The end of the line!

 Well folks, it is 11:30pm on December 31 of 2022. The end of my big year has come! I can’t believe this time has come already, it seems like just the other day I was starting my big year, chasing Mountain Bluebirds, Boreal Owls and other winter rarities…

359 is now officially the new Ontario big year record! Woot!! Hell of a ride…


Right now I’m down in Ohio celebrating New Years with Alessandra’s family… was planning on doing a year end post, but the evening got away from me! Today I birded along Lake Erie for my last day of the year, which I’ll go into more detail on tomorrow. I’ll do more posts on big year stuff in the coming days and weeks!


Thanks for following along this year! It’s been a blast blogging this year : )


eBird alerts off, discord notifications silenced… time for a much needed nap : )


Ontario Yearlist @ December 31 - 359

My third Cormorant of 2022


  If you told me when I started out my big year that on December 20th I’d be driving 3 hours to chase a water bird in the dark, I’d probably believe you. You see I have no mis illusions about twitchers being sane people, I have accepted this long ago. Anyways, at 9pm on Tuesday, December 20th I was rolling up to Hamilton in search of a cormorant.


I’ll stop here and back things up a bit, specifically 5 hours earlier before this madness began. I was just driving back home from Sauble Beach, where Alessandra and I had been running a few errands for my parents, when I received a call from William Konze. William and I usually call each other when a rare bird shows up, so my mind immediately jumped to that possibility. He was over in Ottawa with Andy Nguyen, searching for Gyrfalcons after a successful Gray Partridge hunt (with binoculars, not guns), so he could just be phoning to talk about that… however, that was the less exciting possibility. “Check the Hamilton RBA on discord, there’s a Great Cormorant”, turns out my first hunch was right, there was a rare bird.

The Great Cormorant is a slippery fiend, and a bird that had been assigned to my “annoying misses of 2022” list along with other horrible, malicious birds like Painted Bunting and Western Kingbird. The first one of the year was in the winter, and although it was never technically in Ontario, it was tantalizing close… 1km across the river in Niagara Falls. That was annoying yes, but the topper came on October 23rd, when one was photographed on the Ajax waterfront in Durham. This individual was posted too late in the day to chase, but birders were there right up until sunset and it seemed like it was roosting there. The following day I was at the location before dawn… but nothing, no corm, it had vanished in the night. Knowing all this, I think you would understand why I have mixed feelings about this Atlantic mega-cormorant.

After a quick dinner back at home, and a bit of texting with Alvan and other observers, I made the decision to drive down immediately and search for it in the dark. My reasoning was 1) even if there was only a small chance of seeing it at night, it was better than no chance and 2) I would rather drive down at night than leave at 3:30am in the morning. Also Ezra Campanelli had seen the bird in the evening, bringing him within 2 birds of me…Alessandra was instantly on board with chasing it, which I’m not sure means she’s as crazy as me or she's just the most supportive girlfriend ever. Christmas wrapping was put on hold, gear loaded into the car, and we were off. Arriving at Bayfront Park, we pulled up to the Pier 4 parking area and walked out to the tip of land. According to  Alvan the bird was sitting out on a rocky breakwall. My scope is actually pretty impressive at gathering light in dim conditions, and with the faint lights shining off the docks of the marina we could make out shapes in the dark. Several hundred gulls roosted along the rocks, and meticulously we picked through them one by one. Great Black-backed still stood out, so surely a cormorant would too right? It’s interesting birding at night, as the normal issues associated with using a scope (heat shimmer, distance) are replaced by the shroud of darkness. Despite over half an hour of scanning in the cold, we couldn’t resolve any of the shapes into cormorants, though a few geese did give us a start. We returned back to Paris to stay with my aunt for the night, with plans to return the next morning.

December 21st marks the winter solstice, the day with the shortest period of daylight during the calendar year. On the plus side, since sunrise is so late it meant I didn’t have to wake up at an ungodly hour, so that was nice. On the down side, if I didn’t immediately find the cormorant I wouldn’t have much time to search during the day. 

We met up with William and Andy at Pier 4 at 6:30am, and the scene was basically the same as I had left it only a few hours before. Although sunrise isn’t until 7:49, the sky begins to lighten slightly around 6:40. It was around that time that my scope landed on a dark, bird-like shape tucked in behind some Herring Gulls. A few minutes of intense staring, plus a slight increase of light, resolved the bird into a cormorant. Size alone made it a Great because it towered above the nearby gulls (Double-crested look similar in size to gulls). Finally it was light enough that we could see extensive white on its throat, the clincher for the identification. The bird preened for about half an hour, then took off, circled twice low over our heads and disappeared over the high level bridge towards the city.


