBlpDAfppNW6aY/w400-h400/IMG_8300.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Brown Creeper:</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2wk9NCHhPQZdrUasiZ12s-M6XtHlTURsVQqrHp856UfxzX04COWHDsY_2I1V41Uv7eQ6r574YGHXUGkmRjBFHC0JMv0kUa-eR2Bs76N3B1VWgl5_scGlhH8rPTiSP-TQhXOV9n_Kjs8/s761/IMG_8290.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="761" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2wk9NCHhPQZdrUasiZ12s-M6XtHlTURsVQqrHp856UfxzX04COWHDsY_2I1V41Uv7eQ6r574YGHXUGkmRjBFHC0JMv0kUa-eR2Bs76N3B1VWgl5_scGlhH8rPTiSP-TQhXOV9n_Kjs8/w400-h400/IMG_8290.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Horned Lark:</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40K_TRIOF8El2irrEk9poEm8D4grz2XUvyLia27r39gG8gGN1aZS2Wat0yZ_BA9W2U032d94akO_4t7H5w-Hs-9x-tSG9t9RnE9sCKBZAJvUU3nh6Kx6E4BkjCm41akyhI7u67Ig-h3o/s580/IMG_8157.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="580" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40K_TRIOF8El2irrEk9poEm8D4grz2XUvyLia27r39gG8gGN1aZS2Wat0yZ_BA9W2U032d94akO_4t7H5w-Hs-9x-tSG9t9RnE9sCKBZAJvUU3nh6Kx6E4BkjCm41akyhI7u67Ig-h3o/w400-h400/IMG_8157.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">American Kestrel:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_2Um5VUq9ikkr_hIQhEEfAF_GZ8t9yFOEkAyaNUi1ChyphenhyphennRSq9WglLN6P7G9nLPhudBEvf1wLpjulQL2QTuO3kCWRrBIvvbPixp_ywegtt-M41fKcso-NRo_1Uq51i0sqG9iI7HAh4-0/s900/IMG_8132.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_2Um5VUq9ikkr_hIQhEEfAF_GZ8t9yFOEkAyaNUi1ChyphenhyphennRSq9WglLN6P7G9nLPhudBEvf1wLpjulQL2QTuO3kCWRrBIvvbPixp_ywegtt-M41fKcso-NRo_1Uq51i0sqG9iI7HAh4-0/w400-h400/IMG_8132.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rough-Legged Hawk:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zWCVwe2ZGGoiYoMoWLSOGxFQ5gYEBQhJP158R0WKjKAzuuWOsvQBUvDvizY2Y5UbKg1dZ2iVUjnvTLUv-Wwa3JsOBVKV-TJmotdtAc4N5Tg1rcT2HL5TUY-atRXHu8Hd0Ns9tF858Y4/s693/IMG_8071.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="693" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zWCVwe2ZGGoiYoMoWLSOGxFQ5gYEBQhJP158R0WKjKAzuuWOsvQBUvDvizY2Y5UbKg1dZ2iVUjnvTLUv-Wwa3JsOBVKV-TJmotdtAc4N5Tg1rcT2HL5TUY-atRXHu8Hd0Ns9tF858Y4/w400-h400/IMG_8071.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnPqTd5jekmkYrVK-b8YGHscD8P-oCaDTu2jP0cBWagwrBtYZBXCLfoHqk8ZTS8LgxJBMUMoFgVb6eZV8sjARqCmfxYzgTXDyTPQKj0-WjTky_yb7xCVMfk93IdJzTZLsgulv_AN7lZc/s784/IMG_8055.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="784" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnPqTd5jekmkYrVK-b8YGHscD8P-oCaDTu2jP0cBWagwrBtYZBXCLfoHqk8ZTS8LgxJBMUMoFgVb6eZV8sjARqCmfxYzgTXDyTPQKj0-WjTky_yb7xCVMfk93IdJzTZLsgulv_AN7lZc/w400-h400/IMG_8055.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p></div>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-87729667650338401892021-01-01T19:41:00.003-08:002021-01-19T06:16:01.350-08:00January 1, 2021: A New Beginning and a,(smaller), Big Year.<p> I did not keep up with my blog in 2020, sticking mostly to Instagram. I ended 2019 and began 2020 in bad shape with a cracked vertebrae in my spine and finally had surgery on January 22 of 2020. It was a slow recovery and then there was Covid, so it wasn’t a normal year, even for birding. Then both Sue and I found ourselves out of work and it was time to pick up and move from Toronto. We have landed in Brantford, Ontario, an hour west of Toronto in a new home, town and country. Brant County, that is.</p><p>I know pretty much nothing about Brant County and in order to get up to speed on the best places to go birding in my new, local patch, which also includes Long Point, Selkirk and Turkey Point Provincial Parks, I figured, since travel outside Ontario, at this time, is not a thing, why not do a Tri-County Big Year. This will include Haldimand to the southwest and Norfolk Counties to the southeast, along the shores of Lake Erie.</p><p>So, once again, I’m just here for the bird. First up was an Evening Grosbeak, at the crack of dawn this morning. I had visited the feeders at a home in Glen Morris last week, shortly after we moved here, and seen a few females, and figured it was a great bird to start 2021 with, as Evening Grosbeaks are not regular visitors to this locale and I didn’t want to miss a change to get them on my 2021 Brant County List.</p><p>And I wasn’t disappointed. Just as I arrived, I could see 3 or 4 males at the feeders and then, a whole bunch more flew in, roughly 21 to the best of my counting ability. It was early, and cloudy and the light wasn’t great, but I did get a few photos.</p><p>Next, it was off to Mohawk Lake, where, earlier in December my timing was off and I missed the Mew Gull. I am hoping it makes another appearance this year, but in the meantime I counted five gull species for my morning trip: Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, the most species of gull I’ve seen to begin a year.</p><p>My back yard feeders are beginning to attract a few birds now too, including a regularly visiting Red-bellied Woodpecker, to go along with the basic cardinals, chickadees and juncos. </p><p>I will stick close to these three counties for most of the year, but I will still be chasing Lifers whenever I get the chance, and will get to Rondeau Provincial Parks and and perhaps Point Pelee NP in the spring. Maybe by fall we will be able to take trips outside of Ontario. Now wouldn’t that be nice. But in the meantime, Ontario and Brant County in particular, are mine do discover.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-Dx2rydcqq6vCPe0KSZprEZhGg7NXrT-rpi8OfGOXfAsFKgErr03YiIKgFchFn7EGY-tLDX9cld7jkU_MGkgJ7BJHck0wnr_RioVT1aUQaA2dxILIvh7NRY3Kzb7fpnJ5LBiFAFcMSk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1737" data-original-width="1737" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-Dx2rydcqq6vCPe0KSZprEZhGg7NXrT-rpi8OfGOXfAsFKgErr03YiIKgFchFn7EGY-tLDX9cld7jkU_MGkgJ7BJHck0wnr_RioVT1aUQaA2dxILIvh7NRY3Kzb7fpnJ5LBiFAFcMSk/w400-h400/IMG_7911.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1MMl415GZRymsmc8vhGnX9I-uL4bAEaydeBoW2gubEObQT4OpL7LJqPel5Ej8Zaomu13sfSB-9nwbRYKyYJvBcnQOSzo_tyHibLEsRdhuEdCRGmCfy-vKoo_MY6Sqd4Su8qPgEuRg1U/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1MMl415GZRymsmc8vhGnX9I-uL4bAEaydeBoW2gubEObQT4OpL7LJqPel5Ej8Zaomu13sfSB-9nwbRYKyYJvBcnQOSzo_tyHibLEsRdhuEdCRGmCfy-vKoo_MY6Sqd4Su8qPgEuRg1U/w400-h400/IMG_7893.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qjzhHv8hylcybEsVbBPdxDYxjCQqAD1QXmAnvr8z14I9jwc5YdHSgBG9i_fyilmvfK39R_2zPVWZqp0V1YvP6Q2SGVe8E5D4jM9RyG_qUpbL4sSSG30-jLYMR2IA_goq-1eHY8mf0vc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2001" data-original-width="2001" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qjzhHv8hylcybEsVbBPdxDYxjCQqAD1QXmAnvr8z14I9jwc5YdHSgBG9i_fyilmvfK39R_2zPVWZqp0V1YvP6Q2SGVe8E5D4jM9RyG_qUpbL4sSSG30-jLYMR2IA_goq-1eHY8mf0vc/w400-h400/IMG_0417.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-41172465396732058662020-01-02T08:57:00.001-08:002020-01-03T08:44:07.881-08:002019 Ends with a Northern Hawk Owl and 730 Days of eBirdingIt’s been a great year for birding, in that we started the year heading way south to go birding in Ecuador for tropical species and finished a rare visit from a Northern Hawk Owl about forty minutes north of Toronto. I finished 2019 adding 121 birds to the world Life List and 7 ABA Lifers giving me 685,(for a total of 695 in the ABA area on eBird). Speaking of eBird I submitted a list every day of the year for the second straight year and am on a streak that,(including New Years Day 2020), is at 731 days.<br />
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<b>2019 ABA Lifers:</b></div>
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 13.8px;">
Date: Species; ABA Code: State: Notes:</div>
<img class="___tableOptions" id="options_id_4109_afc9_24ac_36fc" src="blob:https://www.blogger.com/fb9f6cc5-3c59-4aa5-8adf-a934b7988073" style="height: 32px; left: 948px; position: absolute; top: 135px; width: 32px; z-index: 101;" /><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="id_4109_afc9_24ac_36fc" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Apr 16, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">Colima Warbler</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Texas</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Big Bend National Park - Chisos Mountains South Rim</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Apr 18, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">Crimson-collared Grosbeak</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Texas</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Quito Mazatlan WBC Female</span></div>
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<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Jun 23, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">Little Egret</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">4</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Maine</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Gilsland Farm Audubon Center - Cumberland</span></div>
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<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Jun 24, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Bicknell’s Thrush</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 13.8px;">
<br /></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Vermont </span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Okemo Ski Area Mount Holly calling at Ludlow Overlook</span></div>
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<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Jul 11, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Pacific Golden Plover</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 13.8px;">
<br /></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">British Columbia</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Delta Peninsula scope view only </span></div>
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<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Sep 16, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">Curlew Sandpiper</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Ontario</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Bellwood Lake, Wellington County</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 92px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Nov 7, 2019</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 237px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">* Ferruginous Pygmy Owl</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 41px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold;">3</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 139px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Texas</span></div>
</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(178, 178, 178); height: 18px; padding: 4px; width: 393px;" valign="top"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"> King Ranch RGVBF </span></div>
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</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 13.8px;">
* The Pygmy Owl was already on my list from Panama as heard only.</div>
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However, that streak may soon end, as I am going into the hospital next week for spinal surgery and expect there to be days where I can’t even look out the window. Once I am home I will be indoors for about a month, birding through the windows at my various bird feeders.<br />
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So, a few weeks ago, word got out of a Northern Hawk Owl and it had been since 2012 since I had seen one, way up north in Hillardton Marsh. I had actually thought to go up there for possible boreal species, but, once again, back issues made it a difficult drive. I drove up as soon as I got the news and was rewarded with great looks at the owl as it sat perched atop a light pole, and the later in a bare tree. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xlaPr5MY6aQw0I2TtMUxeGQcAXsY2rvIBbw4WR9QHRqe-eGqiGKN8UP-gpa_t7BS6e3oZ8J1RjpNS1ljmVDGb0gRRY2YJc5q0oZWMJQy367SnDdwoHq_0Tw3fomqfAkHoluWMcSq4dM/s1600/A520C698-D251-45E6-BC73-8EF69860A456.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xlaPr5MY6aQw0I2TtMUxeGQcAXsY2rvIBbw4WR9QHRqe-eGqiGKN8UP-gpa_t7BS6e3oZ8J1RjpNS1ljmVDGb0gRRY2YJc5q0oZWMJQy367SnDdwoHq_0Tw3fomqfAkHoluWMcSq4dM/s640/A520C698-D251-45E6-BC73-8EF69860A456.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RxyRCgkk5rTw7qUhlrOp0-ch9yn9vOwCjGagBcqhCUIo0hhx2jZSZn7n-WDz_w0javo09QnQbAxm7vLDHcjCnsFNsexy5zQs1bqcIs_wVVQx50H-iXId80ZLSJiZc-8DvIfKtMVX77A/s1600/B85D2A33-0323-46F8-B95E-2CA286E529C1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RxyRCgkk5rTw7qUhlrOp0-ch9yn9vOwCjGagBcqhCUIo0hhx2jZSZn7n-WDz_w0javo09QnQbAxm7vLDHcjCnsFNsexy5zQs1bqcIs_wVVQx50H-iXId80ZLSJiZc-8DvIfKtMVX77A/s640/B85D2A33-0323-46F8-B95E-2CA286E529C1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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That weekend I brought Sue up and she got to enjoy it during a rather heavy snow fall, befitting it’s “northern” designation. The drive home was a bit slippery but worth it for Sue adding another bird to her Life List, edging two ahead of me. The blobs in the photo are from the snow. </div>
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I shot this with my iPhone through my Vortex scope using a <a href="file:///private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/034DEA27-0B08-4612-A3C3-52F01B5FAC77/BlogTouch.app/ui/tablet/html/texteditor/www.phoneskope.com" id="id_e394_8f3c_399e_d1f4">PhoneSkope Adaptor</a>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjTR1_wSJ2nRaCrwNvVl7108dRru5QfBduqMnO3S2IEFsooz5h2m_zvzoCjVY4k8PBkkUREd-8WY4_esunziEnTb98BNWhGUXQeKg0Lj6Nr_secYrvm_CYDEo21e89CRWYrqRNvJgbUc/s1600/5504836C-536C-429D-95DF-AD7E085ACC4A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1197" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjTR1_wSJ2nRaCrwNvVl7108dRru5QfBduqMnO3S2IEFsooz5h2m_zvzoCjVY4k8PBkkUREd-8WY4_esunziEnTb98BNWhGUXQeKg0Lj6Nr_secYrvm_CYDEo21e89CRWYrqRNvJgbUc/s640/5504836C-536C-429D-95DF-AD7E085ACC4A.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_9c5c_70d0_470d_134c" src="blob:https://www.blogger.com/9aee0581-c77a-4481-b3c4-c7130a5f19b6" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip="" /></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">In other rare bird news, closer to home, a Brown Thrasher has been coming a suit feeder in James Gardens, down the road from my home. With my spinal issues and pain it’s harder for me to take long walks and the feeder is a short walk from the parking lot.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBtQW76uoysSxt0IiA7PZ9jzr0yAwQlHzZ7QYGp2AqEJjGZobDAn8qserXR3VGz2VmJjOCgcIq-TdfHrAidXlhMaDGQv2RcFk6yXtALEtYBDB0cv7dIWJdSw4y7qg-_XKSgGE3t6EZ10/s1600/35112B93-73B4-4612-AB19-3214466D048B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBtQW76uoysSxt0IiA7PZ9jzr0yAwQlHzZ7QYGp2AqEJjGZobDAn8qserXR3VGz2VmJjOCgcIq-TdfHrAidXlhMaDGQv2RcFk6yXtALEtYBDB0cv7dIWJdSw4y7qg-_XKSgGE3t6EZ10/s640/35112B93-73B4-4612-AB19-3214466D048B.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Other photos from the park, including the return of the beautiful Common Mergansers:<br />
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-48125129728638603872019-12-06T18:34:00.002-08:002019-12-11T19:12:29.331-08:00700 Days of Birding... and CountingDecember 1, 2019 marked my 700th consecutive day of submitting an eBird list. I have gone birding almost everywhere in Canada and the US along with Panama and Ecuador since I started my list on January 1, 2018. Sometimes it was a full day of birding in the rain forest, and other times it was the regular visitors to my feeders in my back yard. There were days where I didn't see a bird until near sunset and other where I counted pigeons and crows outside my hospital room windows. I'm hoping to make it to the end of the year without missing a day, but that depends on my surgical recovery later this month.<br />
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Since returning from Texas, I have birded mostly at home and out in Hamilton, as I was preparing for a trip to Southern California, in and around San Diego. Unfortunately I have suffered a little spinal injury that will require surgery in the coming weeks, so for now I will just be taking short day trips for birds.<br />
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Down at Colonel Sam I was able to see a late migrating Eastern Meadowlark and a Long-eared Owl:<br />
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A few days later I headed out to Hamilton/Burlington to see if I could find a Barrow's Goldeneye. They are not rare by any means, but they are certainly uncommon in these parts, so any chance to see one without too much of a drive is always welcome. On the way to Grays Road, I stopped at LaSalle Marina to see what was there and was greeted by a leucistic mallard,(which according to eBird, someone mistook for a Garganey):<br />
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At my next stop, I was able to find the Barrow's Goldeneye, but my only shot of it with his head up was in bad light though my scope, and when the sun did finally come out, he was much closer, but was fast asleep:<br />
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Getting back to owls, about a week later the first Snowy Owl of the season arrived at Col. Sam, meaning winter had officially arrived, even if the previous week's snowfall had all melted.<br />
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Yesterday was not just for the birds, but specifically for the gulls. There was a Black-headed Gull down in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which I was unable to see last year, through no lack of trying, and a returning Slaty-backed Gull which I had seen at flying over the Mohawk Landfill in Brantford a year ago, but had a lousy photo of.<br />
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With the help of fellow rare bird chasers Garth and Nancy, I was able to see both. The Black-headed Gull was number 333 for my Ontario Life List, though a photo was not really possible as it could only be seen in flight over the whirlpool rapids on the Niagara River.<br />
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I was luckier with the Slaty-backed Gull this time, getting a photo with my DSLR after getting a good look at it though Garth's scope:<br />
