Sat, Jun 2 2007 - Birdwatching for Beginners (View Original Event Details)
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Thirteen club members and guests joined me on a hazy, humid morning to look for birds on the spit. Most came equiped with binoculars, and the others were able to share. We birded our way out to peninsula 'D' where Dan Derbyshire of the TRCA was banding a Northern Waterthrush and a Red-eyed Vireo. We observed breeding colonies of Double-crested Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls and Common Terns. I promised 75 species but came up short with only 41. Here is the list:
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Mallard
Red-breasted Merganser
Gadwall
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Common Tern
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
American Kestrel
Mourning Dove
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Eastern Meadowlark
American Robin
Blue Jay
American Crow
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Kingbird
Willow Flycatcher
European Starling
Northern Waterthrush
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Baltimore Oriole
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Purple Finch
House Sparrow
We had a farily good day for birdwatching. The day started off a tad cool and became progressivley worse as the day wore on. The pace was set by Rob who kept reminding us that we needed to get to the branding station. We took the long route the brush and ended up on a small road that looked like it was once used for trucks. Everyone seemed to enjoy themsleves and with the bino sharing everyone got a chance to see what people where poiting to. We had a few experts with us who where more than helpful in answering the questions we had. The highligh was seeing a set of islands in the middle of Lake Ontario full of birds witch allowed us to see birds in flight. We ended the day after a brisk walk set by Linda at the Boardwalk acafe for some grub and some conversation on previous trips. Over all a good day.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.