Poor record shots....

- First view predawn!

- Great Cormorant





The birders who arrived after sunrise were pretty disappointed, but luckily for them after another 40 minutes the bird returned, landing on the same break wall where it had spent the night on. My fingers were getting cold by this point (in my rush to leave the previous day I have forgotten all of my warm gloves), so after taking a few more photos we headed back to Bruce. It has been a pretty decent year for Atlantic birds for me... Great Cormorant, Dovekie, Razorbill and Northern Gannet. Will this be my last bird of 2022, who knows? One or two more would always be nice, but it’s a matter of chance at this point.


Ontario yearlist @ December 22nd - 359

Alcid twitching

 



On a big year the prospects for new birds begin to seriously dwindle in December. Most vagrant songbirds show up in November, so if there was something like a Black-headed Grosbeak at a feeder, chances are it would have been found already. Similarly, it’s very late in the year for shorebirds and puddle ducks to show up, because most of these birds are earlier migrants. The most likely rarities to show up, that would also be new for me, are the following;

  • Common Eider
  • Short-billed Gull
  • Common Gull
  • California Gull
  • Barn Owl
  • Thick-billed Murre
  • Gray-crowned Rosy Finch


There are also more remote possibilities like other alcids, Ivory Gull and lingering warblers, but those are never too likely. It just comes down to a waiting game at this point. Self finding a new bird is fairly unlikely, so for the month of December I remain on the ready, phone nearby in case a bird is reported. 


On December 10th my phone flashed with a Discord message to the Ontario Wide Bird Alert. My heart raced. What was it?! Dovekie. Ashbridges Bay in Toronto. Panic. Could I get there in time? I was in Bruce with Alessandra, 3 hours away from Toronto. It was only 10am at that point so daylight wasn’t an issue, but alcids are notoriously flighty.

We were off immediately, heading south at high (but technically legal…) speeds. Two hours out I got a message that the bird had flown out in to the lake and disappeared in the chop. Despair. Measuring in at only 20cm long, finding a small bird like that in a large, wavy expanse of water is near impossible. Then twenty minutes later it flew into the marina that it was originally seen in and landed. William called when we were under and hour away and said it was being quite cooperative and swimming close to shore. Hope grows. 5 minutes away I get a text from him saying it just flew out of the inlet again. Disbelief, more panic. We rolled into the parking lot and I full out ran the remaining 800 meters, around the marina and out the the rocky point. The amassed crowd there said it hadn’t been seen in several minutes, so the best bet was to just wait there for it to return. My phone chimed with another alert, the bird was seen in the water by the parking lot, the same parking lot that I was l just in! I started jogging back there, followed by a few others. We were stopped in our tracks halfway there with news that the Dovekie was now back at its original spot at the point. Frustration, and more running. This time the bird didn’t fly away, and when I arrived it was swimming contently just offshore. Relief.

I climbed down the large rocks to get down to the birds level, where I spotted a large flat rock that was just above the water. I laid down and waited, as the Dovekie worked it’s way up the shore, popping up for a few seconds and then diving for a long period of time. It then emerged out of the water right in front of me, almost touching distance. I rattled off twenty shots before it dove again. Over the next hour and a half I watched it working back and forth along the rocks, sometimes drifting out further but always ending up back by the shore again.

This bird represents the first truly chaseable Dovekie in Ontario, so it was an Ontario bird for everyone present (and a full on lifer for me). I find a lot of birds look larger when they’re on the water, but seeing this seabird up close really showed how small it really is (smaller than a Robin!!). With a tiny bill, a striking black back and head, a white belly and throat and a partial black collar, its a gorgeous little bird. When it dives it’s wings come out, giving it the impression of a tiny, short-necked penguin. I got soaked by Lake Ontario waves several times, but honestly it was worth it. By far one of my favourite experiences this year, in the top 5 easily. Just such a charismatic and enjoyable bird to watch, and being 358 for my yearlist didn’t hurt either : )


- Dovekie photo'ing


- Dovekie

- Dovekie




I spent the past few days helping William look for Gyrfalcon on the peninsula, but we came up short. Large numbers of Bohemian Waxwings, Black Scoter, Red-necked Grebe and several Northern Shrikes and dark morph Rough-legged Hawk provided some highlights though.


Ontario yearlist @ December 14th - 358









Niagara Gulling in early December



As the sky began to warm into the pre sunrise glow on December 3rd, I was heading down Victoria Road in Guelph with Alessandra… our destination, Niagara On-The-Lake. Unlike a lot of my drives this year, the purpose of the trip was not to chase a rare bird, but to lead a Gull outing with Justin Peter for OFO.