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-69997244741305881252019-11-29T17:09:00.001-08:002019-11-29T19:34:32.422-08:00The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival Finally, after 8 years, I was able to go to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. In previous years I alternately went to either Cape May, NJ or The Yellow Rails and Rice birding Festival. As it happened, the two ABA rarities,(and Lifers), that were reported prior to the festival, a Yellow-green Vireo and a Northern Jacana, had moved on. However, one of the main reasons for the trip this year was to go to King Ranch and finally get to see a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Of course there were other great birds to see along the way, including Aplomado Falcon, Morelett’s Seedeater and a host of south Texas specialty birds and, of course, birders.<div><br></div><div><img id="id_96e4_5238_ae16_4f88" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p0vouH2DsuPyVORvyMRcs69lT99KfY8XAAcAU7F79FUu8Qedn9En_hdbsMY" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_26a0_e703_c113_7c15" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/pBc0lZWF8ZOSKDcMhi_I01PCA4pZcf0Yqmv-Zyw3Nrm6NhI31s_HmjOZEuY" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>The first day I spent at Estero Llano Grande State Park, catching up with Huck Hutchens, the guide who helped me twice during my 2012 Big Year. He does bird walks that are both educational and entertaining, a few times a week and I joined him and a group of birders from the festival for a few hours of entertaining commentary and a lot of great birds.</div><div><br></div><div>Eastern Screech Owl,(McCall’s):</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_4733_9845_16d9_653a" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/iYjlzMhFeTOkqJkOOxyxcKruZN4xVwWbokTvv8ZthoM3sT-KsaHh5Yj6MSw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Vermillion Flycatcher:</div><div><br><img id="id_92f6_b6a5_8c73_4e00" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WbAkdeDmdNVcepqkpR0Q_b_LxNbaCX-HLTLQOrRdfI043ncdE4kS79kIvxM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">White-faced Ibis:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_38cd_97e2_e4e2_bf6e" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/k0xHNZPZnOsnP50NY1FYlXnyRUy6kW-FKiJHtJog3dfzqmT-YIEipJiOJtA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Day Two was the day I had been looking forward to since I began birding. I had heard of King Ranch and the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. I’ve made numerous trips to Texas over the years, but never had been there at the right time to go to King Ranch when the owls were present. A group of us left on a bus at 6:00am and arrived just after sunrise in dense fog. We could see nothing out the windows.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_54fd_9fba_f66b_cd0c" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/XX_GFoN-oeDc4MO5CwysJSYyJXbVAa_nhTKGEymDpl7YgnbBrDLjw5o8SZM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">But not long after, the sun came out and the fog burned off and we were out listening and looking for the Pygmy Owl. </span><br></div><div>It wasn’t long before we were hearing two of them calling on opposite sides of the road. A few of us tried to locate the one calling on one side of the road while the rest of the group eventually caught sight of one on the other side. The three of us ran over, hoping we didn’t miss it, but it sat around, and gave us great views for about half an hour before we needed to move on. It was a new bird for my ABA Life List, though Sue and I had heard one when we were in Panama a few years ago.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_36f4_e327_bb55_da35" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u_XDED8MwMYt9ULexsospvLnSPwIvCX6HmcL-F6-iK-a_iCwKqOmQG-JOOo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl: ABA 683</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_898e_f988_ce33_f97b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cs-nqWADwcyPYokCcHHGFWHP_7nThJJ_5QMzmxIiIW-ydrZjXxoLCdxd4Lw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br>Pygmy Owl from behind, with it’s fake eyes:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_c4c9_4c35_f27d_cb38" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Mzugp0gOPmMfMGN4xKk54SRLcykZjf3SGFPNY1wfl-sToGk1gKnxLmOXN9w" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Later we were all lucky enough to have a Sprague’s Pipit land practically at our feet for a great photo op.</div><div><br></div><div><br><img id="id_592d_199d_51d1_771a" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/CJe3v2e70iTGzfrImPYsg2ENSgeWRSSrsnuj0Oc0vzIi_r6246TchDPHuTA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>White-tailed Hawk:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_beed_6d6c_4eb4_49aa" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/c6rOL7jcPoHcHVPPDhTNpTC1tpwYzeValURxO4brlqu3U13_rIdIB6UAoL8" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>My only other Lifer,(1135), of the trip was a Mexican Duck, newly added on eBird as a separate species. Hopefully it will be added to the ABA List in the near future. This was down at the Rio Grand River in Salineno at the base of the Falcon Dam. It was a cold and rainy day and I didn’t spend much time there, but I did stop in at the Salineno Wildlife Preserve, where I saw all three of their specialty Orioles.</div><div><br></div><div>Mexican Duck:</div><div><br><img id="id_20e3_bf61_fde6_f6f6" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/mjtp6OFcMXbzPiaQv2BTq3Av5ggameYL5GcSnRB43G4HBIoMjlIkRYsY5r0" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Audubon’s Oriole:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_1bb2_2022_1cdc_6c93" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BXsTkoxecFPfAGlKzccC-2xKMOBmEv5snv6id6_zjdMRPYPYi489yXhdZKU" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Altamira Oriole:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_85b9_e1b1_f474_a4a9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2MFmblidEjJJILOvxzvpri-kil4xksVWUQ5P8eW0LZVlONEdG4IFmOOCi1U" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Hooded Oriole:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_6693_ab23_8bd7_a849" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/nN3gJ6DPcHrWlJ8mXQ67C9FGoB7t9X1FLRoASVvhhMJv6ddOzdMT2QTe6Vg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Lots of other birders from the festival were there and while we were watching the orioles a Olive Sparrow came out from the bushes.</div><div><br><img id="id_c42d_668f_682f_40d1" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/XwlGBUCD4mpxo1FN_Q1uONCiDuLjmlL3styc8cTXyzVssMHtuoIvJZ91P6I" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_fc88_93ad_46e8_7b82" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/3MWCc8lGZebDJiY47gEgbqfADLktm8sD67ASK305bSlRSQAhjhUBvu2QZIM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The next day I went over to South Padre Island and was treated to a fine show of migrating songbirds, including male and female Summer Tanagers.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_63c6_7466_827a_673b" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/iYFJXRstGp_jCankPARd7Nav89_hLDmg412UH1LpGAhKOlqPMf5BFF-Jr3E" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div><img id="id_7e84_2e26_4bb_75d5" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/cwlewa-o3mnWYZaUTlER72McCNOWXeYuLAPaF3rvY8o1AY5w1fLKp1MJIe8" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">On the way back to Harlingen I stopped along route 100 for a look at the Aplomado Falcon. I got two for the price of one!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_539f_6cb2_de47_66f4" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4d2Z8jnAJi-QIwvZRgmGzI6_1aoLXnmmRJxGyF7YoJH3X3Vd55mIbsx3LrM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_98a_143d_850c_d307" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ySjjVZgqsf9rOS7nbPhZ85OBSFD2A--hFlEv5swFRTiYqmaccIxE7QItClY" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_d0a0_20e5_699e_501" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/M-TNgHTrRuwXp8pqhcedymvDsI7ooIHLmGCC8iPBHEcbJyJuRuSiqttT9mU" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I spent my last full day back at Salineno, looking once more for Morelett’s Seedeater. Before even looking for the seedeater I spotted a Gray Hawk.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_2f0_3082_788f_1569" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Ls6jEC2fBpeiq_3ShiRTZGfZbGzEykTj4-5u7ibhggPmGjkT3cFXxlZelms" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">But that was all we were seeing. After a long wait, a few of the other birders went exploring and found a pair of Barn Owls in a cliff wall nest. I left the seedeater watch and found the hole in the wall where the owls were peeking out.</span></div><div><br><img id="id_1805_a70a_65b3_f334" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/I1Q6oKM3oAQRnIqwEyxab0uEbUaFIAsuWNWFmJAXsykc6hiUaBrOdi7PdEM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_dcfb_af1d_cf2_9ef0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cn2a3m44M_GC5JMqHbMn51DiG-Kknlb3CCiRsxXP_pXIkqWJ8clvUCcXojQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b728_9f27_705a_5f90" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zChMkOm7obVwVcPGPAOq2O4UnT7KQ4_fNR1CidP75h9aVxvhw_6-avJPy3I" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Luckily, once I came back from viewing the Barn Owls, I wasn’t too late for the seedeater. There was woman there looking for the seedeater as well, and we continued the seedeater watch together, and we were lucky to have a Green Kingfisher land practically at our feet.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_351f_f515_ec0b_19a8" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/80IEjeXF7cGa81lYlUPO-x0N8hBoz0O8F27ReeqKJt-VsyH_t6SS6XXx5GA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It wasn’t long after that I heard the seedeater chip note. We followed the sound and eventually found a female seedeater who posed for a couple of minutes so I could get my first photos of a Morelett’s Seedeater.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_74d3_c21e_44aa_8098" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/j4wwqpCQ_4_nGK8CW89KTd5wTvMyNyTC-BHHiOtugH5bzIiRlqfyAdSJ6uQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>I had a great time at the RGVBF and look forward to returning again some year.</div><div><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br><br><br></span><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div><div><br><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-62974784956695357772019-11-11T13:15:00.001-08:002019-11-11T13:15:29.189-08:00Return to California and More Lifers in OntarioAs summer came to an end, it was time to head west again. Recent fall trips have been to Cape May, NJ, but this year Debi Shearwater was doing final journeys leading pelagics from the San Francisco Bay Area and having been on a number of them since doing my Big Year in 2012 I thought it would be nice to be on her last trip from Half Moon Bay. This would also be Sue’s first pelagic, not counting all the whale watching trips she’s been on. And we did see whales and dolphins, but the real stars of the show were the seabirds. Having been on many of these trips before, I did not get any Lifers, but Sue did and by the end of our trip to California she was close to catching me on on our personal Life Lists. I also didn’t get sea sick, so along with some great photographs, the trip was an exciting and sentimental success. <div><br></div><div><img id="id_d0a7_36d8_2f5e_aeca" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/7ZPBOA7HnILfo7_00wcweIBFR2Cj5c01xGyuXT3UARWlFvXv1OWw6cAials" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b1f5_f3bf_dfcd_d646" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ZYx-CxctX1i5UxnjbEFRDpKaiymcyHp3Rp5Hyh-p7tviyu6rwlgErJvgG4Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_32ff_6ef9_93c9_ebd9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ypG7O5hfYfgsGYLHqel2U3vQ54w67_Q6NOVTS8COcXI7H8x8BXXZ4Wb7IWY" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><img id="id_28d7_4e40_85eb_4571" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/NozF7RFSE7B3nsu6Iul91RAnaZY8PkR3VGThvHWI8gAZ7Yy0kI2bTx69kNE" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><div>We had flown in to San Francisco and there was a rare bird alert for a Yellow-green Vireo in Golden Gate Park, so we headed straight there from the airport and spent the afternoon searching with a few other birders, but just didn’t have time to stay and find it before having to head to our lodging for the night. Alas, just before sunset, someone did report it again. I’ll have to save that one for another chase, but I did finally get photos of a Pygmy Nuthatch after nearly 8 years of trying.<br><div><br></div><div><img id="id_585_b43a_4c1_7105" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/u9xDu1dJVVyZlJvt_pmWdIqAWT8PbX3sFbAYNdDgJcmxU23Om9mBBqiKAmM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div>While in the Bay Area I couldn’t resist visiting Apple Park,(where I got interesting looks because of my resemblance to Steve Jobs), and also visit the Winchester Mystery House, where amazing cake artist, Christine McConnell had built a near perfect replica of the house out of gingerbread.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_e983_508c_cfa4_c34c" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/o3MNEI91_NpV68z4kdgqxFn-tVVj2s8srbEFxKXSixujjdOWxZzLWOSA1_0" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_40a4_cda1_bc92_feac" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XWYgfcNwnTJ6tQ29ffzIl5FhaRu9vsmoUItUMpErMYohdpQycWDH9fM6xdM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Our next stop was Pinnacles National Park, one of the homes of the California Condor. We made a stop along the Airline Highway for Yellow-billed Magpies, another lifer for Sue. On the way to the mountain trail to hike for condors, we stopped at the bridge known for Lawrence’s Goldfinch. I had tried for them on my 2012 trip with no success, eventually getting to see some in Arizona a few months later. Within 10 minutes of searching we were hearing and eventually got to see this elusive goldfinch. Sue added another Lifer and passed me on our friendly Life List competition.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_93b5_cdf5_f6ba_66b7" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4GrrYTIZ1YPl0ZFJ3mOIn7H2c5ymMaWNkVRJXpm0ciJKB75ea4G7s9p8nUA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_9036_3528_dc84_2b43" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_N8N1AJMszmBfU1fXIQp2zmAPlt9xoGv62FtWlOHx7cfeoUJIczOkvN9Ilc" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div>I had been to Pinnacles a couple of year ago and did a tough three mile hike to finally see the condors, only months after spinal surgery. We gad arrived early in the day to beat the heat. We set out for the bird and what I thought would be a difficult hike and had not even hiked a mile when we spotted one condor, then a second. One landed in a nest hole and a second landed on the rail of the viewing platform about a quarter mile further on. We stood there and got great looks and didn’t even have to venture further up the mountain. Once again the birding luck was with Sue and she added yet another Lifer.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_a21c_3c91_a48a_c101" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/KVj4xGLfGBkZKCGh33M-6p5B2tsXw8TJdJHicdZBwKq-VAQ9DjVNbNShtzA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_8674_da9a_6be4_50d1" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/raKZo6z9Fp-YMhj02ktPuj1sd9kRFC4LYaq4k5GIzRxy4b7DLgtb_mdMPW4" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3099_177_b646_3c64" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Nmep-MnaCUjvouC7UrZbR3eFm_uK8PvYHQssxjLHptpFWoIA3wrcxATdgNg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div>The next day we went to Big Sur, another great spot for condor viewing, but in his case my goal was a photo of a Wrentit,(another bird that is proof that men name birds. Only birders can talk about tits and boobies and not sound rude). I’ve seen the skulky and elusive Wrentit numerous times, but they have always been too flighty to get a clear photo. Finally, this one sat still out in the open for long enough for us to get good looks and photos.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_eb21_9e70_3e58_f32b" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/2kHKwycpLlU57xbdIevXcvApid5_xBRN0AiDZ0pRpLy2Ci_mUdLpDKSFZEw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div>Back home fall was in full swing with the trees in brilliant color and the migrating birds all but gone. That didn’t mean a rarity or two wouldn’t show up and that is the fun of fall birding in Ontario. Twice this fall I have been out of town when a Black-throated Sparrow and Western Kingbird showed up. Odds of them making another appearance in completely different locations was seemingly low, yet that is what happened, both on the same day. They previous day I had seen my first Ontario Golden Eagle at the Cranberry Marsh Hawk Watch. That evening I heard of a Black-throated Sparrow showing up in Oakville and I headed there the next morning along with a gaggle of other chasers from the GTA. With all those eyes searching it didn’t take long to find the bird. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_14bf_fd98_124d_bc7a" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fLIzju-2Y9v1xn8Nyzrw8QwpbVP5zd8zlH8B2AIyJlQUyNjUYDn5dZWiFlo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Then people started talking about a Western Kingbird seen less than a half hour drive near Hamilton. After figuring out directions from the sparrow sighting a convoy formed up and we all headed to the Desjardins Canal and again, thanks to lots of searching eyes, we found it in short order and after chasing it to and fro for a while, it settled on a branch for all to see, photograph and enjoy. That brought my Ontario List to 331 and my year list to 522.</div></div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_1a59_651e_96f5_5111" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/d6YL7RxReMf33npjpxi1wbaGEBDO1G67INtywcY0UeU006FBuRrbVdloFk8" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>Next stop, The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival!</div>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-52968900084392112382019-10-05T11:11:00.001-07:002019-10-06T21:26:31.520-07:00Finally, a Curlew Sandpiper as Summer Comes to an End in OntarioIt was March of 2012 and I was early on in my Big Year as a rookie birder. I didn’t know much about birds at that point, but I knew enough to know a report on the Florida Rare Bird Alert of a Curlew Sandpiper at Fort DeSoto was worth chasing. I wasn’t able to get there until close to sunset and when I did arrive at the reported location the sun was setting right behind the stretch of beach where a few shorebirds were hanging out. There was one bird that seemed to fit the description, but I couldn’t get a proper photograph and there were no other birders around to help me identify it, so I couldn’t count it. <br>
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Over the past few years there have been other reports of Curlew Sandpipers but never within close driving distance. But, finally, on September 16, while I was toiling away at work, a report of the bird arrived in my email in box, and it was only a 90 minute drive away. I quickly finished what I was doing and hopped in the car and headed to the Bellwood Lake in Wellington County. When I arrived, after driving right past the street where I was instructed to park, I saw a couple of birders with scopes heading down an embankment below the bridge and quickly followed. With my bad legs and sore back, I had to grab my walking stick to make it down there, but finally I was in viewing range of this long sought after bird. My first look was through another birders scope, but I eventually saw it and added species 683 to my ABA Life List. All the birds flushed briefly to the other side of the bridge but when they returned to the original location the Curlew was even closer. Alas it was a gray and rainy day so not much good light for digiscoping.</div>
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A few other fun birds from the end of summer, including a few from Florida:</div>
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Toronto:</div>
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Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at James Gardens:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Wood Duck at Ratray Marsh:</span></div>
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Long-billed Dowitcher at Tommy Thompson Park, Ontario Lifer:</div>