This year has ended up being a whirlwind of big year activities, and having free time to actually lead bird walks was hard to come by. Things start to slow down in December though, as winter sets in across the province and less rarites show up. Niagara region is also a good place to be at this time of year, as a lot of my “likely” (I use the word lightly with massive quotations) new yearbirds are rare gulls.


Arriving at parking lot just west of the Niagara River mouth, I found a collection of twenty odd birders clad in winter gear with an array of spotting scopes aimed at the lake. The keeners, arriving before the start time and antsy to get going. Justin was easy to spot, with a commanding personality and also being a full foot taller than most of the birders around him. I hadn’t seen him since we lead a hike together at the Huron Fringe Birding Festival 3 years ago, so it was nice to catch up again. Neither of us had lead a hike in this region before, and frankly didn’t have much of a plan for the route, so after a brief strategy talk we got the group together and headed out. The idea was to start at Queens Royal Park by the river mouth, then work our way up the river to the control gates above the falls. With a group of over 30, the real challenge is trying not to lose people on a tour with many stops like this one.


The first stop turned out to be the best of the day, at Queens Royal Park. We had been there for several minutes already, adding common species like Red-breasted Merganser and Bonaparte’s Gull, when Alessandra told me that she had just seen a Razorbill! Refinding it took several minutes, but soon enough my scope landed on a large, black and white alcid with a thick bill. My second Razorbill of the year, and ironically in the same spot as my first in the beginning of January. This was a lifer for many in the group (including Alessandra) and definitely the highlight of the day. After watching it dive and swim around with some Horned Grebes for awhile, I spotted a second Razorbill with it! Pretty crazy stuff. My photos are subpar because of the distance, but they’re marginally better than my January ones.


- Razorbills

- Alessandra post find

Starting the day with a seabird sets a pretty high bar to follow, and while none of the birds we found during the day matched it’s rarity, there were definitely highlights. An adult Little Gull at Queenston, circling into a frenzy of several hundred Bonaparte’s, banking occasionally to reveal its jet black underwings for a few seconds before disappearing into the fray again. Several Iceland Gulls at Adam Beck, including two adults of the “Thayer’s” subspecies, with darker primaries and more streaking on the head. We also found a rare Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid, only my 2nd time seeing this combination in Ontario.


- The Group

After the group disbanded around 3pm, Alessandra and I drove back down to the river mouth to meet up with Andy Nguyen, William Konze and Luke Raso to watch the flyby of gulls. Our hope was to see a Black-headed Gull, which there had been a possible report of up river in the morning. Hundreds of Bonaparte’s flashed by, their wings illuminated in the golden hour light as they rose up and banked, then dipped into the shadows and disappeared out into the lake. I ended up counting around 3,800, but no Black-headed. Last year around this time I had 12,000, so weaker numbers this season apparently. A nice Red-throated Loon provided some photon ops here though.


- Red-throated Loon




I ended the day by strolling along the top of the falls with Alessandra, where hundreds of Christmas lights are arranged around the parks and roadsides. Coupled with the falls being lit up by massive beams of coloured lights, it gave the whole area a nice festive feeling and was a nice end to a day of relaxed winter birding.




The Big Year Takes To The Air



  Going into my big year I always knew that chasing a bird in northwestern Ontario was a possibility, however I thought I had gotten off easy. With it being late November and rarity season winding down, the possibilities of new birds were getting slim. In fact, I had just done a talk about my big year for a naturalist club in Bruce, during which I somewhat smugly said I didn’t have to go on any insanely long chases for a single bird.


Somewhere in western Canada however, a young male Bullock’s Oriole heard of my arrogance and decided to do something about it. It flew east, hundreds of kilometers out of its normal range, and landed a bird feeder in Dryden, located in the near-to-nothing land of Kenora district. This bird was smart though, it didn’t just show up at any bird feeder, it picked one that had someone watching who’d recognize it as a rarity. Yes, this bird was out to taunt me, and to hurt my bank account. Of course this isn’t what happened in reality, but that’s my feelings on it, as I for one believe that most birds are aware of the humans who watch them and have a cruel sense of humour. 


On November 24, Penny Pat posted the Oriole to a birding Facebook group for northern Ontario. News then spread to the southern birders, including the big year folk. Messages were sent to her, and after confirming that the bird had been seen the following day (to rule out it wasn't just a one-day thing) I booked a flight to Winnipeg. You may wonder why I flew out of the province, well that’s because Dryden is so far northwest that it’s actually about as close to Winnipeg as it is to Thunder Bay, and the former was cheaper.