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Eastern Screech-Owl at Humber Bay East:</div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-75954866223946170512019-09-16T06:39:00.001-07:002019-10-06T06:24:47.401-07:00British Columbia 2019 and the Pacific Golden Plover and Birding in Three More States<div style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Every summer, thanks to my work, I get to travel to British Columbia and always take a few days to go birding and have been able to get a few Lifers out west, including Black Swift and Eurasian Skylark. This year was no exception. Along with going out west, I also have to take a a trip to Bluefield, West Virginia, and I often try to make it a more interesting trip than it sounds. I could almost use my blog from 2018, but this year I had new goals. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Firstly, in British Columbia I was hoping to follow up on a Pacific Golden Plover report from eBird and also go up to Whistler for the first time, where there was an eBird report of a Barrow’s Goldeneye. The Pacific Golden Plover would be a Lifer, where as the goldeneye would just be a new bird for my B.C. List. I checked eBird before leaving and saw a Pacific Golden Plover was being reported at a Wildlife Sanctuary in Delta. I’ve been out west many times to both BC and California and just never was in the right place at the right time to see this bird. This time I hoped it would be different. I picked up my rental car at the Vancouver airport and headed directly to Delta, where the plover was reported, between the</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;"> edge of farmland and the nearby mudflats.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">And it wasn’t a gimme either. It’s a good walk from where I parked to the mudflats and on 4 occasions I visited the location, seeing many good birds, but not even Black-bellied Plovers. I did see an American White Pelican, which was rare for that time of year, but my persistence finally paid off on my final trip before heading to the airport on my last day in Vancouver. Finally, amongst a throng of shorebirds, including black-bellies, I caught a look, though my scope, nearly fully zoomed in, at a lone golden plover. It was ABA Lifer, number 682. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">While in B.C. I always like to take a day or two to get out of Vancouver and explore new places. This time I headed to Whistler. I was hoping to see a Barrow’s Goldeneye at a lake that advertises it as as a feature on a large hand painted sign. Though I didn’t see one, I did get a wonderful look at my other target species, a McGilvary’s Warbler, my first seen in Canada. I also added Cassin’s Finch to my Canadian Life List. I’m actually not sure of my total list in Canada, as I didn’t start keeping track of birds in Canada until 2016 when I started eBirding every day, though eBird has me at 358 in my home country.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">As I said in my previous blogs, I am trying to submit an eBird list in every State and Provence in the US and Canada and on this trip I took a couple of days out from my schedule to add three more states to my eBird Life List: Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, giving me eBird lists in 40 of the 63 US states and Canadian provinces and territories. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Though I didn’t get any Lifers on this trip, the scenery and hiking was terrific, even if I had to be cautious of stumbling into certain doom, as was warned by many signs in the of the State Parks I visited along the way.</span></div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-90400840903344533792019-07-08T07:28:00.001-07:002019-07-08T08:12:14.096-07:00The Quest for a Little Egret and Bicknell’s ThrushThe date was July 9, 2012. I was doing a Big Year and Sue and I were on our way to Nova Scotia for Atlantic Puffins and Northern Gannets, and a variety of other sea birds. But there was bad weather and we were stuck in Montreal. NARBA had just reported a Little Egret, a Code 4 rarity that I really wanted on my Big Year List. Fate had dropped a great bird in my lap, but our scheduled flight from Montreal was at 9:00am and there just wasn’t time to get the bird and get back for the flight. Had I been on my own, I might have scheduled a later flight, but it would have been expensive for both of us to change and would have disrupted our Nova Scotia trip. So I never did see a Little Egret in 2012 or any of the other handful of times one had shown up in North America in the past seven years. I was never in the right place at the right time.<br />
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Until now. I was in Manchester, New Hampshire for a few days of work and birding and wanted to add some missing New England states to my eBird listing. In addition to New Hampshire I had been to Connecticut and Massachusetts, and now had the opportunity to add Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine, all in three days. So I added those to my eBird alerts and wouldn’t you know it, a Little Egret had been seen a day earlier in Maine within an easy two hour morning drive from Manchester.</div>
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I was on the road at 5am to get to Gilsland Farm Audubon Center and was greeted by a small gaggle of Wild Turkeys as I headed to the North Meadow Trail, including a few turkey babies.</div>
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It was an easy walk to the water and when I arrived I could see an egret off in the distance. Of course, the Little Egret resembles the Snowy Egret in all but two identifying field marks, so at a distance of about 300 yards across the lake it was not possible to ID the bird, since there had been reported a few Snowy Egrets in the lake as well. Today, this was the only egret and but I needed a better look. I needed to see either the yellow lores that don’t extend as far into the beak as the Snowy’s or, even better, the long thin plumes extending from the back of the head. At that distance I could see neither. I had to be patient.</div>
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And my patience was rewarded when the flock of gulls the egret was hanging with flushed and the egret circled around and landed directly in front of my only about 100 yards away. I got a good look at the thin plume extending from the head and had my bird. Little Egret was number 680 for my ABA Life List and 1130 overall.</div>
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Having ticked Maine off my eBird wish list, I had two free days to explore New England so headed down to Rhode Island and Francis Carter Preserve. Through not a lifer, I did want to see a Black-billed Cuckoo, and was rewarded for my long drive by it being the first bird I spied in the vast empty fields of grass that is the FCP. I was also hoping for Grasshoper Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark, as the habitat was perfect for both those birds, but they eluded my hour and a half walk.</div>
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On my way out, I checked eBird reports for Vermont and was elated to see that a Bicknell’s Thrush had been reported in the Okamo Ski area above 3000 feet. This was a bird I coveted but have never been close enough to anywhere they breed in the summer. Many reports of these birds told tales of long, laborious hikes to see them, similar to hiking for the Colima Warbler. But I had a whole day and I would also be ticking off my thirds new state for eBird at the same time. I drove to within an hour of the ski area and stayed close to Guildord VT for the night and was on the road by 6:15. I had hoped the road to the peak was open in the summer and I might save a bit of hiking. <br />
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It turned out the ski road was open to within about a third of a mile from the peak and the gps coordinates from eBird for the Bicknell’s Thrush was exact and I was able to park at the side of the road right next to where the birds were calling. I could hear them, or it,(with the canyon echos, I wasn’t sure if I was hearing more than one), even before I was out of the car. The Bicknell’s Thrush has a very distinctive call and it’s much easier to identify by ear than visually, as it resembles the Gray-cheeked Thrush. Another Lifer in just two days, number 681 for my ABA area list and I have now birded in 31 of the 50 states. Many of the missing states on my list are in the Mid-west.<br />
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Next up, my annual trip to British Columbia. Thanks to eBird I know of two potential Lifers within driving distance from Vancouver, a Pacific Golden Plover and Arctic Loon!</div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-2593053793707399982019-06-12T09:28:00.001-07:002019-06-14T11:48:46.046-07:00Migration Continues in TorontoAfter returning from Cape May it was time to find warblers in Colonel Sam Smith Park. Most of the warblers had left Cape May by the time we got there, though I did finally see a Cape May Warbler in Cape May, they were just peaking in the Toronto area. I was hoping to see Canada, Bay-breasted and Mourning Warblers amongst many others and I wasn’t disappointed. There were even a couple of other birds that showed up that were new for my park list.<br />
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The most noteable of the new birds for my park list was a single Red Knot, just days after seeing hundreds in Cape May. This one was on the rocks at Whimbrel Point, number 225 for my park list:</div>
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The next day we were treated to an amazing sight as thousands of Double-crested Cormorants descended on the bay just east of the point, in a feeding frenzy:</div>
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Next up was another new park bird, a Common Nighthawk that was sitting in a bare tree above the bike path near the parking lot, number 226 for Col. Sam:</div>
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After seeing the nighthawk we were treated to great views of a Mourning Warbler in some bushes near the parking lot. Rarely have I seen this reclusive little bird so well:</div>
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Once again the water levels in the park have risen to near record levels, resulting in trees seeming to be growing out of the lake and paths covered in water:</div>
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The Red-necked Grebes don’t mind, as they I have been able to create nests without the provided nesting platforms, though those nests have yet to produce babies. One family were the proud parents of a single baby grebe, which is something I never get tired of seeing:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">During the actual Whimbrel Watch, I only saw them in flight passing by Whimbrel Point, and at a distance. But a week after the official end of Whimbrel migration I was treated to a pair of late comers on the rocks near the point, along with over a dozen Ruddy Turnstones:</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Along with the late Whimbrels, I found a late migrating Blackpoll Warbler pair near the flooded path the other day. Perhaps they will hang around and nest here:</span></div>
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Other interesting sights were a Mallard enjoying a fish and a rare deer sighting in the Swallow Field, near the marina:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Migration has all but wrapped up and now I just have to hope for a new rarity or two to show up as the summer nesting season begins. I also hope to be traveling out to BC again and make a trip or two to Florida before the end of summer.</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><br />
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-18296329073332636642019-05-23T07:49:00.001-07:002019-06-02T15:33:24.744-07:00Spring in Cape May: It’s All About the Red KnotsThis year we finally visited Cape May, New Jersey during spring migration. In years past we have gone in the fall, and the birds were great, including a few Red Knots as they molted out of breeding plumage. After seeing a documentary on the travels of the Red Knots and their symbiotic relationship with the horseshoe crabs, we wanted to see their spring migration in person. They mass in Deleware Bay every May to feed upon the thousands of eggs the crabs lay on the beaches and it is a feast for birders who come from around the world to witness the event every spring. <br />
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Oh, yes, there were lots of other birds. We saw a Kentucky Warbler, a pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos, lots of Seaside Sparrows, a few Clapper Rails, some nesting Least Terns and even a lone Piping Plover on a beach in the Delaware Back Bay. All good birds, to be sure, but really, it was all about the Red Knots. We saw hundreds, but there were probably thousands scattered on beaches along the coast of New Jersey around Cape May. The best place to view them seemed to be Cooks Beach, a spot we visited three times during our week in Cape May. We also saw thousands of other shorebirds, including Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers, though everyone just wanted to see Red Knots up close and personal. And that we did! Enough with words, as you know what they say about pictures...</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We may have been there for the Red Knots, but the Red Knots were there for the buffet of Horseshoe Crab eggs. They fly thousands of miles from their wintering grounds in South America to the arctic regions of Canada, stopping to feed along the east coast of the United States, mostly in Delaware Bay, to double their body weight for the remainder of the journey. By the time they reach Cape May they are emaciated and need to gorge on the crab eggs. Because of declining populations of Horseshoe Crabs, used for fishing bait and by the pharmaceutical industry to make anti-coagulants from their blood, both populations are at risk.</span></div>
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The viewing gallery:</div>
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Right behind us in the fields we were able to watch Seaside Sparrows jump in and out of the long grass and every once in a while sit still upon a tall stalk:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">A few other Cape May birding memories:</span></div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-16667921076151896562019-05-12T19:56:00.000-07:002019-06-02T15:39:04.980-07:00A Ruff Start to Spring Migration 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Literally, starting with the report of a Ruff in Luther Marsh near Grand Valley, Ontario. I had only been back in Toronto a few days when this alert landed in my In Box via Ontbirds. I left work a little early,(okay, a lot early), to get there and when I did it was raining pretty hard. There was another birder there and he said that the bird had flown over a ridge but usually was coming back when the rain stopped. Well, true to its nature, it flew back in after about a 40-minute rain delay, landing in the mudflats of a farmer's field. My only other Ruff sighting had been in New York State, so this was a first for Ontario, number 326, the first of three Ontario Lifers I would get over the next two weeks, each more unexpected than the next.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDkUYXvtKyLSnNJOCtHXMnewPihHqwCyo1dPnc1PdvYMLj79udQxml-vej-TcXxPsjkX5wx37kWV6mg2QEVNm4S9BOrxjLq5FrkQ1the2uYxLVVS4VRMmMa2tc20yDDHvWeU6WvPe6to/s1600/Ruff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1527" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDkUYXvtKyLSnNJOCtHXMnewPihHqwCyo1dPnc1PdvYMLj79udQxml-vej-TcXxPsjkX5wx37kWV6mg2QEVNm4S9BOrxjLq5FrkQ1the2uYxLVVS4VRMmMa2tc20yDDHvWeU6WvPe6to/s640/Ruff.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7l-TB0Z3lFiZerkIa2vcUjwGUrIotAIYJe8Eq0m1iLez1MfR7sf50Gf7QIcucYW6OdSuyf3rYGKbXr06Yau-tFjnxC2jOLMtS-4oaBJ87N2LqmcYOaUWKlJLy7_SD2oLc6DA8jyqjFVA/s1600/Hermit+Warbler.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7l-TB0Z3lFiZerkIa2vcUjwGUrIotAIYJe8Eq0m1iLez1MfR7sf50Gf7QIcucYW6OdSuyf3rYGKbXr06Yau-tFjnxC2jOLMtS-4oaBJ87N2LqmcYOaUWKlJLy7_SD2oLc6DA8jyqjFVA/s320/Hermit+Warbler.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Five days later, another alert arrived, this of a Hermit Warbler. I had only ever seen them in California, so this bird was way out of its range. Truly should have turned left at Albuquerque on it's way up from Mexico. His lost way was our gain as hundreds of birders visited a house near Thickson Woods in Whitby Ontario for not just an Ontario Lifer, but for most a first ever sighting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdzaw2ho4EmBfzPVTpIawz_360ME_I5hfuWQTdcv_iLqYqgxjOVj6bxW5V8J1k1I7fuoRZAjzyGmp8tV59mr-v4Ze35Gq06GNQy_wgawSoJEfe-QdH76-vttOmsijJwWkSQyvGpiWQC4/s1600/Hermit+Warbler+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="1335" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdzaw2ho4EmBfzPVTpIawz_360ME_I5hfuWQTdcv_iLqYqgxjOVj6bxW5V8J1k1I7fuoRZAjzyGmp8tV59mr-v4Ze35Gq06GNQy_wgawSoJEfe-QdH76-vttOmsijJwWkSQyvGpiWQC4/s400/Hermit+Warbler+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the days in between the rare bird sightings, I was spending most of my birding time in my local spring migration patch, Colonel Samuel Smith Park here in Toronto. Being down by Lake Ontario it is a great spot to see many of the spring migrants including most of the migrating warblers. I was able to add a few new species to the year list, including American Woodcock, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Magnolia, and Black-throated Blue and Green Warblers. In addition, there was one morning with a "fallout" of White-throated Sparrows, in the hundreds, if not thousands. There were also hundreds of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and dozens of Hermit Thrush.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eoQJbwtaJKN1ZNkGFgzVtvhWP_V8XrZzlXujLR9w3VfUIC2gIKsI1daUQ2lPLaHro8ZyryFaOGgkfRlpR35SQDXyRonMrEKx_6waE7dehizjZnQcX3zFCpv4Cba1xO924EYEWakNc9M/s1600/Sparrow+Fallout+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0eoQJbwtaJKN1ZNkGFgzVtvhWP_V8XrZzlXujLR9w3VfUIC2gIKsI1daUQ2lPLaHro8ZyryFaOGgkfRlpR35SQDXyRonMrEKx_6waE7dehizjZnQcX3zFCpv4Cba1xO924EYEWakNc9M/s320/Sparrow+Fallout+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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These photos just don't do justice to the number of sparrows we all saw...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mTn-_utDz-RYXCui0ZEH1NJ9PbiNn8XMPWP8g0VV6dhq91zLifSGkgB0rtP7B8LaJzUdTTDF_Z8I322kRFmvjH12kVUXtYD-BKOivtb0ZwXFYQu7jjU2nHDRaMy71Kp8mSDircxdvpg/s1600/Sparrow+Falout+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mTn-_utDz-RYXCui0ZEH1NJ9PbiNn8XMPWP8g0VV6dhq91zLifSGkgB0rtP7B8LaJzUdTTDF_Z8I322kRFmvjH12kVUXtYD-BKOivtb0ZwXFYQu7jjU2nHDRaMy71Kp8mSDircxdvpg/s320/Sparrow+Falout+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Other birds of note were the returning Malards to our backyard pond,<br />
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a lovely, singing Savanah Sparrow,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMAgAo88rX66PMg7PCagcxoqP9xwu_GJmKWzqOOJMHfa3PbvEZRNHuzspy5FYDL1q2MVXTjOe9UzgvkXA7XzEUyYjF1asC8GFbN7zX4oUIA68flR7OlfoxwoP1N0Rlewf-SFjxU-Wy-o/s1600/IMG_0314.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMAgAo88rX66PMg7PCagcxoqP9xwu_GJmKWzqOOJMHfa3PbvEZRNHuzspy5FYDL1q2MVXTjOe9UzgvkXA7XzEUyYjF1asC8GFbN7zX4oUIA68flR7OlfoxwoP1N0Rlewf-SFjxU-Wy-o/s320/IMG_0314.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: center;"></span><br />
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Chipping Sparrow,<br />
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But it was in a close-by park, Humber Bay East, that another rare bird for Ontario, a Common Gallinule showed up. Though common in Florida, I have only ever seen one other in Ontario, and never in Toronto, so I took a short drive east from Col. Sam and found it in short order. There had also been a report of a Whip-poor-will, but that was not found. It would have to wait for another day.<br />
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Next on the list of spring rarities was a bird I had only seen in Louisiana, the secretive Yellow Rail. It turned up, in of all places, the parking lot of a supermarket in Oakville, Ontario. I decided to chase it, due to it being not just an Ontario Lifer, but because of the odd location. It is a bird that can be seen, but mostly heard in certain parts of Ontario, but I just haven't had the opportunity to get one here. When I arrived at the location, it was like turning up to a kids softball game, as people were sitting at the edge of the parking lot, as if in bleacher seats, watching the bird across the laneway behind the store, as it fed at the base of a spruce tree at the rear of the loading dock. For many, it was another Lifer, and for me it was Ontario species number 328.<br />
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Finally as the first couple of weeks of migration are coming to a close, I was wondering if I would get any new park lifers in Col. Sam Smith Park this year. Well, though I missed seeing a Whip-poor-will in Humber Bay, one turned up a couple of days ago in Col. Sam, bring in my park list up to 223.</div>
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And now we leave for a week of spring migration in Cape May, New Jersey and the festival of Red Knot migration!</div>
<br />Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-36639677154147793432019-04-25T12:49:00.001-07:002019-04-28T05:52:19.162-07:00Spring in Texas: Searching for the Colima Warbler in the Chisos Mountains and Other Tales of My Texas Road Trip<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;"><b>July 15, 2015 Balcones Canyonlands and the Chisos Mountains:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">My first trip and attempt for the Colima Warbler came when went to Texas that summer in search of Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler in addition to the Colima, that I hadn’t known about back in my 2012 Big Year. I got the first two up in Balcones but missed the Colima after the 4 mile hike up to 7000 feet. I had always wanted to go back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">April 15, 2019 In Flight, Toronto to San Antonio:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">The last time I hiked this mountain was prior to my last three back surgeries. I knew it was going to be difficult and 20 minutes in I was in severe pain. I rested, took at couple of Tylenol and hiked up and down the 7000 feet over the course of 8 hours in the heat and humidity of Texas in the summer. I didn’t see or even hear a Colima Warbler. To be fair it was late in the season and the odds of seeing one were small. But I had been told the same thing about the Golden-cheeked Warbler and I had found some of them, before wrecking the front end of my rental car on a boulder I didn’t see in front of where I parked. From there I was able to find the Black-capped Vireo, before heading to Big Bend itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">This year I am still recovering from yet another spinal surgery on October 31 of 2018. But I am strong, relatively pain free when I take a Tylenol or Advil, and have been indoor rock climbing, so I feel strong enough to hike and, this time, find a Colima Warbler or two. I have been told they are singing now until May, and after that they are nesting and harder to find. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;">April 15, 2019 Driving to Big Bend:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Along the drive I was hoping to pick up a few good Texas species. Instead I found House Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black and Turkey Vultures and a Starling.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;"><b>April 16, 2019 Big Bend National Park:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I arrived in the park about an hour before sunrise so was able to get on the trail up to the Colima Warbler by 7:15 and the 4 mile or so hike to the South Rim where you have your best chance at seeing the birds. It was not too hot or humid, so the hike was rather pleasant; but it is still 4 hours of rocky paths and switch backs and steps and stumbles along the way. I averaged about one mile per hour, stopping to bird along the way. When I did arrive at at the top, where the views are glorious as I remembered. At one point I could even see my rental car after nearly four hours of hiking. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "arial";">I soon encountered 5 other birders and an SOB. I had never heard the term before, but the wife of the non-birder referred to her husband as such. We all needed an explanation. “Spouse of Birder.” A spouse that accompanies a birder but doesn’t bird and often complains about all the stopping to look at birds. I was once an SOB myself, as Sue was glad to point out after looking up the term on Google.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">While searching for the Colima one of the other birders and I met started hearing a call, but it was not a Colima. When we did find it, it was a Cassin’s Vireo. I got a photo of the the bird for the first time, but it didn’t turn out as good as I would have liked.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "arial";">It did not take long to start hearing the Colimas calling and after a bit of looking, one of the other birders, just up the trail spotted one. We all got on it with great, though not close looks, and we were all thrilled for the Lifer. Last time I was here I did not get bird and walked the entire mountain. This time, once the bird was in hand and photos taken, I just turned around and went back down the way I came. About 4 hours up and 3 hours back down. All worth it for ABA species 678, almost five hours after I began the hike to Boot Canyon and the South Rim.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Rather than continuing on and coming down the other side of the mountain, I chose to just turn around and return the way I had come and made it down in about three and a half hours. In the parking lot I chased and found a Sage Thrasher. I only first saw one back in 2016 in New Mexico, but this one looked to be in bright breeding plumage, compared to the winter one I had previously seen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "arial";">My next stop was the Rio Grande Valley, but I didn’t want to drive it all night, so I drove as far as McAllen, spent the night and was awake before dawn for the next stage of my mostly driving, birding trip. As I have discovered over the years, birding is often more about traveling to birding.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;"><b>April 17-18, 2019 Quito Mazatlan WBC:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I arrived in The Valley around 2:30 in the afternoon after a very long drive, and went directly to the bird sanctuary in search of another Lifer, a female Crimson-collared Grosbeak. I stayed until 5:00pm, when they were closing for a wedding, but did not get the bird. Still, the place was hoping with plenty of species, and I enjoyed the afternoon adding to my Texas list. I was lucky that a hotel room was available right around the corner, so I went to bed early that night, and was up at dawn to begin the search anew the next morning.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Soon after I arrived, one of the staff told me he had heard the bird that morning, so the hunt was on. I was soon joined by a handful of other birders who had also come for the code 4 rarity and we all searched together, splitting up at times to cover more ground. Late in the morning 3 of the others had to leave, which was a shame because within a half hour those of us remaining began to hear the call of the grosbeak in question. Now it was a matter of finding it and the keen eye of one of my fellow birders got on the bird. We all got good binocular looks, but alas the photo was merely acceptable for identification purposes,(barely). Still, it was a code 4 Lifer and number 679 on my Life List, as I close in on 700. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">My goal for the next day was not necessarily lifers, but the life experience of finally visiting High Island during Spring Migration. It was another long drive, so I only drove to within 2 hours of the “island” and stayed in Sugar Land, where I saw the RiffTrax Life presentation of Octaman. Great way to spend an evening after a long day of birding and driving.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;"><b>April 19, 2019 High Island and One of My Favorite Days of Birding:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I arrived at the Boy Scout Woods just after sunrise, and even before much of the staff could set up and take my admission money, so I decided to walk the boardwalks until such time as they arrived and began a fantastic day of birding with the first of three Worm Eating Warblers I would see. Along the way I saw multiple Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and a mixed flock of Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings. Though I didn’t get to experience a fabled High Island Fallout, the weather was perfect for birding. The park was pretty much empty when I arrived...</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">...</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">but when I returned to the bleachers, they were full of birders. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">I made it to the kiosk where I paid, and found out that there is a reason High Island was given the name, since to all initial appearances it is neither high nor an island. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">However, the 20 foot elevation is the highest point on the gulf coast, which is the first land migrating birds will see, thus the mythical fall outs, and during storms the south end of the peninsula can be under water, thus making it a true island.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">Once I was schooled on the ins and outs of the island I noticed that there was a bird hike going on and suddenly the guide was in a hurry to leave. He had received a text from another guide that there were lots of birds on First Street. A rushed caravan was formed and we headed around the corner and down the road to a tree lined street across from another birding spot, Hooks Woods Bird Sanctuary. I ended up spending several hours along the road and in the woods.</span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_7479_ebf0_d280_9afd" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/2wPxPD80yr0Fwps2J-bu8OlFaCsP_mCQVN6v57DALBC33t9KPKtQLMEfRwM" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip="" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">Right away we were spotting warblers and Tanagers. Lots and lots of female Summer Tanagers and a single female Scarlet Tanager. There was a lovely Prothonotary Warbler as well, but the highlight was the appearance of a Cerulean Warbler. Then another and maybe a third. That got the group excited, and there must have been 50 people along the road. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">Then word of a Golden-winged Warbler in the woods spread quickly. Many of us went to the location with the guides and soon the Golden-winged was spotted. Afterwards I took a walk along the boardwalk. There are two spurs, each with a water drip at the end, just like at the bleachers, and there it was even better. In short order there appeared a White-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Louisiana and Northern Waterthrush, Swainson’s, Kentucky, Hooded and another Golden-winged. Back home it might take all of the month of May to see many of them, if they are seen at all. The Swainson’s is particularly rare back home on Ontario.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "arial";">I also spent time at Rollover Pass, along the gulf coast, watching shorebirds, including a Piping Plover and Least Terns. It was way too windy, so I didn’t spend much time out there. I went back to both Boy Scout and Hook Woods, trying to get photos of the skulky warblers I couldn’t get in focus earlier, but with little success. I ended the day at Smith Oaks Sanctuary, where there is a beautiful rookery, home to nesting Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills and Neotropic Cormorants. I also saw my first male Scarlet Tanager of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">At that point I had to get on the road and head to Sealy so I could spend the morning before my flight at the Attwater Prairie Chicken Preserve.</span></span></div>
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<b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: medium;">April 20, 2019 Nemesis Bird:</span></b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Okay, I have been here several times before. Twice on my own and once with Sue. I had never been there in spring and since last week was the Prairie Chicken Festival, I though if I got there very early and drove the Wildlife Loop I might finally have a chance at seeing or at least hearing the bird make it’s booming call while looking for a mate. Twice I thought I had the bird, but the first one was a Crested Caracara and the second, a pair of Northern Bobwhites. Both nice birds, but no Prairie Chicken. I did enjoy many great close views of four migrating Upland Sandpipers, a bird that will continue on to the Calden Alvar in Ontario to nest. There were also more Savannah and Vesper Sparrows flitting around than I have probably seen in total since I became this wonderful, crazy adventure back in 2012.</span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I began this entry at 30,000 feet in flight and as I end it awaiting my flights home, I have just read an OntBirds Alert about two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks not far from Point Pelee National Park. If they stick around, I may chase them Wednesday afternoon. It’s only three hours away and compared to the nearly 2000 miles I have driven over the past six days from San Antonio to Big Bend; from Big Bend to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, near Weslaco; then up to High Island, Attwater and finally back to the airport. A mere three hour trip is nothing compared too adding another Ontario Lifer, a bird I saw plenty of here in Texas.</span></span></div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-20005563279181121552019-04-05T20:25:00.001-07:002019-04-07T04:11:30.720-07:00Waiting for migration and a few new birds <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It wasn’t long after retuirning from Ecuador that I was back on a plane and headed to Florida for my annual trip to Blue Jays Spring Training. My main goal this year in Florida was to get me a Blue-crowned Parakeet or two. I looked on several occasions during March of 2018 with no luck, but this year I was bound and determined to see them. Yes, they are not yet on the ABA List, but they are wild enough to count as a Lifer in Florida. I found a location on e-Bird that was recent within a few days so headed over one evening late in February and actually heard them squawking even as I was retrieving my binoculars and camera from the car. It took me less than five minutes walking around the neighborhood near Lake Louise in St Petersburg before I found a cute pair of “lovebirds” high in a tree, with the sun at the perfect angle for some nice photos. World Lifer 1127 and number 267 for my Florida List.</span><br>
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Another Florida Lifer, later in March was a Bachman’s Sparrow at the St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park,(quite the mouthful!). It was a return trip to find a Bachman’s. Sue and I had to wade through ankle deep, cold water to find the Red-cockated Woodpecker a few years ago when we were here. This time out I heard and saw the woodpecker in flight, and later found three Bachman’s Sparrows, who were also singing and posing for a photograph in the mid-morning sum. Number 268 for Florida.</div>
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<img alt="" id="id_c9e_93bf_e630_e1ec" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/YwpLsEPE35H1HjguW8Ulcm33HjurAaS8Oty4vguTgpxeVTeDLfi-kiKBl3w" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_ae5e_a4de_2146_9305" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1BFJkbEHGgSXZix6qRCWeriVVRkVIr_6TGkUlPkzfBAK3KrhsXaohpqpi7Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">At home in Toronto I finally had a Tundra Swan sighting in Colonel Sam Smith Park. In 2018 I added over 20 species to my favorite Toronto birding patch, so it was nice to add yet another new one. A a few flocks flew low over the park and then a nice size flock landed in the lake. Not as close as I would have liked, but a cool sight, none the less. Below, you can see they have their landing gear out.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_dcfd_e189_3125_5c95" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/UrECMwXwV2VS9OcoKMVkk0ZvDmL_NdLMIf7yG9C5IWA2m2r0E2IAaEciUYQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_34d_ae92_a846_eece" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ltHhvbvbDWinaoZw56WWWqmBouvmYOtxiQAW9d0Vjp_2dbRp_MyTPkwyK9E" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We also went looking for Tundra swans outside the city, as Sue hadn’t seen the ones at Col Sam, and in the process found a lovely Snow Goose:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_669d_ba49_3a32_1e23" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JZLUe3_Wk0RFixSvH_4oa88K8JnPuTRJEeLhevKJya4IKLLihLJFmisw8DU" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We also enjoyed close up looks at the Snowy Owl back at Col. Sam:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_6127_222b_7405_f6c4" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/sRzBdWqrIZFRw8FbsWVuYBoCEItqUqg-zxgECSu15ygAHRE5doDjVrNUh4g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It’s April 7 as I type this and still weeks away from the big migration push, but still new birds do show up every day and between now and the end of May I shall be all over the map. Right now I am in Michigan, and will drop by Point Pelee on the way home; will be going to Texas in less than two weeks to finally try for the Colima Warbler; I’ll be down in Florida again at the end of April, and we will be going to Cape May for the Red Knot festival early in May. Along with the warmer weather, spring brings hope of migrating birds and maybe a fall out or two.</span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-54872434670097937582019-02-21T16:48:00.000-08:002019-02-22T19:04:02.605-08:00Birding In and Around Quito Ecuador, Part Two<div>
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Day 4, Exploring the Reserva Yanacocha and Even More Hummingbirds:</b></span></div>
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Along with a breakfast that we didn’t mind being a couple of hours late, we were treated to more roads that were as scary as they were bumpy. I wore a motion sickness patch the entire trip to keep me from being sick out the windows of our guide’s car, so the sight-seeing out the windows was much more pleasant for me that most birding trips I have been on. With my camera not working well, I didn’t get many photos, but the camera did manage to work just enough when it mattered. My iPhone came in handy for videos and closer feeders.</div>
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<b>Safire-vented Puffleg:</b></div>
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<b>Shining Sunbeam:</b></div>
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<b>Glossy Flowerpiercer:</b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Not Lifers, as I have seen </span><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Band-tailed Pigeons </b><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">in flight in both Arizona and California, but I’ve never got a photo or seen them sitting still before, as we did with this large flock resting in trees just off the highway.</span></div>
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<b>Booted Racket-tail:</b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Day 5, With a Name Like Cock-of-the-Rock it Better Be Good:</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">And the bird didn’t disappoint. We had to be on the road at 4:00am so we could arrive before 6:00am so we would be at the mystery location where we could see the bird. All of these trips we took over the week would not have been possible without the incredible help of the guides we hired through Ecuador Nature Tours. This one was to a private area where the owner guides guests to a variety of very difficult to see birds, including the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. It was still just past dawn and dark, so photographs were not easy, but digiscoping was the solution once the birds started appearing, heard before seen but what a sight when they appeared. We spent an hour or so enjoying them, before setting off on an adventure for Antpittas.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">These <b>Andean Cock-of-the Rock </b>digiscopes show the bird from behind:</span></div>
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Heavily edited from a darkened exposure of the bird from the front. You never seem to see both eyes at the same time, from the front or back.</div>
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On the way to the Antpittas we stopped for a look at a <b>Dark-backed Wood-Quail</b> that feeds at the side of the road early in the morning:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">After a brief stop for hummingbirds, where we would eventually have our late breakfast, it was on to finding the Antpittas. The first two were coming close to the road, so after while the first two showed up, along with a bonus flycatcher.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Yellow-breasted Antpittas:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_964f_756d_8da1_5baa" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH15uuWOaQVMFosriVJvMonkU6MwsXWnVyEEcqspQVLcWahUOTDU5yOjiNbtI-IWnNI6FExQgw5i7iauFxL7gGaUJ_mMf6zth-oWmKyLN3N_1BJrNBfMUoJQ44fpgGxIL7vebUypZkagM/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip="" /></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Golden-crowned Flycatcher:</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The next two Antpittas were not going to be easy and I was once again lucky to have a walking stick. The destination was deep into the woods, down a steep and muddy tract. But the walk was worth it for a few more Ecuador specialties.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Moustached Antpitta:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_c895_942d_6a09_ffd1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg21TNMgkqbIewwONf6f_HU_kDtwh7hIWwx2KofiQQyY5DBM5PaE0HGj_Jl1RdcnDmvDRes54Zc_xd-Yai3HgN5213C_zbYQBe2mw6CFPGmESnKDvvf-8nvsf6kdxnKvQVmOZYiQXblE/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip="" /><br />
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Ochra-breasted Antpitta:</b><br /></span><img alt="" id="id_256d_c9b2_e4ea_beee" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-swf2PuiXuMs/XHC3BL-4HUI/AAAAAAAAHt4/xGzuYnpiWHsUfI4nGa3NkbpRm1nMiIQSwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip="" /><br />
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br /></span>And at the very end of the trail, having survived the mud-slopes, and in need of a rest, we were able to sit and enjoy the...</div>
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<b>Toucan Barbet:</b></div>
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We ended the trip on a high note, visiting the equator. We passed right through it on our way back into Quito, so it was a fitting end to our trip to Ecuador!</div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-60343123782621094602019-02-21T12:15:00.001-08:002019-04-06T18:11:41.013-07:00Birding In and Around Quito Ecuador, Part OneA dream trip of mine has always been to go to Ecuador and The Galápagos Islands. We didn’t have enough days to go to Galapagos this winter, but we did have a week to explore some of mainland Ecuador, specifically the areas within a few hours of Quito. As I type we are flying down to Panama, to catch a connecting flight to Quito. Maybe the birding will even start before we get there, with a few birds at the airport in Panama. Tonight we are staying at a Holiday Inn Express in downtown Quito, but in the morning will be whisked off to out lodge for two days of guided birding, before heading back to Quito. Our trip was made slightly more affordable using my points for 5 of the nights in Holiday Inns, with guides picking us up each morning.<br>
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<b>Day One, and introduction to the birds of Quito:</b></div>
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Our first bird of the trip was an Eared Dove just outside our window at the Holiday Inn while having breakfast before our guides picked us up for our first day of birding. We were then driven over some very bumpy roads to the Hotel Hacienda La Jimenita where we began our tour with Luis and Diago. Luis was, we thought, just the driver, but as we learned over the next three days he was every bit the birder as our official guides. Over the course of our first day of birding within an hour drive of our hotel, we added another 32 Lifers, including the Andean Condor and seven Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds and more hummingbirds. In all shapes, colors and sizes. Hummers with long beaks and short tails and some with tails so long they are called trainbearers. We ended the day at the Hotel Hacienda La Jimenita, where we were treated to a few more amazing hummers and other small birds before enjoying a lovely dinner that evening. </div>
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<b>Andean Condor being chased by a Carunculated Caracara:</b></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_e673_867f_ec71_aecb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PocoEEbG6u8/XG8Gn99XpTI/AAAAAAAAHqQ/If7To-sam2sdnVYVqRhAm05wbG2uEIdYgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Sparkling Vilotear:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_41fe_a4c3_ec8a_74c0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lgU08GDkXHU/XG8GoT0HhWI/AAAAAAAAHqU/XmpIxj4cNIAVJbkK60GToDOSnIlQqf_fACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Ecuadorian Hillstar:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_f2f9_1c87_1588_8702" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mTLqBXYoyDs/XG8GpSavuJI/AAAAAAAAHqc/e4ypwbpSxcg7SE4uTW6vX77ijraXPJ3WQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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<b>Black-faced Ibis:</b></div>
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<b><br></b><img alt="" id="id_5109_aeaa_1e59_a9a3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2p9Sh8ycoMM/XG8GqB-3SXI/AAAAAAAAHqg/YfJbzM-z1X42_6E_Y5RmYpvxnBs_rGoswCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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<b>Andean Lapwing:</b></div>
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<b><br></b><img alt="" id="id_9dce_49f3_4f28_c89b" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiA1WaonEOevh_pZbafuOdCGEdM_2xGhoeFbh91dZ8G_mvYzJcZtVYka0TFYqGi51jILMUjxL6pzOJivhPrWRt1LLLxkCpGwHTasUZeluZt1C7n72x8uuAn5SPN8OIE-kA7f5kCXCXxbg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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Before heading to the lodge for the night we had one more stop, but it was so wet and cold my teeth were chattering by the time we headed back to the car, and was worn out for the day. Still it was worth it to see the <b>Andean Duck</b>, a split from our own Ruddy Duck, but with an even more striking blue beak.</div>
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Back at the lodge we had a few more treats, including...</div>
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<b>Black-tailed Trainbearer:</b><br>
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<img alt="" id="id_f7_6311_bae6_2446" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7ohplx52Xwc/XG8GrQm9Z3I/AAAAAAAAHqs/YecI4GOMkqI4Siwx-UkqYfMS2DirpjY1gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>White-bellied Woodstar:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_d1a0_fe52_ab2c_df40" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0hD5l-32xUM/XG8Grzvyt2I/AAAAAAAAHqw/bjzn0JWkBdsHHDW0QUo3631RUKppuGnlgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Saffron Finch:</b></span></div>
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<b>Day Two, Seedsnipes and hummers and bears, Oh My:</b></div>
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We were up early the next morning for a lovely breakfast and a longer tour of the hotel grounds before heading off to explore some fine birding locations within a couple hours drive of the hotel, exploring roads that seemed more like dry river beds at times, interspersed with beautifully paved modern highways. The weather was cold and damp in the morning as we made our way up a mountainside to a radio antenna array, where the target bird was a <b>Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe</b>. I expected a long snipe-like beak, but being a seed eater it had more of a Quail like body and beak, with quite fancy paisley plumage.</div>
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<img alt="" id="id_9405_5987_94d8_be42" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWi7jCPqsC5UdX-d5Yw4pBlKudLUuwkRMen7AvjGmFr88qPRRt_TjiF4VxrMOnMZ6BbhcTMlGyISVGlgQQPKB1IN7I6mLV6CJvijIKELzFSAh10f6-Dye58ch5HAt9BMXynnX071CupHw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We warmed up in the car as we made our way to the Guango Lodge where an entirely different habitat awaited us. But before we even arrived we made a stop along the highway for a glimps of an often difficult to see <b>Spectacled Bear</b>.</span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_24b6_1c9e_2870_e4ca" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--q0bQusqNMs/XG8GtThQOJI/AAAAAAAAHq8/89Lc0nu0S4wp7VVphEHpIFFC8r2RfzY4ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">From there we continued on to the lodge where we were treated to a hummingbird feast, including the famous <b>Sword-billed Hummingbird</b>, before being served lunch. Afterward we hiked into the forest by a river, where we once again got rained on, but still saw some wonderful birds, before ending the day at the Holiday Inn back in Quito, where we enjoyed a traditional Ecuadorian dinner at at small restaurant where no one spoke a word of English, yet we all seemed to communicate just fine.</span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_f80f_a152_63ed_6458" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yQa0q4RDcQc/XG8GuWnqBII/AAAAAAAAHrE/TSFz1fpNvd0AMJpLfKKMPC9fX0sfNG7BQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<b>Long-tailed Sylph:</b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Tyrian Metaltail:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_927f_9c79_226b_791d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MX66KmbN_kU/XG8Gvd-8zYI/AAAAAAAAHrM/zwOSrTJ-hxkgcSzKZqzmm2HXG2vYy5HrgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<b>Chestnut-breasted Coronet:</b></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_6522_a7d7_15d6_55f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sg2c7nxVDVw/XG8Gv0pfjtI/AAAAAAAAHrQ/1Cc0Akqo1m0Zh_w_x_JA82L2vk6hovPbgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Speckled Hummingbird:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_8ba5_f6bc_9a9f_a16" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoWJp5N-BWtT_A9YkBnTCmE3GBkbDZ3Uudk3AOaZtRIZNzLZTktQtKNzpHSpAMQCDfs5NY21GdQYxvhb0VJ9V0wB6R1ykvEv_xqNQVcDyZzlWfA87kxvkPsxYqK1amIcQM3l9BEf6Daw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Masked Trogon:</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">One last treat of the day was another look at the rare Spectacled Bear, this time with a surprise. It was dragging a deer up the mountain slope. No one knew if it had killed the deer or found it dead. I guess this guy was going to eat for a nice long stretch.</span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_798e_f8f2_f61f_7151" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DuXgFycRsrE/XG8GxhR-tMI/AAAAAAAAHrc/idgw8kVX1QUp73urglCd_F81mn0VWt6dgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Day 3, A Little Rain Can’t Hurt Us, but the Cameras, Not So Much:</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The day started off okay, warm enough and dry as we set out for a 3 mile hike to a magnificent waterfall and the target bird, the White-cappped dipper. This time I remembered my walking stick, which I had forgotten on hikes the previous two days, and was glad I had it. It was a tough, but fantastic hike, full of amazing scenery and fabulous birds. Once we got to the waterfall, we had a well deserved rest and another picnic lunch. But once we felt some light rain we made haste to get going, but with still two miles to go, the rain started coming down hard and both my camera and Sue’s suffered water damage. Sue’s didn’t work for the rest of the trip, despite our use of hairdryers on it back at the hotel, and mine functioned just enough to get a few good photos the final days of the trip. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager:</b></span></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_71ad_3ef3_a4a4_1b4d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BHDTSUIZQmo/XG8Gx7hG0sI/AAAAAAAAHrg/q0IWxS_l_GIZqSdYcJMZJ_Bsc80jbhGHACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""><br>
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<b>Tufted Tit-Tyrant:</b></div>
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<img alt="" id="id_426d_6d14_8271_cc3b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Tx0xB9tBbVM/XG8GzJoISkI/AAAAAAAAHro/rzLJzjag2WQe8qKxQk8PjclKM8HpNdWgACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" style="height: auto; width: 746px;" title="" tooltip=""></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>White-throated Tyranulet:</b></span></div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-85726005372977657842019-02-03T15:00:00.001-08:002019-02-03T15:02:57.833-08:00Birding in 2019, and another Boreal ChickadeeA new year brings new birding goals, and once again, it’s all about exploring new places to go birding and adding new species to the Life List, both at home and, this year, in Ecuador. We leave on February 5 for Quito and a week of birding some of the most incredible places on the planet. We had originally planned just somewhere warm for our winter birding trip, say California, away from the frigid cold of Toronto, but I wanted Lifers, and since we are planning a trip to The Galápagos Islands in November of this year, I figured that doing the mainland first would be an amazing appetizer.<div><br></div><div>Speaking of birding all over the hemisphere, in 2018 I took photos with my iPhone in every location I visited and ended up with a map of my entire year. From British Columbia in the North West to Trinidad in the South East and New Brunswick in the North East to Nevada in the South West, I certainly got around in 2018. Cool!</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_de51_ecf_5ade_66b0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-guyJOjC0kFs/XFdyW66epRI/AAAAAAAAHok/kea0_97PFZQ8PMcRlcbw0g3_PvwRUrzbwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><br><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, I am still here in Toronto and will limit most of my birding travel to chasing Lifers for both ABA and Ontario, but I still love to just go birding too and plan on continuing my everyday eBird listing, so chasing the more uncommon birds within a short drive is still always fun. I began the year in a local haunt, James Gardens and Lambton Woods, where I got 21 species on Janauary 1. But the very next day I heard of a Boreal Chickadee in Whitby, at Darlington Provincial Park, which is more of a paved path behind the GM offices, and went the next morning.</div><div><br></div><div>After getting the Boreal last year in Col Sam Smith Park, it was fitting that another one showed up in a park in Whitby at the end of Sam Smith Drive, near Oshawa Second Marsh, home of Little Gulls in the spring. It wasn’t much of a walk, which was good, as it was a cold day, but after about 20 minutes some other birders found it up the path and we all had nice looks at another Boreal Chickadee that was far south of the Boreal forest.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_866b_fd49_f84c_72b6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xjqyBCFTFUk/XFdyXSWo0XI/AAAAAAAAHoo/iCCXwBS4W7YOoS7lcjW6w_EgwHz1JtbXQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_9657_7913_3ad5_b192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DAKTcLJ2CCgm2MXGlI95DxE6m-YiG1sa-CjdogKCOPJcp-hzkeeSsb2wkHsLXA-FaKbLdaZbSHQK3yjSku65LBGO0DBf18Wo4fkBLmgbn1b_rDFW2QR48ar1tOH8JMGIvlR1WStAg7I/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><br></div><div>A few days later a Ring-necked Pheasant was seen in Morningside Park, but I was too late and my consolation prize was a Wild Turkey:</div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_a5dd_21a3_1712_1022" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fl2LrT5d1GY/XFdyYPgaW-I/AAAAAAAAHow/PF-ICptzsrkzRNQNuTBOrCquPoYiU6X3ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Next up was a Northern Pintail. I missed seeing one in 2018, so it was nice to get one early this year at Sedgewick Park, in the warm waters of the water filtration area:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_505_92ae_8ff7_3ccc" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8pchCyLbLDY/XFdyYhuQm7I/AAAAAAAAHo0/KpRn-3WnN6Uw6KCBTdS08sQshoWv_AxXgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>A week later a huge flock of Common Redpolls was seen out near Whitby, not far from where the Boreal Chickadee was seen, but in a field in a housing development. Amongst them, was a single Hoary Redpoll, that was easy enough to see with binoculars, but evaded my camera, as they were flying in a flock from place to place without sitting still very long.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_c002_a39b_f8a2_4d2f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wxbLCr4yynY/XFdyZCTKWHI/AAAAAAAAHo4/zrd9GjMXjhk96qivNQgJ4PzKtWU4kBI4wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div><img id="id_7807_57cc_ac7_2e00" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pQlyFqG7bP0/XFdyZpDLmxI/AAAAAAAAHo8/TLZvOdQ4D2Afv2MnDU1VqIvNCblaCib5QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_439_5fb1_ae3_bcd9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Wj5T_q20kWM/XFdyaMVfrEI/AAAAAAAAHpA/u1DC7-fkNAw-RK9b7OckZRo3tllDncBeQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Another species I haven’t seen much of in the past couple of years was Bohemian Waxwings. I heard of a flock about an hour and a half from home at Fleming College in the town of Lindsay, so took the day to go and was rewarded with a flock of at least 37 birds, on a very cold day.</span></div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_6570_f801_a328_ea15" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8hvrPbBnaE8/XFdyacvU8CI/AAAAAAAAHpE/fKStbM-R_4wij3b_1TJSMdjrjLnjC8nJwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div><img id="id_c48d_f5a2_63b7_4daf" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RwWpb_shMng/XFdyaxxId7I/AAAAAAAAHpI/r27FHa1zv80V4DNp9yeSC3beYbsOhehwQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br>I even found a Redpoll as a bonus bird:</div><div><br><img id="id_2fb3_7fb6_a45c_a3c5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxyz7i8s6MowpFPUINWQg4XZr0kBDUF4cnKjOiSL7iYvipjO8TR5CIeHg7vrgP6C55KJD9Zh076-kgTf7OIDxMoqnKND-pJTQPlfFilpNDaKCgMzQa2ANC-MiHv2wENRNXcLbWRRqN1s/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The past week, almost all my birding has been through my windows at the bird feeders, as it has been so cold in the minus 30’s Celcious with the wind!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I did have a little thrill at James Gardens, when an Eastern Towhee was coming to the Lambton Woods feeders. And the one time I forget my phone and don’t birding my camera, so missed a nice photo opportunity. But there were other birds.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_36be_4db9_f7fb_57f6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--3NZQMXq4A0/XFdyb913VTI/AAAAAAAAHpQ/j_J4eMuBcTMayU9a5sRDVl107iU_RCfJACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div><img id="id_644_4c3f_8287_3b4" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r3rwcNZ6Kp8/XFdycY2eeuI/AAAAAAAAHpU/OsYKqFiJiNkSEq1zw07FYna5m0-1A_BZwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Immature male, Common Goldeneye:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_10ee_c1ca_3e44_29a8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z9fmppqfGYQ/XFdycojEGRI/AAAAAAAAHpY/SPnKZGHqLn8PuCPzlLz0YxvX1ahu3O6NQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div><div><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br><br><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-7226449353553165652019-01-17T09:34:00.001-08:002019-01-20T05:59:31.538-08:002018 Year in Review and a Lifer or Two: Part III finished off 2018 with a trip to Nevada, both for work and birding, and enjoyed visitiing the 3 adjoing states over the 4 extra days I was there, including Zion Nartional Park in Utah, the Grand Canyon area of Arizona and Death Valley in California. Utah was the 29th state in which I have submitted at least one eBird list, though I had been to a few more, such as Maine and Vermont, long before I was a birder. So, 29 down, just 21 to go! I also added a couple of new Ontario Lifers, including an ABA Lifer with mere days left in the year, and I am now only 23 species away from 700.<br />
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My first destination in Nevada was the wonderful Bird Viewing Preserve in Henderson, just 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.<br />
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The birding there is terrific and you can spend hours in the morning discovering new species around every corner, in every pond and even on every bench and fence line, including Ruddy Ducks, Cinnamon Teal, Gambles Quail and even a female or young male Vermilion Flycatcher:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAS0uGK9qIEyJd4aFuzQiQn612X39-KLBYghN-3kG8tfZtTAq1CdHwm1R3o99qKfXkDbiQPCM0aiQbnndCz_hge-yb_69ceYrSSOMeE_RGxlgImBEo3sjaODROL25JHaz74COG3MKxjY/s1600/IMG_0449.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOt9FWCV4J1hhgRuJUXnaEmAHU3-a8BU0g8TgJQMceEXMjDhS1hPmFfl0MKQq2j_Rgd2axBMnqgUDPrxviErtG_Ebo4UAomtC0Mvl-LMg1vda5XkIuhj_J83N7EZYSeBjiGAwddu5yjx0/s1600/IMG_0455.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOt9FWCV4J1hhgRuJUXnaEmAHU3-a8BU0g8TgJQMceEXMjDhS1hPmFfl0MKQq2j_Rgd2axBMnqgUDPrxviErtG_Ebo4UAomtC0Mvl-LMg1vda5XkIuhj_J83N7EZYSeBjiGAwddu5yjx0/s320/IMG_0455.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAS0uGK9qIEyJd4aFuzQiQn612X39-KLBYghN-3kG8tfZtTAq1CdHwm1R3o99qKfXkDbiQPCM0aiQbnndCz_hge-yb_69ceYrSSOMeE_RGxlgImBEo3sjaODROL25JHaz74COG3MKxjY/s320/IMG_0449.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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Close by is Wetlands Park, an oasis in the desert, with rocks and riverbeds, full of interesting wildlife, including coyotes,(I only saw the tracks), and naturally, Roadrunners, along with a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.<br />
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I spent a night in the interestingly named town of Pahrump prior to heading to Ash Meadows NWR, and enjoyed what has now become my favorite new beverage at a local pub:</div>
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No Lifers in Utah, but the Oregon sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco was a lovely site on a cold day in Zion National Park, as was seeing a Townsend's Solitare, both rare birds back home in Toronto.<br />
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Back home in Toronto, it was time for a Lifer or two! The week I was gone, a Slaty-backed Gull began to be reported from a garbage dump and landfill out in Brantford, Ontario. At the time the dump was open to birders to come see it. By the time I returned, they had closed the dump and birders had to hope to catch a sighting in flight. My first trip resulted in dozens of photos of hundreds of gulls, but not the rare one, so I was going to hope to find it on a return visit.<br />
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The next day another rarity showed up in the form of a Eurasian Collared-dove, this time in Hamilton. Another rare bird in a home-owners back yard, which seemed to happen a lot in 2018. I raced over and joined half a dozen other excited birders to enjoy the sighting. I had seen a few just days earlier in Nevada, but this was number 325 for my Ontario List.<br />
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It was time to return to the dump in Brantford. I searched the skies over the dump then went to the nearby lake to see if there were any gulls there, with no luck. But after a coffee and bagel break, I returned to the road outside the dump and within a few minutes, I finally spotted the Slaty-backed Gull in flight. I now had another new Lifer for the year, giving me 677 ABA species, 685 in the ABA area and a grand total to end 2018 of 1014 species reported.<br />
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By the numbers, I listed 451 species, and added 5 ABA Lifers, in addition to 63 I added in Trinidad. I also added 9 birds to my Ontario Life List and 21 species to my Colonel Sam Smith Park List. All in all a fun and exciting year.<br />
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2019 is here and I plan to keep an eBird a day list going, and add even more Lifers, both in ABA and my world list, starting with a February trip to Ecuador!<br />
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<br />Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-47658075627254796682019-01-14T06:35:00.000-08:002019-01-14T06:35:07.918-08:002018 Year in Review and a Lifer or Two: Part IAs the year wraps up, a couple of rare visitors to Southern Ontario added two birds to my Ontario List and, more importantly, a new ABA Species, giving me 677 since beginning back in 2012 and now just 23 away from 700.<br />
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I began 2018 with a trip to Trinidad where I added 63 species to my World Life List. It was a great trip with nearly 200 species and amazing hummingbirds.<br />
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Then it was back in North America and a trip out to Ottawa to get my first photos of Gray Partridge. I found them in the backyards of a housing complex. Early in February I also got photos a recently returned Tufted Duck and of Ring-necked Pheasants from closer than 100 feet away, and my first for Ontario, number 317 at the time, and there would be 8 more before the end of the year.<br />
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All this time I had been hearing reports of a Mistle Thrush in New Brunswick. It was finally during the second week of February when the bird was still hanging around, that I decided to go for it. After a long day of flying and driving, I arrived to see it badly late that afternoon, and spectacularly the next morning, number 1010 for the Life List. I also got my first photos of a Black Guillemot, though it was a juvenile.<br />
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In March, I added the Rose-ringed Parakeet,(freshly added to the ABA List) to the Life List,(1011), down in Naples, Florida but it was in Ontario that spring and early summer where the real excitement was. I keep few Life Lists. World and ABA obviously, and, of course, Ontario, the province where I live. I don't keep a backyard list or a country/city list, but I do keep track of all the birds I have seen in Colonel Samuel Smith Park down by Lake Ontario in Toronto. I go there about 100 days a year and began the year with 200 species seen in the park. In early April, while birding with Sue, she spotted a Virginia Rail, the first new species for the park of a year where I would add 21 species over the next 8 months.<br />
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The rail was followed by a Pine Warbler and Sora, and then the arrival of a Yellow-breasted Chat in the aftermath of a late April ice storm and an early May wind storm. That weekend another park first, a LeConte's Sparrow put on an equally spectacular show for both birders and photographers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXivz5BD3ar2LD2T5GukpZrNqJvTx3LkTK__hG_Ax9C6GDL2ItLOkLVOhlcKmUZBAjKJdOjXUmGy6qT45DhdTc2IGMMpeivc2ZRpB9pNu2Wmzc-k8zqR8rObgYeKOiVb6lzWcyxucRp4I/s1600/IMG_1218.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXivz5BD3ar2LD2T5GukpZrNqJvTx3LkTK__hG_Ax9C6GDL2ItLOkLVOhlcKmUZBAjKJdOjXUmGy6qT45DhdTc2IGMMpeivc2ZRpB9pNu2Wmzc-k8zqR8rObgYeKOiVb6lzWcyxucRp4I/s320/IMG_1218.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALpbhUeWRIZunZ8Fj4pFb1ZZ3hMtsIxGL3gOizDPG1Rs90HKrChPxmDE1sdcfeKwEdDkkaib8sotZL_flSc4RfrQ1DafdXFGOovwhyQtXoANCXEdMEV-BIwkEwqe0Hu91tGc5RQyFV0c/s1600/IMG_1360.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALpbhUeWRIZunZ8Fj4pFb1ZZ3hMtsIxGL3gOizDPG1Rs90HKrChPxmDE1sdcfeKwEdDkkaib8sotZL_flSc4RfrQ1DafdXFGOovwhyQtXoANCXEdMEV-BIwkEwqe0Hu91tGc5RQyFV0c/s320/IMG_1360.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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It was then off to Rondeau Provincial Park for the Fantasy of Flight Birding Festival, where my two goals were the realistic chance of getting my first photograph of a Golden-winged Warbler and a less likely chance of a spectacular Fallout after a spring rainstorm. Lucky for us, we got both on the same day! I also got to add White-winged Dove to my growing Ontario Life List.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EOVgpFjscEeI7ehrF1Di7P7xCUjJ7f3DXpU6ygDk3tutH-G7KmUCy-O5mtjXpHkh7551V2efAKXCBb9b0_lmbFI2JN7F3ci2hs8CLfRQ2-E1wRW6rZ92xtJETHMA_dqxs_isvfm959g/s1600/IMG_1528.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EOVgpFjscEeI7ehrF1Di7P7xCUjJ7f3DXpU6ygDk3tutH-G7KmUCy-O5mtjXpHkh7551V2efAKXCBb9b0_lmbFI2JN7F3ci2hs8CLfRQ2-E1wRW6rZ92xtJETHMA_dqxs_isvfm959g/s320/IMG_1528.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BlHeAykgmD0ybBzJQoU6gIlA3tX4fY4BK7d2Hbx1rzbeL8x2sGiUGLVdNwaInl32YZ-BXW9nI2jujfSEBh-qPLToeRVYFGEY4135es-oSgMsq4MoPhCZQB2lk3g2fXu83uDLBXz1uR8/s1600/IMG_1562.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BlHeAykgmD0ybBzJQoU6gIlA3tX4fY4BK7d2Hbx1rzbeL8x2sGiUGLVdNwaInl32YZ-BXW9nI2jujfSEBh-qPLToeRVYFGEY4135es-oSgMsq4MoPhCZQB2lk3g2fXu83uDLBXz1uR8/s320/IMG_1562.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Back in Toronto, I added 3 more birds to my Col. Sam List: Eastern Meadowlark, Ruddy Turnstone and a Purple Finch in a field of grass, along with the annual whimbrel migration. And just when I thought migration season had come to an end, on a cold morning, early in June at Bronte Harbour, dozens of birders flocked to see an Arctic Tern, number 319 for my Ontario List.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8m6Zt5xvUBgfUN90UVnFVBt9-ByOPdUXybsgJpeVNTZwadMmjCAxFxWybB6i1ZStVIrGDgAoohC4DEaex1yNq7Comtl_WXyn1cweWLCIyORMDVgaoch4wVyAK6ZJDtixg15Wz7R2uZY/s1600/IMG_1799.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8m6Zt5xvUBgfUN90UVnFVBt9-ByOPdUXybsgJpeVNTZwadMmjCAxFxWybB6i1ZStVIrGDgAoohC4DEaex1yNq7Comtl_WXyn1cweWLCIyORMDVgaoch4wVyAK6ZJDtixg15Wz7R2uZY/s320/IMG_1799.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRr0dpiLtg_5oHNBSlwtywPKwdkJQG8N0cNYcpCGvyW3_JAMHn7KPYyyGXTc22g6F85mTFIFGhTyqClwa93VT65GThTsndlrEmasG-___eYqw6j5u5CWpnFQxPydswsZPMqGpNvLsXng/s1600/IMG_1983.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRr0dpiLtg_5oHNBSlwtywPKwdkJQG8N0cNYcpCGvyW3_JAMHn7KPYyyGXTc22g6F85mTFIFGhTyqClwa93VT65GThTsndlrEmasG-___eYqw6j5u5CWpnFQxPydswsZPMqGpNvLsXng/s320/IMG_1983.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtcHFeZFbn-78yqhVjGAXr5NKcqU2iAMHh46hfINoo3REu2mPNn5YXKEK-z_ykykPb0w9o3GUBmLJfyZK34ywx_Wxe9OWytZydXb_huRCRMPSGgyBi8uxl9Xce_4jPKUKSCJqctJA13Q/s1600/IMG_1956.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAd8EVUVvFY5pmUc8qzh3FDtpL07Jk0hdg1lCpkGnfqxr3UPykTO9Ah6WLWE8vg0YTK-MgnCfjP1EXd6mI9NAF3OgC_GJXOUWi0zX5nUbuJzYjRpIVO16lXNMS5NON26vGNxZJQhNGX8/s1600/IMG_2034.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAd8EVUVvFY5pmUc8qzh3FDtpL07Jk0hdg1lCpkGnfqxr3UPykTO9Ah6WLWE8vg0YTK-MgnCfjP1EXd6mI9NAF3OgC_GJXOUWi0zX5nUbuJzYjRpIVO16lXNMS5NON26vGNxZJQhNGX8/s320/IMG_2034.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtcHFeZFbn-78yqhVjGAXr5NKcqU2iAMHh46hfINoo3REu2mPNn5YXKEK-z_ykykPb0w9o3GUBmLJfyZK34ywx_Wxe9OWytZydXb_huRCRMPSGgyBi8uxl9Xce_4jPKUKSCJqctJA13Q/s320/IMG_1956.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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During my summer travels, I got to see a lost Whooping Crane in Michigan and added two Lifers in Florida: Mangrove Cuckoo and Roseate Tern, both down in the Keys. I also had a great trip out west, too see Black-billed Magpies in British Columbia and down to West Virginia where I found a Worm-Eating Warbler at the Brush Creek Preserve, home to a unique assemblage of rare plants and animals. And when I returned to Toronto, another first for Col. Sam Smith Park, a Dickcissel<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_ENILom6EBHQx_ikSEzmAAt3mY0QwlrzBdSDzOTvoB4VrXlvrMhM5vN9apVfbBMs4lmlmbB6AAybKwOBCzRMmQibni9GJpiCDdmY2U7bcZNZWQ80Wg_mN1JraS0bQamwTEUXxifTe4g/s1600/IMG_4591.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_ENILom6EBHQx_ikSEzmAAt3mY0QwlrzBdSDzOTvoB4VrXlvrMhM5vN9apVfbBMs4lmlmbB6AAybKwOBCzRMmQibni9GJpiCDdmY2U7bcZNZWQ80Wg_mN1JraS0bQamwTEUXxifTe4g/s320/IMG_4591.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJOc9lyXJ7zHO67m37n8L7cVVM0zPn3HoWXaLI0uIFEKvdYtOYLUGHTJf_8Ko2xpXjRX5mODUfa4CfoXO1nN0DZ483_ggGnstMb4_8ufe0AqkoRN9rWVjPqVxR8v_14aBtwazWwEZEPw/s1600/IMG_2747.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJOc9lyXJ7zHO67m37n8L7cVVM0zPn3HoWXaLI0uIFEKvdYtOYLUGHTJf_8Ko2xpXjRX5mODUfa4CfoXO1nN0DZ483_ggGnstMb4_8ufe0AqkoRN9rWVjPqVxR8v_14aBtwazWwEZEPw/s320/IMG_2747.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Early fall saw trips to Florida and the spectacular fall birding destination of Cape May, New Jersey.<br />
No Lifers there, but there was a Eurasian Wigeon, for our one rare bird of the trip. When I returned news of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Colonel Sam Smith Park was hot off the OntBirds Alert, Number 214 for my Park List. And there were more! A Wilson's Snipe, Pine Siskin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Parasitic Jaeger, and my holy grail of Park List birds, a Nelson's Sparrow,(219). But all that excitement ended with a trip to the hospital to fix some rods and screws in my spine. Still, I managed to continue my daily eBird streak by birding out my hospital window each day, and my in my back yard while I recovered at home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wTEWzXCGjA_iFOcwe0sZJ_Eh41sBUJOWeRzoGXdZXmFExagJp9UmiQj2wCde1Ih3rR6-LU02TavpaEZa0Z86kEsDuvV_w6vPCQ_wPTvudGjIyeZo78jwmEg6vHvW6HZ6tvfltvQEKc0/s1600/IMG_0079.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wTEWzXCGjA_iFOcwe0sZJ_Eh41sBUJOWeRzoGXdZXmFExagJp9UmiQj2wCde1Ih3rR6-LU02TavpaEZa0Z86kEsDuvV_w6vPCQ_wPTvudGjIyeZo78jwmEg6vHvW6HZ6tvfltvQEKc0/s320/IMG_0079.jpeg" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcGY2_xA23PhJi_TJkD8Bf3is88OYKWriLF5W4hFUVQMgY3WZoTGjg8nzh09aoy5HGIDmRixYyFOZEti1OSp4k-vFJ5FBaSTNFwLzWDJ9GD3rtwQkMUGOZ3MFhbmXq1qgO1bNgG2jmro/s1600/Yellow-billed+Cuckoo.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcGY2_xA23PhJi_TJkD8Bf3is88OYKWriLF5W4hFUVQMgY3WZoTGjg8nzh09aoy5HGIDmRixYyFOZEti1OSp4k-vFJ5FBaSTNFwLzWDJ9GD3rtwQkMUGOZ3MFhbmXq1qgO1bNgG2jmro/s320/Yellow-billed+Cuckoo.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Barely recovered from my surgery, a report of a Black-throated Gray Warbler came in and I added another Ontario Lifer, number 320 for the Province List. Next, it was a Common Eider, number 321. Back in Colonel Samuel Smith Park, more Park Lifers were seen. Down here in Toronto, it is rare for a Boreal Chickadee to be seen, but a first for Col Sam, this bird had us racing around the park to finally see and get photos. To top it all off, a Northern Goshawk flew over giving me two new Lifers for the Park, numbers 220 and 221.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmhzDgKQEAFj4GGq1m4ilL5lFf4p8YUTX1FnzR8ZXjzy0nprkIq6DoLqvn2lfasrFKuZtgPYWJt0AIM9TmWM7hmrU8ENKrm7tPc7i6IcQmTB7B6IxMRIB8bwfHtkIuHk0-njIQBWdsOI/s1600/IMG_6492.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmhzDgKQEAFj4GGq1m4ilL5lFf4p8YUTX1FnzR8ZXjzy0nprkIq6DoLqvn2lfasrFKuZtgPYWJt0AIM9TmWM7hmrU8ENKrm7tPc7i6IcQmTB7B6IxMRIB8bwfHtkIuHk0-njIQBWdsOI/s320/IMG_6492.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibogKdgCifuVI4-RCnt9-WCxHJa9PRcsIHFYd5Ul_RYW-XF2DonvVIBL5czNDeXM3K5nYl3IfFMYwWoiIyxW6djRhsWUKJdXthVLq8fVPSRzH3JJBulWPaDXdZgmfhmCO-2bWCqWf_gLw/s1600/IMG_6399.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibogKdgCifuVI4-RCnt9-WCxHJa9PRcsIHFYd5Ul_RYW-XF2DonvVIBL5czNDeXM3K5nYl3IfFMYwWoiIyxW6djRhsWUKJdXthVLq8fVPSRzH3JJBulWPaDXdZgmfhmCO-2bWCqWf_gLw/s320/IMG_6399.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We weren't finished with Ontario rarities just yet. There were a few more, including ridiculously rare Calliope Hummingbird,(322), coming to backyard feeders in Goderich, on the coast of Lake Huron. Then, before I headed south to Nevada for a work/birding trip, the Great Kiskadee that had been seen all fall in Rondeau Provincial Park returned. <br />
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I had not gone pre-surgery since the drive was a little too far for me at the time, but post-surgery I took the trip and added another Ontario Lifer, number 323 and there would still be more...<br />
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-10472528506460955852018-12-09T15:16:00.001-08:002018-12-27T17:44:09.971-08:00Adding to the Life List, Both in Ontario and the ABA<div style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">It has been hard to add new birds to the year and or Life List, since going into the hospital for surgery and recovering over the past 4 weeks or so. But I I have discovered, from the updated ABA Checklist, that I have two new ABA Life Birds. In February of 2017 I drove to over 6 hours to Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania for a Black-backed Oriole. It was a fun trip and the bird did not disappoint, though we had to view it from across the street in a neighbors driveway. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">This past February I flew to New Brunswick and drove to Miramichi to see a just as rare, Mistle Thrush and again the bird put on a great show, especially in the morning sun on my second day there. Both were great birds for the Life List, but neither was on the ABA List at the time. Well, low and behold, the latest update has both birds as accepted species in the ABA area. So without flying or driving a mile, I have jumped from 674 to 676 and now only 24 species away from the joining the 700 Club.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Here in Ontario, I have had the good fortune to have a very rare for Canada, Great Kiskadee re-emerge from hiding and give me a new Ontario bird to chase. Back when it was being seen on a regular basis, I was suffering from a nerve issue in my spine and couldn’t drive the 3 hours to Rondeau Provincial Park to see it. But five weeks post surgery, the bird was seen again and I was ready to drive to add species 323 to my Ontario Life List.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">And now begins one of my final trips of the year, to the annual Baseball Winter Meetings, this time in Las Vegas. Back when the Jays had a team in Nevada in 2012, I was doing a Big year and I was able to do a lot of birding area, including the amazing Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. I will return there and in addition drive up to Utah, to add another state to my eBird List, and hopefully a Lifer or two.</span></div>
Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-62157400954805433192018-11-22T18:06:00.002-08:002018-11-25T19:34:56.130-08:00A Calliope Hummingbird comes to GoderichWell, of all the rare bird alerts I might have hoped for in the final weeks of the year, a western hummingbird was not even close to being on the radar. This little guy, an immature male from out west, where I have seen them in Arizona and California, went off the radar himself and instead of flying south to Mexico ended up on the shores of Lake Huron, in the backyard of a home in Goderich. This is the first ever Ontario record of Calliope Hummingbird and I was finally recovered enough from surgery on my spine to make the two-and-a-half hour drive from Toronto to see this rare event and add another Ontario Lifer.<br />
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This all began the previous evening when Glenn Coady, a respected birder here in Ontario reported it on the OntBirds rare bird alert. This bird had been coming to the feeders of homeowner Linda, along with a Ruby-throated Hummingbird for some time before it was identified and vetted by several North American bird experts. Glenn Coady was able to negotiate a week-long viewing window, so the next morning I was up early and made the drive up to Goderich, arriving long after many of the local birders I know from Toronto were already present in the backyard, amongst the crowd, marvelling at this little wonder from out west.<br />
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The homeowners were nice enough to open their backyard to Ontario birders, even putting out welcome balloons so we could find our way in:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzSj4JJMtw2JfQyIVqrtxFGMNG5dDFrRo4INkmrZjqqWL7KRxkEVuVgHaQpbisUJM6rZMYFwZwJC_Rsx7_tzY6dIeF1fKKUMn6_GmqFRc40IitaAwnIRlvHh7W1fFBIChlGjL7I2IhR8/s1600/IMG_3826.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzSj4JJMtw2JfQyIVqrtxFGMNG5dDFrRo4INkmrZjqqWL7KRxkEVuVgHaQpbisUJM6rZMYFwZwJC_Rsx7_tzY6dIeF1fKKUMn6_GmqFRc40IitaAwnIRlvHh7W1fFBIChlGjL7I2IhR8/s320/IMG_3826.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiey7FkpcKoDc6scafExDCaevOR_FOG2Y_VA59MvblqXx6mnrmFcg6-ZNj2cZQrP6EobIW8GxkY6m8Q-ApY7ZFF-AzkCA95jrf3NUHPg0GAYIde6T4ElVTYTm5LzsD6RKNZfs85GJZPJ0/s1600/IMG_3823.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiey7FkpcKoDc6scafExDCaevOR_FOG2Y_VA59MvblqXx6mnrmFcg6-ZNj2cZQrP6EobIW8GxkY6m8Q-ApY7ZFF-AzkCA95jrf3NUHPg0GAYIde6T4ElVTYTm5LzsD6RKNZfs85GJZPJ0/s320/IMG_3823.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The Star of the Show, Calliope Hummingbird, #322 for Ontario:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZMfwUj9NmLGu0_v_SI5RVj72It8D1_1vgFPA8N5pgtGR85kf7sfUF6hhJLdpupoU3qhWBll6GC-2xHtyHLteIisGze0JkjP4p5mSHhvfJOzEfdSUdQlWDiSndAkgYqBSgFTg16v9zUY/s1600/IMG_6799.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZMfwUj9NmLGu0_v_SI5RVj72It8D1_1vgFPA8N5pgtGR85kf7sfUF6hhJLdpupoU3qhWBll6GC-2xHtyHLteIisGze0JkjP4p5mSHhvfJOzEfdSUdQlWDiSndAkgYqBSgFTg16v9zUY/s640/IMG_6799.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvEv3XFMqaBd9R926Mcb-t4sRoSdEG46ONA4v9ruYoa3iT_mBVoD_j2V5Wg8ox-uzjiteuLPCLJyktw2_8Lg8-1adfl6qu8NVxMgQaldTPewc8og_b5sN3T6CdJppuLeImaduTGVb_p0/s1600/IMG_6811.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTvoRrHiQV8zd8G2BKL2H_9itW5cOUkJntbgIOYpjp74mKP7x1He7meA3rboj-QYzaJMv2sWGc-_Vz0e9qnHKv6qyQJrOFCYVxGR4QKWG38AJ0CEp6C_FVdjCEwcuNPhsWzxaHjm4YtY/s1600/IMG_6814.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTvoRrHiQV8zd8G2BKL2H_9itW5cOUkJntbgIOYpjp74mKP7x1He7meA3rboj-QYzaJMv2sWGc-_Vz0e9qnHKv6qyQJrOFCYVxGR4QKWG38AJ0CEp6C_FVdjCEwcuNPhsWzxaHjm4YtY/s640/IMG_6814.jpeg" width="640" /></a><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvEv3XFMqaBd9R926Mcb-t4sRoSdEG46ONA4v9ruYoa3iT_mBVoD_j2V5Wg8ox-uzjiteuLPCLJyktw2_8Lg8-1adfl6qu8NVxMgQaldTPewc8og_b5sN3T6CdJppuLeImaduTGVb_p0/s640/IMG_6811.jpeg" width="640" /><br />
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With all the interesting birds that have shown up over the last few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if another rare bird or two appears on the radar of Ontario birders before the end of the year.</div>
Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-6091849618215492672018-11-21T05:33:00.001-08:002018-11-25T19:30:34.346-08:00Fall Migration Part Three: Post Surgery, the Birding is Easy and the Rarities are PlentifulI was barely out of the hospital 24 hours when a huge Ontario Bird Alert went out that a Black-throated Gray Warbler was being seen in LaSalle Marina in Burlington, an hour down the road from Toronto. Not a Lifer, as I had seen them in Arizona in the past, but this would be an Ontario Lifer and would be a Lifer for most local birders, for sure. This was definitely a stakeout as it took nearly 90 minutes before it turned up, and considering I had surgery only days before, I was fading fast when it finally appeared. I'm sure it was very tired from its flight across North America from, perhaps, British Columbia to Burlington, likely lost on his way to Mexico for the winter.<br />
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#320 for Ontario, Black-throated Gray Warbler:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGfmpSkrN2t260kT2ikldd3csNy8qrheMnJNnVH3wJth9QxRQpYvnK4s3sVMR1VqpnOsupsNzDaBIm0A-7gQIqcD8b4c4upypNFdBYKONoVVlcAPnEeEe37hqnE7w3M4LNSN30lZeomc/s1600/IMG_6486.jpeg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bw3T46y150kvWHH9tbdd1yk1FE4tGGgRHuxBYtZdcR5aTTftlgSsCBmn16IVMaKN9ZvwOG19mFSpIj4iuTg1PiQ1Rtycg1eXlfNLEc0BPqAbFp3hRZ-dW4xnwaIkIyfq3tH5_5JNH0Q/s1600/IMG_6489.jpeg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3svf6ZKI3Gh3WEf7RcjteFVevBdB5WUNOoktjS4rdhVQ2fjaZDpckRyhYZkU5DYQyywoyoMNiDeEYQtLCYXEbQuS3aooX0YBcFbDW2EjvFLuGFEkr_956TkUjNPJ74vxI5moSriWKLIY/s1600/IMG_6492.jpeg"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3svf6ZKI3Gh3WEf7RcjteFVevBdB5WUNOoktjS4rdhVQ2fjaZDpckRyhYZkU5DYQyywoyoMNiDeEYQtLCYXEbQuS3aooX0YBcFbDW2EjvFLuGFEkr_956TkUjNPJ74vxI5moSriWKLIY/s320/IMG_6492.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGfmpSkrN2t260kT2ikldd3csNy8qrheMnJNnVH3wJth9QxRQpYvnK4s3sVMR1VqpnOsupsNzDaBIm0A-7gQIqcD8b4c4upypNFdBYKONoVVlcAPnEeEe37hqnE7w3M4LNSN30lZeomc/s320/IMG_6486.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bw3T46y150kvWHH9tbdd1yk1FE4tGGgRHuxBYtZdcR5aTTftlgSsCBmn16IVMaKN9ZvwOG19mFSpIj4iuTg1PiQ1Rtycg1eXlfNLEc0BPqAbFp3hRZ-dW4xnwaIkIyfq3tH5_5JNH0Q/s1600/IMG_6489.jpeg" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bw3T46y150kvWHH9tbdd1yk1FE4tGGgRHuxBYtZdcR5aTTftlgSsCBmn16IVMaKN9ZvwOG19mFSpIj4iuTg1PiQ1Rtycg1eXlfNLEc0BPqAbFp3hRZ-dW4xnwaIkIyfq3tH5_5JNH0Q/s640/IMG_6489.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Keeping with the continuing fall theme of rarities, yet another rare bird showed up in Toronto,(but again, not CSSP-rats!), a female Common Eider. She was not quite so lost as these birds can pass over Lake Ontario on their way to wintering along the east coast of North America.</div>
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#321 For Ontario, Common Eider:</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGicBtigBuKGiHGwpjCEVedQI2pjWdpQlJHElBTT93zWM4Erk70JxBHcsn8ueypx_c4nRiNootID5P-VCqQqO7Pzt8AXhyphenhyphen1eY457h469nXN5jdiXJgwPUnrn4C5USFB1sLDUr0R0viS4/s1600/IMG_6407.jpeg"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGicBtigBuKGiHGwpjCEVedQI2pjWdpQlJHElBTT93zWM4Erk70JxBHcsn8ueypx_c4nRiNootID5P-VCqQqO7Pzt8AXhyphenhyphen1eY457h469nXN5jdiXJgwPUnrn4C5USFB1sLDUr0R0viS4/s320/IMG_6407.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuK-0mpTpyQ_9ORbuvTmnlZ4B46fwzurQOtw0xlI9keqz20_Jalz3n_7C4w6YVZOJ9G9S49jIiBCEUerolNaAjrYNIkUBB08gVCiGO2yjpFxPb_zUdhEXHbYBXFH1SZN1X69z8ovp5KxY/s320/IMG_6397.jpeg" width="320" /></div>
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Finally, a rare bird showed up in Colonel Sam again. This time, of all things, a Boreal Chickadee. For the past seven years, I have closely examined chickadees in the park hoping to one day see one south of Algonquin Park. Well, that day finally arrived. After a few of us heard that another birder had thought she heard one, but did not see it, a few of us looked the next day and it was found by David, one of my Col. Sam birding buddies. We chased it around the park and eventually caught up with it in several locations and I was lucky enough to get photos. And if that wasn't enough, as we were watching the chickadee, a juvenile Northern Goshawk flew over and I even got photos of that bird. Both were new additions to my Col. Sam Life List.</div>
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<h4>
#220: Boreal Chickadee:</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKGMOxpoK7pJSMiKS3BMJpuCctQBIaXXr0SP0HxzHhG-WuTZMsflKNG1ucN1yiYIEPiC_qkLt8fF72hz0spOm9UoT0ReYdaqmV_E9l9AQbONYIhOfBI709J7gTPMSIqRWd-9VdNtDgFE/s1600/IMG_6576.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUR5fZHytd7UqTQClHre5klef3ZY-ew1SThbdjLzZ5-t0tIrufQdyTdewZTQ-f-NtZVU-V1kBCHjEB2vzDQ7-omt5gxI01KIOSsSdO1JpGssGx9KIUBoEIP3F74W8ozS60U8BNA_palEg/s1600/IMG_6610.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHldGjtITknduo3JlWtl4NSFf196unxEVpGGidjiSFzf44k7s6DLkH4a3ziQcanQAnadclcEBO0ZAn_4aDJF7GHYdgQ38TE_Vo_2CTTI77h3yfFPS3JsFDLR8q3-MV01bjnK_pcwoYz5g/s1600/IMG_6573.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHldGjtITknduo3JlWtl4NSFf196unxEVpGGidjiSFzf44k7s6DLkH4a3ziQcanQAnadclcEBO0ZAn_4aDJF7GHYdgQ38TE_Vo_2CTTI77h3yfFPS3JsFDLR8q3-MV01bjnK_pcwoYz5g/s320/IMG_6573.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUR5fZHytd7UqTQClHre5klef3ZY-ew1SThbdjLzZ5-t0tIrufQdyTdewZTQ-f-NtZVU-V1kBCHjEB2vzDQ7-omt5gxI01KIOSsSdO1JpGssGx9KIUBoEIP3F74W8ozS60U8BNA_palEg/s320/IMG_6610.jpeg" width="320" /><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKGMOxpoK7pJSMiKS3BMJpuCctQBIaXXr0SP0HxzHhG-WuTZMsflKNG1ucN1yiYIEPiC_qkLt8fF72hz0spOm9UoT0ReYdaqmV_E9l9AQbONYIhOfBI709J7gTPMSIqRWd-9VdNtDgFE/s640/IMG_6576.jpeg" width="640" /></div>
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<h4>
# 211: Northern Goshawk:</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgda1z7JMfXfvVNVs1DqujtDJfhbC44QW0t2lCOsK8BjR3S5tanTA0Yb2_-ebaqEKnCl7wVd4uOr5C4tnzD32y2p_cGslv6V9Nk57qEACGILen8cD6-84LLf7ZDZt-OSOp2t4Zgo7S4DLw/s1600/IMG_6592.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgda1z7JMfXfvVNVs1DqujtDJfhbC44QW0t2lCOsK8BjR3S5tanTA0Yb2_-ebaqEKnCl7wVd4uOr5C4tnzD32y2p_cGslv6V9Nk57qEACGILen8cD6-84LLf7ZDZt-OSOp2t4Zgo7S4DLw/s640/IMG_6592.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And just when I thought there could be no more rare birds around, I heard of a female Hooded Warbler out in Oakville at Sedgewick Park, where it always seems to be good for fall warblers. I had only heard one this year in Backus Woods, so decided to take the drive out for one more late warbler.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_BAzf6D46seqI9pZjmYKnKAOW0q2pvNBO5M2jbOMKjqe9MwIh0Giex20BQKcV3ZcaDXW5PCme94qxWBI02FG_B3mJ3ziwQh6ZDUFLCtseF2nOs0hYZ0LQ2GOCc1ah8tQwWA8Me7rRBA/s1600/IMG_6746.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_BAzf6D46seqI9pZjmYKnKAOW0q2pvNBO5M2jbOMKjqe9MwIh0Giex20BQKcV3ZcaDXW5PCme94qxWBI02FG_B3mJ3ziwQh6ZDUFLCtseF2nOs0hYZ0LQ2GOCc1ah8tQwWA8Me7rRBA/s400/IMG_6746.jpeg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I have hopes of adding one or two more warbler species in 2018 when I venture south to Nevada and Utah in December.</div>
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Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-3031921871888446802018-11-12T18:43:00.001-08:002018-11-25T19:27:31.031-08:00Fall Migration Part Two: The Rarities Continue in CSSPIt has been a good year for rare birds showing up in Colonel Sam Smith Park. I consider it my local patch since I bird in the park more than any other location, having seen over 160 species there this year. And I will jump at any chance to add to my CSSP Life List. I had already added 14 species this year, including the Dickcissel, a Northern Harrier, Surf Scoter and Merlin before heading off to New Jersey, only to hear of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the park on the day I returned.<br />
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<b>#212 Yellow-billed Cuckoo:</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cmWwEiPNKCy0T4UzTcWZTjkZuUsEltxwBK_5NOCKqJqEg-Fi_zlRyp3V0djInDvFFWyLhECu0hBb1Cjs25k9RPo3HwoNevpvue5bzBuzSSO-P8nbWT6_xz-vvrS9NZHKx5X-UucDWW8/s1600/IMG_4940.jpg"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cmWwEiPNKCy0T4UzTcWZTjkZuUsEltxwBK_5NOCKqJqEg-Fi_zlRyp3V0djInDvFFWyLhECu0hBb1Cjs25k9RPo3HwoNevpvue5bzBuzSSO-P8nbWT6_xz-vvrS9NZHKx5X-UucDWW8/s640/IMG_4940.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Over the past couple of weeks, I have continued to add, not just park Lifers, but Ontario Lifers as well. It's been another exciting late fall migration in the greater Toronto area. A few days after the Cuckoo, I was informed of a Wilson's Snipe on the mudflats in the pond, just south of the observation deck. Cool. Another bird for my CSSP List. I traded this one for the Northern Shrike I seen only minutes earlier.<br />
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<h4>
Northern Shrike, a definite "early bird:"</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBDLJnTSTc_2kUVqYCfkGFr75edyWcC1gYA6E4sZ2hZDB0DavjGliSfp1JbDdJ1BOqcU5qmWBVwvhI9lK2t3vs6xCrxibscwi19c6NP6gHXHBeIWLYfTW6Cf6-aFotItOZr7mA5l_250/s1600/IMG_3495.jpeg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBDLJnTSTc_2kUVqYCfkGFr75edyWcC1gYA6E4sZ2hZDB0DavjGliSfp1JbDdJ1BOqcU5qmWBVwvhI9lK2t3vs6xCrxibscwi19c6NP6gHXHBeIWLYfTW6Cf6-aFotItOZr7mA5l_250/s640/IMG_3495.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
<h4>
#213 Wilson's Snipe:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdRL1ICeF4DenxdrCzoAejO3GoBnJsQDdfznbvCkV_j3_gmVW6C4MWR1k7TVTEhuFjX-T0LSnJPbTXILOzAHNICdhisUYEL6Tpwoo4itODE_r4fN3NS7gvKjZmT-9mFjBiVAhTFdPazU/s1600/IMG_3529.jpeg"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdRL1ICeF4DenxdrCzoAejO3GoBnJsQDdfznbvCkV_j3_gmVW6C4MWR1k7TVTEhuFjX-T0LSnJPbTXILOzAHNICdhisUYEL6Tpwoo4itODE_r4fN3NS7gvKjZmT-9mFjBiVAhTFdPazU/s320/IMG_3529.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8INU_odvy2yULCjEA9s4q2f2XBiZzv7dpTwLzMs441Bd6HdM23rTdGHNqevmDuBjHv8nd6YyKv_igcg54ujoEkgMjchKpKk-35dIdG3FJ5ZjF79gfDcxQrf4YlSgmOEAlNHRS603JsZE/s1600/IMG_3503.jpeg"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8INU_odvy2yULCjEA9s4q2f2XBiZzv7dpTwLzMs441Bd6HdM23rTdGHNqevmDuBjHv8nd6YyKv_igcg54ujoEkgMjchKpKk-35dIdG3FJ5ZjF79gfDcxQrf4YlSgmOEAlNHRS603JsZE/s320/IMG_3503.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqg0D2rvDUgSuLHcNYUNgVxzMu9Z6ryOfGGtzdXzl0kvUnL5j-fe7gef64XCx-ZBqJ8H1HaVKWpPCrcmcwK9EW-5l1NxUJ5JbOFqodrBOeH127rT7I7c6289onylgAncmSt8s_wCxT2LE/s1600/IMG_6182.jpeg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqg0D2rvDUgSuLHcNYUNgVxzMu9Z6ryOfGGtzdXzl0kvUnL5j-fe7gef64XCx-ZBqJ8H1HaVKWpPCrcmcwK9EW-5l1NxUJ5JbOFqodrBOeH127rT7I7c6289onylgAncmSt8s_wCxT2LE/s640/IMG_6182.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The CSSP Lifers kept on coming. Less than a week later after getting a good look at a White-rumped Sandpiper, I found a Pine Siskin and then another birder asked if I could help with an identification of a shorebird, right where the snipe had been and it turned out to be a Pectoral Sandpiper.<br />
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<h4>
White-rumped Sandpiper:</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgup77DsnKy-X5DvSqOPxzetewCSO-YZyBpWkShHwW4d1nVj_wu15sZ9HmsSpOOo1vedFtzwyijiEXvcnUZOt2XaB5zSsDiIY0xSVYPDuRkdrj9zI7CTljxr8W0FAtAYMV594WKWOmLusc/s1600/IMG_6055.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgup77DsnKy-X5DvSqOPxzetewCSO-YZyBpWkShHwW4d1nVj_wu15sZ9HmsSpOOo1vedFtzwyijiEXvcnUZOt2XaB5zSsDiIY0xSVYPDuRkdrj9zI7CTljxr8W0FAtAYMV594WKWOmLusc/s400/IMG_6055.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h4>
# 214 Pine Siskin:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMSq0Yo3SIS-nZZCO5iFQsXGcuMjdf3ECD85ZuAEhXd0CTaOuqbhDDcbB-FwWWGXzVFckHhRNbdt2Axh_FopnVF5nrKQZUzoiL1sdCOa30mkFtDlBzth4fbCTjBQGKAUMUgcFRKViid4/s1600/IMG_6073.jpeg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMSq0Yo3SIS-nZZCO5iFQsXGcuMjdf3ECD85ZuAEhXd0CTaOuqbhDDcbB-FwWWGXzVFckHhRNbdt2Axh_FopnVF5nrKQZUzoiL1sdCOa30mkFtDlBzth4fbCTjBQGKAUMUgcFRKViid4/s640/IMG_6073.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
<h4>
#215 Pectoral Sandpiper:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv928SGab-e_lxOMOepW7RsVoLiu7QSoRCBhUfjFhkv5GuQP__cw6yuy-rhLyso2QRO1RZ_KOQ-s-AxgWlcjdRNLyqtvKN3Z6_11PNiYY4jgvSQYq3iTbW1h8ySNIdTjm-t-T_ldE73o/s1600/IMG_6090.jpeg"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv928SGab-e_lxOMOepW7RsVoLiu7QSoRCBhUfjFhkv5GuQP__cw6yuy-rhLyso2QRO1RZ_KOQ-s-AxgWlcjdRNLyqtvKN3Z6_11PNiYY4jgvSQYq3iTbW1h8ySNIdTjm-t-T_ldE73o/s320/IMG_6090.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgj0oRF0AgcWCJHLoNJrpLGpKidOPRzMjfxeigjDzkvAkwgT7QhhFWJADNYN848V75MBSOsAuh0bw4-kSsxs7x6o7Ua50TnmJvb30uNIv9ZxtfNUln4dhTCj6-g2vJJpxSOTg8Ro8KqI/s1600/IMG_3599.jpeg"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgj0oRF0AgcWCJHLoNJrpLGpKidOPRzMjfxeigjDzkvAkwgT7QhhFWJADNYN848V75MBSOsAuh0bw4-kSsxs7x6o7Ua50TnmJvb30uNIv9ZxtfNUln4dhTCj6-g2vJJpxSOTg8Ro8KqI/s320/IMG_3599.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The very next day we had a Parasitic Jaeger come close to shore and on land the mythical bird of CSSP, a Nelson's Sparrow. Both are notoriously difficult to photograph. Normally I don't "sea watch" from Whimbrel Point to see distant sea birds, but this jaeger came in so close I was able to snap a few photos and it was yet another new bird for my park list. The Nelson's Sparrow was a bird I had always felt should be here in the fall, but have never seen. Finally that same afternoon, I saw my first for the park, after hearing about it the previous day.<br />
<h4>
#216 Parasitic Jaeger:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTfRMObdXJ3soEBMpPsDlsUNw8LZvI1wNvgbGTP5EYWTwl_yq_LQfzi6hJu42ck4q8I0toAXP9O6kzY1BUxmcwq25K6JPFir5irduwrEnORP1BlO9H4DI_3gATQXo4TM8_pJqIkzFaDo/s1600/IMG_6095.jpeg"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTfRMObdXJ3soEBMpPsDlsUNw8LZvI1wNvgbGTP5EYWTwl_yq_LQfzi6hJu42ck4q8I0toAXP9O6kzY1BUxmcwq25K6JPFir5irduwrEnORP1BlO9H4DI_3gATQXo4TM8_pJqIkzFaDo/s640/IMG_6095.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
<h4>
#217 Nelson's Sparrow:</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCt2nTnWwdoSWWPnrsVWHSU4PDUPI_HtUBk6xB1QvBNIzq7AZ0qDMExIk0JYja-AEz78q9F7Y4A7FQXEOk7XLWQm66lnIRD425uw8vcjBabjxjJa5tvZrCh2hNsqshTq5pS1ANKdqPth8/s1600/IMG_6255.jpeg"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCt2nTnWwdoSWWPnrsVWHSU4PDUPI_HtUBk6xB1QvBNIzq7AZ0qDMExIk0JYja-AEz78q9F7Y4A7FQXEOk7XLWQm66lnIRD425uw8vcjBabjxjJa5tvZrCh2hNsqshTq5pS1ANKdqPth8/s320/IMG_6255.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqMpecP59lGECYq4rAGMjP8Nkp15mpp6oVy6cMsI3ip7plhyEjb8ildLbgPKGyRKkZEWIFXbgjkBg1SMKaAz-Ra2OT00gzgaqnvH-OH5_ZJ93HUXaxDRIlAnPlCdof_1D1pDUTEWSbU8/s1600/Nelson%25E2%2580%2599s+Sparrow.jpg"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqMpecP59lGECYq4rAGMjP8Nkp15mpp6oVy6cMsI3ip7plhyEjb8ildLbgPKGyRKkZEWIFXbgjkBg1SMKaAz-Ra2OT00gzgaqnvH-OH5_ZJ93HUXaxDRIlAnPlCdof_1D1pDUTEWSbU8/s320/Nelson%25E2%2580%2599s+Sparrow.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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On the way out of the park I was treated to a Long-eared Owl:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXIfycTxQPbGX2BoANUJoem3UYsVH-gSfxMdmG6Iy_u0lxxSlc_dR4391F44h2z9UA3A0N2oX9aGltI8pxI86_r72TLWtSRzZoTP3bAdvuVWS-utx3shRl-omLOe17rngLz-BlpoMtXQ/s1600/IMG_6120.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXIfycTxQPbGX2BoANUJoem3UYsVH-gSfxMdmG6Iy_u0lxxSlc_dR4391F44h2z9UA3A0N2oX9aGltI8pxI86_r72TLWtSRzZoTP3bAdvuVWS-utx3shRl-omLOe17rngLz-BlpoMtXQ/s640/IMG_6120.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The last bird of the month was a Bonapart's Gull, just after missing a bird that would have been another park first, a Little Gull. It was also the last bird I would see out in the field for a week, as after I took the photo my phone rang and I was ordered to report to the hospital for yet another spinal surgery.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjUt5aohPjvJAHJLeJWkVp7lRcSKLQUjxMFz_XIyIdEgDyarfifznHdVJ-vRWKYe7taYijdhbhw4I1-b6tKfCtTgc_2uugF0Qe4SIBNMixG4NMRFNoRaFrVOBp2titq_2kJMjkUfr2IM/s1600/IMG_6361.jpeg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjUt5aohPjvJAHJLeJWkVp7lRcSKLQUjxMFz_XIyIdEgDyarfifznHdVJ-vRWKYe7taYijdhbhw4I1-b6tKfCtTgc_2uugF0Qe4SIBNMixG4NMRFNoRaFrVOBp2titq_2kJMjkUfr2IM/s640/IMG_6361.jpeg" width="640" /></a>Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696610255875571345.post-11078468446344274662018-11-11T15:36:00.000-08:002018-11-25T19:24:48.067-08:00Fall Migration Part One: From Toronto to Florida to Cape May, New Jersey My chasing of confusing fall warblers and other rarities came to an end with a brief hospital stay to fix an issue with a previous spinal operation, but it was fun while it lasted. I have chased a few rarities and survived much travel, to Florida and Cape May with a week of birding in what they say is the capital of fall migration. Back home in Toronto, I spent most of the migration season in either Humber Bay East or Colonel Sam Smith Park. Both have been great for fall migrants and I have added many new birds to my Col Sam Life List, finally passing 200 earlier this year.<br />
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<b>Toronto, September 1-26:</b><br />
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Neotropic Cormorants, American Redstart, Spotted Sandpiper, Belted Kingfisher, Cedar Waxwings, a Pied-billed Grebe and a hungry Gray Catbird:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkReAknB-ltvRgZ5ZkdDrfj1aqoVJuEEMUeU-ZBDRlhSxIrEMHT1TMkdOw7t6LlBVTv-mnR2sWjvgltBb33ZNj8U9SejDv3CATxRpof2XkDH9N3fOBDKeTdIVdoXOUYB4JUOCuCZXYRec/s1600/IMG_4823.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4ZLXaVfMB0OronKAdCuWwoMfATxh_-y0MQk6O5tQ_KQwuaDpPsXa4ZYYferMK-WhtDyAFeWtHvmjm2uBDDLtm9Ti2QdQ7e__1t1hr8PABW3n9bhM0ZB0UyyQoIG4bgqMA7sEcJcSpbs/s1600/IMG_4775.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4ZLXaVfMB0OronKAdCuWwoMfATxh_-y0MQk6O5tQ_KQwuaDpPsXa4ZYYferMK-WhtDyAFeWtHvmjm2uBDDLtm9Ti2QdQ7e__1t1hr8PABW3n9bhM0ZB0UyyQoIG4bgqMA7sEcJcSpbs/s320/IMG_4775.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkReAknB-ltvRgZ5ZkdDrfj1aqoVJuEEMUeU-ZBDRlhSxIrEMHT1TMkdOw7t6LlBVTv-mnR2sWjvgltBb33ZNj8U9SejDv3CATxRpof2XkDH9N3fOBDKeTdIVdoXOUYB4JUOCuCZXYRec/s320/IMG_4823.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nnYrRsjker61OjUnPywJFuWM5MiUp3aPlfBH7jXF4x53Pf0n3EY9AHMdExbCs90Cp4mx8deyvYRr-1JWoCNJH-O_CNe9yrZ3ODcyIHM1ljp1D7lj89Wiu1X_WOX_11Y8F4jzxgRCWMY/s1600/IMG_5031.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPDkgkKdSaSkPNYQ1jIokxUpv1YnZWj1XKCEEgkVeq3VDoN7_ROoGFhLc3elcyUroukJo3TBXd8sZ2Qt-OCqUjpBrJP_WlamZ_lUMdOrx5GT0LbTPkjHpd3708EskNTcJsnD3NAcf6M4/s1600/IMG_5031.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPDkgkKdSaSkPNYQ1jIokxUpv1YnZWj1XKCEEgkVeq3VDoN7_ROoGFhLc3elcyUroukJo3TBXd8sZ2Qt-OCqUjpBrJP_WlamZ_lUMdOrx5GT0LbTPkjHpd3708EskNTcJsnD3NAcf6M4/s320/IMG_5031.jpeg" width="320" /></a><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjdJGfRRz4cMuYBDjotFxSQOBkrPcs1ywh4xMWjYFad2JzJYmUE3Eu_r8yAHUp1xvUO4L-kdMfkda65y76thEpIWYF1TmywXvNARyOxM0mGOiYTIHCc75x-E894famHfRfNitPZEIG7Q/s1600/IMG_4770.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjdJGfRRz4cMuYBDjotFxSQOBkrPcs1ywh4xMWjYFad2JzJYmUE3Eu_r8yAHUp1xvUO4L-kdMfkda65y76thEpIWYF1TmywXvNARyOxM0mGOiYTIHCc75x-E894famHfRfNitPZEIG7Q/s320/IMG_4770.jpg" width="320" /></a></b><br />
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<b>Florida, September 27-30:</b><br />
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I had hoped to find an Elegant Tern, which is rare in Florida, and would have added to my Florida Life List, but was unable to find it on a beach full of terns. Lots of other waterfowl though, and one very cute raccoon.<br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA2A9sJPWwUk4Icl86P0mt6ADIrjfUiOdPe-SUzyjDIz0lOy2B3_FQzS9CAeTCHmdSaTvGKXIyatLJrda4T7AIMqspFc3-v3YfnJXcSZBtExdtFuiwzrTLgkUkqE_fQfad_REUf7bLoc/s1600/IMG_3083.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA2A9sJPWwUk4Icl86P0mt6ADIrjfUiOdPe-SUzyjDIz0lOy2B3_FQzS9CAeTCHmdSaTvGKXIyatLJrda4T7AIMqspFc3-v3YfnJXcSZBtExdtFuiwzrTLgkUkqE_fQfad_REUf7bLoc/s320/IMG_3083.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04yTSHv6E2J5CO6vpBlNYSpNFqdtx7o582ZEWvM3VAJxDFG4gtkDlnJ3fifZMU_jwFRVX6SDMPseZ2i4d_IP-ozvYXcz5n9ixdeCGYcZd4NDbvtyWAzMC15RpezX46pQWnzzG_Fa9VzQ/s1600/IMG_5223.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04yTSHv6E2J5CO6vpBlNYSpNFqdtx7o582ZEWvM3VAJxDFG4gtkDlnJ3fifZMU_jwFRVX6SDMPseZ2i4d_IP-ozvYXcz5n9ixdeCGYcZd4NDbvtyWAzMC15RpezX46pQWnzzG_Fa9VzQ/s320/IMG_5223.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZN0jt9Vgx5aPU2bPaXDaTazOtgPNSJ6dTTPuiKsNMhNuFB66wEKiPLuYJKGtYJaZ9u5P0dJcaDRzFqBDehSVWu5gKyO5T2av87PE-wDxd5rKJ2QaPtol55jaIcJA_e2oIHc8jZe1bY/s1600/IMG_5402.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZN0jt9Vgx5aPU2bPaXDaTazOtgPNSJ6dTTPuiKsNMhNuFB66wEKiPLuYJKGtYJaZ9u5P0dJcaDRzFqBDehSVWu5gKyO5T2av87PE-wDxd5rKJ2QaPtol55jaIcJA_e2oIHc8jZe1bY/s320/IMG_5402.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgECxpblkAJKJKA4CZdfQYsjwsNLFhvmDajpusvSBUu9qB5sW9U9nmSTokxJfeWubkqy8i2MxRt6oHUoym14xVGbtZAZEOo7dPFnbuAapxYG68UprtL1hKrfoUOedtsrI8sdxbOpifN9t4/s1600/IMG_5395.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgECxpblkAJKJKA4CZdfQYsjwsNLFhvmDajpusvSBUu9qB5sW9U9nmSTokxJfeWubkqy8i2MxRt6oHUoym14xVGbtZAZEOo7dPFnbuAapxYG68UprtL1hKrfoUOedtsrI8sdxbOpifN9t4/s320/IMG_5395.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFEpJu7gCnCV0fh8StY_rKwETSWIZoyGC-oWEKlDh3MG_jZoSvVbTwLpyQn7uB_7beZWybF6sDmRTwpDPIKBy98HZno-BS92cp-pT4FQSsJkfLrU8UKzXSuVHLjr8R_7KzuxQB30ZLTE/s1600/IMG_5377.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFEpJu7gCnCV0fh8StY_rKwETSWIZoyGC-oWEKlDh3MG_jZoSvVbTwLpyQn7uB_7beZWybF6sDmRTwpDPIKBy98HZno-BS92cp-pT4FQSsJkfLrU8UKzXSuVHLjr8R_7KzuxQB30ZLTE/s320/IMG_5377.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOsyi7LaTqe5GurrBefmr0L14UmlWgCggV2kT-AMFkCcvfe0b3ZJ1lXMON5upfmEN8tP-A3btLe3gcBjsEMzH177U3L6-XgC8vExLtd05xvDn7spPQkEsXgjv_MUuZx3LM3GqpTaRj_s/s1600/IMG_5243.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOsyi7LaTqe5GurrBefmr0L14UmlWgCggV2kT-AMFkCcvfe0b3ZJ1lXMON5upfmEN8tP-A3btLe3gcBjsEMzH177U3L6-XgC8vExLtd05xvDn7spPQkEsXgjv_MUuZx3LM3GqpTaRj_s/s320/IMG_5243.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GcRFcMReekT1Qeob7Dwe8xL_jQPTda7njr9aSOtPWjtffKvUS2hsU6CxU5LzyYB_2bGIxgs-uA86UGuzZTYOVeBHy7rpys4zsAe0XgSV8fM9hqom4SaJcwE_SkYXvayTjxI1c46ZftI/s1600/IMG_5226.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GcRFcMReekT1Qeob7Dwe8xL_jQPTda7njr9aSOtPWjtffKvUS2hsU6CxU5LzyYB_2bGIxgs-uA86UGuzZTYOVeBHy7rpys4zsAe0XgSV8fM9hqom4SaJcwE_SkYXvayTjxI1c46ZftI/s320/IMG_5226.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_PjfVMbdhjfUkOzieb06R69HrF3ZH8T2phnHj5BOZdonzJ-XVJYPOBZJhRD4VwtGP46EB2WVHkh5TGPqATJBx11RNBIL7jHIjPs1DQhnAk0ZK65qCSCl1rs6GH2bJTlr0WaqrQtTzpo/s1600/IMG_5207.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_PjfVMbdhjfUkOzieb06R69HrF3ZH8T2phnHj5BOZdonzJ-XVJYPOBZJhRD4VwtGP46EB2WVHkh5TGPqATJBx11RNBIL7jHIjPs1DQhnAk0ZK65qCSCl1rs6GH2bJTlr0WaqrQtTzpo/s320/IMG_5207.jpg" width="320" /></a></b><br />
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<img src="blob:https://www.blogger.com/e4add078-e3cb-4da9-a7d9-28ebb790e037" /><br />
<b>Toronto, October 1-6:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I returned to Toronto just on time to not miss another rarity in Colonel Sam Smith Park, a late migrating and wayward Dickcissel, that I had heard about while still in Florida. I had seen Dickcissels in Ontario before, and this year in Michigan, but I raced to the park upon returning home to add yet another CSSP Lifer, number 209 for the Park List. I also added Surf Scoter, Northern Harrier and Merlin, giving me 14 new species I've added this year in this amazing park.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hYULYG6_SVKKo5i0O1QdRkhHaxAmVNeHQEe1gdX3M-Ezn5aLSgbyCW_rC4z0F3y46t0HhztEK-an5AFNXLi0a3dvcxFpzLK8h_cbBypy2dhIBqKTNq65wfojBYZcaFFxWP5qs4gCWHo/s1600/IMG_3165.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hYULYG6_SVKKo5i0O1QdRkhHaxAmVNeHQEe1gdX3M-Ezn5aLSgbyCW_rC4z0F3y46t0HhztEK-an5AFNXLi0a3dvcxFpzLK8h_cbBypy2dhIBqKTNq65wfojBYZcaFFxWP5qs4gCWHo/s640/IMG_3165.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU3iAjyKfPS_4a4e7GLEDU9pjwKZCGcnne8NRgEsN56ILQS6NSKWawI-1QLcimBJD3gyL66VCa9NtjdQaeD0ShMgXn1O2PTAtvfHuUCG2VTc8p4FUIBC6zY5dLwSCGQPaSRKm_LKliwo/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU3iAjyKfPS_4a4e7GLEDU9pjwKZCGcnne8NRgEsN56ILQS6NSKWawI-1QLcimBJD3gyL66VCa9NtjdQaeD0ShMgXn1O2PTAtvfHuUCG2VTc8p4FUIBC6zY5dLwSCGQPaSRKm_LKliwo/s640/IMG_3172.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b>New Jersey, October 7-13:</b><br />
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Upon arriving in Cape May, NJ our first stop was for a Eurasian Wigeon at one of the many Hot Spots in the area known as The Meadows. As my back was getting worse, the walks became slower and more difficult, but we made it out to the pond along a path that leads to the State Park, for this rarity:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV51SvYx5zXH46TAiiT0fypDxYQVVSQzSadHwn0jfqr5KiK-_CL6atEnSbN0ya2otOXGet9qF9Ic_dp1JAYw9UzdPbt9YA0ILW6iBQ7lTgmKRxcYcuZvIMiLPkVHhuK7vlT5qcPk4PrOo/s1600/IMG_0071.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_CBb2rXUQ56-OLO9zxx8kPN3epCJQm-2XOCvDoMJ8-qa6lkPwtu-B4aJCHGFf_gyV7rv_ZElr5UpdkoFaV7b7rMnaIEQLx2Mf4G7WReBHmf-XIINrunO9vy-22lYN4wUD73sh_7YTg4/s1600/IMG_3242.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_CBb2rXUQ56-OLO9zxx8kPN3epCJQm-2XOCvDoMJ8-qa6lkPwtu-B4aJCHGFf_gyV7rv_ZElr5UpdkoFaV7b7rMnaIEQLx2Mf4G7WReBHmf-XIINrunO9vy-22lYN4wUD73sh_7YTg4/s320/IMG_3242.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV51SvYx5zXH46TAiiT0fypDxYQVVSQzSadHwn0jfqr5KiK-_CL6atEnSbN0ya2otOXGet9qF9Ic_dp1JAYw9UzdPbt9YA0ILW6iBQ7lTgmKRxcYcuZvIMiLPkVHhuK7vlT5qcPk4PrOo/s320/IMG_0071.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRj6DCJYhTHrHzVaHhdpGq9cYmWbOEQTXibUSeNOzcS5Odhb9B6FmdtSGf380cZ4ApkBRLvPyw15hCrxg0Ofry4xv6MHDhwukqp7kloYs3jHde8W3TEPJ3loVhR1K30VPqsvPz0YUJJSw/s1600/IMG_0071.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB59Kgx9ABEvNP_zAO01RX0qgwvfFC6eNB4a79CJXuSNSvGktJ8-gtZSX2WWKLHiyBNANVtmYfg82razR8xB_rmOmB3EKSU9QQxPWVosBRaoG_3CGUeeUq4FBqrbuhl48FwMlPOKeyyzA/s1600/IMG_0068.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5520pkXdDZcHYoaearfh1sBFF4zr0hPekJKCxVLKRI26YbUmbuyZXLAJej91hr7_Did0cU0u7mo4iLIjK2AL3Cd4S_zm8yCoCKkdd7Z-XgUx605qkmJM_VqpeNTXDFQCYu-qWOGULEk/s1600/IMG_0078.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5520pkXdDZcHYoaearfh1sBFF4zr0hPekJKCxVLKRI26YbUmbuyZXLAJej91hr7_Did0cU0u7mo4iLIjK2AL3Cd4S_zm8yCoCKkdd7Z-XgUx605qkmJM_VqpeNTXDFQCYu-qWOGULEk/s320/IMG_0078.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB59Kgx9ABEvNP_zAO01RX0qgwvfFC6eNB4a79CJXuSNSvGktJ8-gtZSX2WWKLHiyBNANVtmYfg82razR8xB_rmOmB3EKSU9QQxPWVosBRaoG_3CGUeeUq4FBqrbuhl48FwMlPOKeyyzA/s320/IMG_0068.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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We next took a Back Bay Boat Ride with a very knowledgeable New Jersey Audubon Guide and that was full of a wide variety of water birds, including Red Knots, Brants, and even a Great Cormorant. Along the way, the thrill of the day was seeing Nelson's, Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrows all atop the marsh reeds at the same time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8qmBICmKUedmCF2msJDfHslNnXa4GHbnzeAo1YSriSgcfxYg-jE0IjD5V36cZ1EaDMp_p8Uh0cLZXc49PczoM2lOvbw5tZLKAavGfGhdT2qk1DQbsJ4B_7v5gG2RQVlI5YldGvatSDc/s1600/IMG_0214.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8qmBICmKUedmCF2msJDfHslNnXa4GHbnzeAo1YSriSgcfxYg-jE0IjD5V36cZ1EaDMp_p8Uh0cLZXc49PczoM2lOvbw5tZLKAavGfGhdT2qk1DQbsJ4B_7v5gG2RQVlI5YldGvatSDc/s320/IMG_0214.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ99Qv0ulAuquy7mvWU5sPWn0egRhGK9fgYv7Lqm85lPmkAN4Sl0KH0GvuAviFbPOWVJFjAgI3OcrifK-JgPMefMRFO_ZyYX6e8V7BREFaWVsuk7SOA5CuyycKdPIG7fp9qM6KR9INnds/s1600/IMG_0267.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ99Qv0ulAuquy7mvWU5sPWn0egRhGK9fgYv7Lqm85lPmkAN4Sl0KH0GvuAviFbPOWVJFjAgI3OcrifK-JgPMefMRFO_ZyYX6e8V7BREFaWVsuk7SOA5CuyycKdPIG7fp9qM6KR9INnds/s320/IMG_0267.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNrp79G8YxLSYkn5DoAn8TG0Vw2TCB1GEtImwOCsR7QA85BltSlF4iVz7qxmgkGkTOQis5hpKG6j187v6Y8UV5JVZ22ySoWVoTZYnYUNKH-9xqzkWJ47k7TbiT5W-VteaZZvuXJLU0LE/s1600/IMG_3464.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc2XXwN7XPl5sQHUjOX6avocpfT0CRWdjFZQSp-3v0ql9uFBaFARqAWdgsXitRHG5LuYxUKJzAMD7kBh4ZlscPT7jQW5zLYEZ1CkDB_Ery9Pxg3xVFCUbi8wpN0SAp5AAS2Zv68OPj4U/s1600/IMG_0190.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc2XXwN7XPl5sQHUjOX6avocpfT0CRWdjFZQSp-3v0ql9uFBaFARqAWdgsXitRHG5LuYxUKJzAMD7kBh4ZlscPT7jQW5zLYEZ1CkDB_Ery9Pxg3xVFCUbi8wpN0SAp5AAS2Zv68OPj4U/s320/IMG_0190.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNrp79G8YxLSYkn5DoAn8TG0Vw2TCB1GEtImwOCsR7QA85BltSlF4iVz7qxmgkGkTOQis5hpKG6j187v6Y8UV5JVZ22ySoWVoTZYnYUNKH-9xqzkWJ47k7TbiT5W-VteaZZvuXJLU0LE/s320/IMG_3464.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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The next morning we were treated to a Parasitic Jaeger show on one of the many morning bird walks that the New Jersey Audubon runs every day during fall migration. At one of the sea watch platforms, we saw the jaegers harassing gulls, with the jaegers coming in very close to shore.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kiyy9mF8_v0ETu_I6ekYNpElstGCQMf0GbfNk90NSyyFhf7F5htoTpKy7MzflnckJ1uEu4D3gZmVKGRzBN1wFq_MKn1wuv3nJZSx8-3JtFMrNbtStbFW2AowaEt9kGdPkD_J3hEU60Q/s1600/IMG_3292.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kiyy9mF8_v0ETu_I6ekYNpElstGCQMf0GbfNk90NSyyFhf7F5htoTpKy7MzflnckJ1uEu4D3gZmVKGRzBN1wFq_MKn1wuv3nJZSx8-3JtFMrNbtStbFW2AowaEt9kGdPkD_J3hEU60Q/s320/IMG_3292.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3UQWSo-Q_5Jvtk724hw0nO2zmm9fCHoBNnrKKhGr4h75Wd-JdLZXmBKcHCPnS0EQGh5xX6ZLGqy3wqDNnZ2-LZSZr5jq_q2DUqaeOLOtIjwS4lYZri10Q2yajdhl8BLuKqCd_qSLvrA/s1600/IMG_3321.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3UQWSo-Q_5Jvtk724hw0nO2zmm9fCHoBNnrKKhGr4h75Wd-JdLZXmBKcHCPnS0EQGh5xX6ZLGqy3wqDNnZ2-LZSZr5jq_q2DUqaeOLOtIjwS4lYZri10Q2yajdhl8BLuKqCd_qSLvrA/s320/IMG_3321.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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There was always something going on at the Cape May Point State Park Hawkwatch platform, and not always were they hawks. We arrived one afternoon to see that some Snow Geese had arrived. Thousands spend the winter at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge just north of Cape May.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIe5zULsa9gdLCtHMQWBtuhkm14WaXxp5Ue0eOCenl7Wn_RGwYNGZjxJAbcrsjaUA0FVL2IKOm8GJsIV0s4u9Lu1gh7aOVmSBwKNtT2u0h1h3ri69Rv2snsICYhKAOmXripNAKyBik14/s1600/IMG_5849.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsE7Qb_xNSl1FuFSYAMPlZTsvUuKfiWfv6L6ptpG_QO9pvcdHoPcc7zCfOk2BOr_sEhzGQoUHgfxl_rfQTT7RrzasCUc8I0DTsJHxZN_hxqcTdnDX_NK0ALuEno_aBunR_kS2iw4xEiao/s1600/IMG_5850.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsE7Qb_xNSl1FuFSYAMPlZTsvUuKfiWfv6L6ptpG_QO9pvcdHoPcc7zCfOk2BOr_sEhzGQoUHgfxl_rfQTT7RrzasCUc8I0DTsJHxZN_hxqcTdnDX_NK0ALuEno_aBunR_kS2iw4xEiao/s320/IMG_5850.jpeg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIe5zULsa9gdLCtHMQWBtuhkm14WaXxp5Ue0eOCenl7Wn_RGwYNGZjxJAbcrsjaUA0FVL2IKOm8GJsIV0s4u9Lu1gh7aOVmSBwKNtT2u0h1h3ri69Rv2snsICYhKAOmXripNAKyBik14/s320/IMG_5849.jpeg" width="320" /><br />
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And there were shores full of shorebirds everywhere we went:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxNrDhbNFChkv1lOk7-4XlfHKTWY6tSc6s_ldUhlwgEk8dsviLlbT52DfAzD47q7rGA-4UHaiV1YNrX9RE6X0TXcf1T-hxmE2-P_3WXQla5a0VRSjDo2RJq9OWQYMHgFC-fFGr1VHUwU/s1600/IMG_3382.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxNrDhbNFChkv1lOk7-4XlfHKTWY6tSc6s_ldUhlwgEk8dsviLlbT52DfAzD47q7rGA-4UHaiV1YNrX9RE6X0TXcf1T-hxmE2-P_3WXQla5a0VRSjDo2RJq9OWQYMHgFC-fFGr1VHUwU/s320/IMG_3382.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY3SxupG8nVwMSKHSFoLRBTPqynkxV2RWMu3UOiMrXvRWGWBVb8Pvm24MQSAIwrR8ebuXhgcqvnQ1YiYDO0wDdCYkYyzFc3CWMnNnn5YM3SW2Qc1wc1w6EokF8Uc35qF03RosQQYqiYs/s1600/IMG_3427.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY3SxupG8nVwMSKHSFoLRBTPqynkxV2RWMu3UOiMrXvRWGWBVb8Pvm24MQSAIwrR8ebuXhgcqvnQ1YiYDO0wDdCYkYyzFc3CWMnNnn5YM3SW2Qc1wc1w6EokF8Uc35qF03RosQQYqiYs/s320/IMG_3427.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHsaJ_VCQVA-nNxYv2IHXgR6PFJNpvjy29ZBMn55dpMR5vOt_MPsQ1MW_I5h023Uwp3VSZ5UK7Ltq0ogrE86CQlEwmdK-sfw0BLeTLpl3XdpZpTsuKoLFhsUqmdn4k920n8Pq1PmOuLM/s1600/IMG_3364.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHsaJ_VCQVA-nNxYv2IHXgR6PFJNpvjy29ZBMn55dpMR5vOt_MPsQ1MW_I5h023Uwp3VSZ5UK7Ltq0ogrE86CQlEwmdK-sfw0BLeTLpl3XdpZpTsuKoLFhsUqmdn4k920n8Pq1PmOuLM/s320/IMG_3364.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHsaJ_VCQVA-nNxYv2IHXgR6PFJNpvjy29ZBMn55dpMR5vOt_MPsQ1MW_I5h023Uwp3VSZ5UK7Ltq0ogrE86CQlEwmdK-sfw0BLeTLpl3XdpZpTsuKoLFhsUqmdn4k920n8Pq1PmOuLM/s1600/IMG_3364.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguMayLwRg_eAklzWZVcAZp7rc6KMVxeyoHCDXkyTIuzMtbTpfkUCJSJNIfIQ67kcQEDtlhk3fpRnS4XmhShRxXKHmixbUhQzvCkyTiHPO8EdDLld_0y9WrQeXZWSUZD9NLoMEZEo5ck2Q/s1600/IMG_3384.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguMayLwRg_eAklzWZVcAZp7rc6KMVxeyoHCDXkyTIuzMtbTpfkUCJSJNIfIQ67kcQEDtlhk3fpRnS4XmhShRxXKHmixbUhQzvCkyTiHPO8EdDLld_0y9WrQeXZWSUZD9NLoMEZEo5ck2Q/s320/IMG_3384.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7-cA_C8fOnRiVOKvv72mLwSZ70x_104jMzwArNirIj4j8buOicbmFqg86zz1Qv0k_PJe1Bqb4aWrCZw_w_HDl6RREQWVeYvCnlWUf2RbN2zDaYrDdpTk2IzloEw1L5N4DXYS3WNqhd0/s1600/IMG_0332.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7-cA_C8fOnRiVOKvv72mLwSZ70x_104jMzwArNirIj4j8buOicbmFqg86zz1Qv0k_PJe1Bqb4aWrCZw_w_HDl6RREQWVeYvCnlWUf2RbN2zDaYrDdpTk2IzloEw1L5N4DXYS3WNqhd0/s320/IMG_0332.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkHj9GKUZ4kYhID6ToSin_uZOBv_qNoIU6w9VAqJJwRRCI-LceOyaIIXCf6a4qR27jHqN6g7auZS3j9BV_TGvlpEjhKRcpRKLwoW3EeJsoBlAG93SnLHGXgaOboVvaWyimqYiOXepvnE/s1600/IMG_3391.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkHj9GKUZ4kYhID6ToSin_uZOBv_qNoIU6w9VAqJJwRRCI-LceOyaIIXCf6a4qR27jHqN6g7auZS3j9BV_TGvlpEjhKRcpRKLwoW3EeJsoBlAG93SnLHGXgaOboVvaWyimqYiOXepvnE/s320/IMG_3391.jpeg" width="320" /></a></u></span></span><br />
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The trip ended with lots of land birds, on land, in the trees, in the skies and Sue rescuing my hat on a blustery day on the boardwalk:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kf-XzD-O8_QK6kQhUIL7Z51ySXCxp78iPmnxLaD1pZaw_IDYDjyVKe7R4VU3qzXejPD4g7md_ocLBOtplzSy7ulognGZ4Uly46HhFDACiC9_atSafxg5pVPFM1rte9sWzMcxknMSZfs/s1600/IMG_0410.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kf-XzD-O8_QK6kQhUIL7Z51ySXCxp78iPmnxLaD1pZaw_IDYDjyVKe7R4VU3qzXejPD4g7md_ocLBOtplzSy7ulognGZ4Uly46HhFDACiC9_atSafxg5pVPFM1rte9sWzMcxknMSZfs/s320/IMG_0410.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksp-L8VnFuCBSHMFaZWhoPopgsWoHs1lKw9pjMkraeEZH9B2edxwHyU-lfI8jeIMhrNhJrxLArxjItBkvP2BzgUbPIYTHkVBhoH6ql6YUzGhBBW72HDwVIlSyOixahj7HoDUM5-nPA1Q/s1600/IMG_0408.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksp-L8VnFuCBSHMFaZWhoPopgsWoHs1lKw9pjMkraeEZH9B2edxwHyU-lfI8jeIMhrNhJrxLArxjItBkvP2BzgUbPIYTHkVBhoH6ql6YUzGhBBW72HDwVIlSyOixahj7HoDUM5-nPA1Q/s320/IMG_0408.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQ4bxSvqMURXRnZeMe_cVyp1m21PdS8ewLuMle6Dg-hNWJFokW7d2nfZOwlG6ePh01Z0C8cB4iOgmi4OSKrIccp985JKA5a44V9BAs9nqlVtHY_H34R0VFRUgrLC5uolycFWmedDXaiU/s1600/IMG_0385.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQ4bxSvqMURXRnZeMe_cVyp1m21PdS8ewLuMle6Dg-hNWJFokW7d2nfZOwlG6ePh01Z0C8cB4iOgmi4OSKrIccp985JKA5a44V9BAs9nqlVtHY_H34R0VFRUgrLC5uolycFWmedDXaiU/s320/IMG_0385.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnX3OyTCFyM2FriNhga3eZefXGKs_CwdxUsZv2xq-WwogR9urXOjXegjYu6CObgBlGP5xkvjtArHgO4ibupLZ-cN45eaHooLF30CuxFhCmXV0l423Y34iEIEbGHBX6aDGVoNa2F_w-qK4/s1600/IMG_0393.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnX3OyTCFyM2FriNhga3eZefXGKs_CwdxUsZv2xq-WwogR9urXOjXegjYu6CObgBlGP5xkvjtArHgO4ibupLZ-cN45eaHooLF30CuxFhCmXV0l423Y34iEIEbGHBX6aDGVoNa2F_w-qK4/s320/IMG_0393.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1Vs8mM68A8Y6AbrIt4-_CRTMQUKXxmThPLTTPCMvEDnBUv20Qnv93g3o7_M68ALQXqa1JazqlMVC9lREEhRGLOGfFiQpGDCfVUe5VXu_px7Pn6yYaxwBuX5JldPmTZzVUcx-ZOMM1F4/s1600/IMG_0419.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1Vs8mM68A8Y6AbrIt4-_CRTMQUKXxmThPLTTPCMvEDnBUv20Qnv93g3o7_M68ALQXqa1JazqlMVC9lREEhRGLOGfFiQpGDCfVUe5VXu_px7Pn6yYaxwBuX5JldPmTZzVUcx-ZOMM1F4/s320/IMG_0419.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi570zy8fQdOCKPrR8uHvp8WJynok3DAj8zT_-ynHU7ICdpVG0GyNiA0VvTBC5uah95vm0aVzx1Z0VZ-iNX04xZqOm8lymnUSsK15arjIbIoSbQEV4KFJYTMi-6RPF8K6okjCr5XnMLioc/s1600/IMG_3435.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi570zy8fQdOCKPrR8uHvp8WJynok3DAj8zT_-ynHU7ICdpVG0GyNiA0VvTBC5uah95vm0aVzx1Z0VZ-iNX04xZqOm8lymnUSsK15arjIbIoSbQEV4KFJYTMi-6RPF8K6okjCr5XnMLioc/s320/IMG_3435.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We never did see any rarities after the Eurasian Wigeon, but we had a wonderful time and we will return again, perhaps in the spring, to see the amazing Red Knot migration!</div>
Robert Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12427373234806034381noreply@blogger.com0