Ezra and William came along too, plus Susan Nagy and her husband Jim, who were generous enough to rent a car for all of us to go in. Because of the insane fluctuations in flight prices, it made more financial sense to come back on Monday night, which gave us a full day to bird around Northern Ontario on Sunday. This wasn't my preference, but I was excited with the additional possibility of finding a rare bird (rosy-finch was on the mind).



Saturday morning started off with a 3:30am departure from Guelph, followed by an hour long drive to Pearson International Airport and a few hours of waiting before our 6:30am flight. As is almost always the case Pearson was chaotic and crowded with travelers, though despite this we still got to our gate with plenty of time to spare.


After dozing off shortly after takeoff, I awoke on the plane around 8:30, and was momentarily confused because we were meant to be landing at that time. Ah or course, a new time zone... Often the source of confusion while travelling. A bank of clouds hid most of my view of Lake Superior, but occasionally it appeared below us, all dark and ominous, which is the default vibe for this northern water body. As we passed over the imagery aerial border and dipped through the clouds, I got my first view of Manitoba… a patchwork of sprawling snow-covered fields, winding rivers and small pockets of conifers. Definitely a Northern feel to it, not quite prairie land but certainly different from home in southern Ontario. 


- Manitoba Countryside

- Outskirts of Winnipeg

The Winnipeg airport proved to be, unsurprisingly, far less busy than Toronto. After grabbing some snacks and picking up our rental for the trip (a black Toyota Rav4) we were off! Actually, getting out of Winnipeg proved to be a challenge though, as winding through the busy city streets and getting to the highway took over half an hour in itself. Some Black-billed Magpies flew around the more open parts of town, the first of many we’d see during the next few days. Then, after finally getting on the main highway, the first long drive of the trip began.... 4 hours east to Dryden. 

Northern Ontario, as well as most boreal habitat around this latitude, tends have depressingly low bird diversity at this time of year. The occasional raven or eagle beside the highway, a flock of Pine Grosbeaks on the top of a Spruce Tree, but few other lifeforms to speak of. Driving here for an entire day and seeing less than 10 species is certainly possible, if not the case most of the time. With all the big year birders in the car naturally there was talk of birds seen, missed and so on, which was most of the conversation during the drive over.


Arriving in Dryden, we followed Pat's directions (turn at the police station, look for the fifth house down the street) and pulled up to the driveway in question. To avoid spooking the bird we used the car as a blind, and not 10 minutes later the Bullock’s Oriole flew into the feeder and grabbed a berry. Success! And it was sweet. We spent over an hour there, watching it come and go (briefly land on a car window), admiring this rare and expensive visitor to Ontario. The Bullock’s Oriole is quite similar to our familiar Baltimore, in fact the two were considered the same species until a few decades ago, when genetic research was done and the AOS made the decision to split them. 

Females can be quite an ID challenge, but luckily this bird was a first year male, and was quite distinct. With a dark black throat, orange on the auriculars, breast and tail and broad white wingbars on dark, greyish black wings. The yellow on the belly fades quite sharply into a buffy off-white of the belly, creating a sort of two-toned look to it. Overall, an interesting looking bird, and also lifer for me.


- Bullock's Oriole





- Oriole Stakeout


After we were all satisfied, we moved on and drove the remaining 3 & a half hours to Thunder Bay, where we spent the next two nights at a nice Air B&B in town. Following the long day of flying and sitting in a car, stretching my legs and enjoying a sleep in a comfy bed was a welcome break. While being a nice car, the Rav4 is a bit tight and uncomfortable with 3 people in the back seat.



Since we were only in the north for another full day there was no time to waste, even if the 5:45am alarm made me want to silence it and just sleep for the remainder of the morning. We piled into the car, stopped briefly for some cheap drugs (caffeine, in the form of barely passable coffee) and headed south to the town of Rossport.



The town of Rossport is a two hour drive south of Thunder Bay, and something about its geography makes it perfect for rare birds. Whatever it is, this place just brings them in! 3 Lazuli Buntings, Painted Bunting, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird and Say’s Phoebe to name a few. Nothing was being seen when we visited, but it seemed like as likely of a place as any to find something good like a rosy-finch or a Black-headed Grosbeak. 

We arrived just after daybreak and spent a few hours wandering the streets around the town, which has a quiet, northern community vibe... In fact you could be convinced the town was abandoned until residents start waking up around 10am. Sheltered from Lake Superior by a large chain of islands to the west, the town (with a population of a mere 100 residents) is basically just 4 streets of small, pleasant looking log houses nestled between the water and the Trans Canada Highway.

- Sunrise at Rossport

The birding was very good, and we saw a total of 25 species there, which although low by southern Ontario standards, is quite good for the north in late November. 5 of these were filter tripping species for eBird too. Highlights listed below;

  • 3 Common Mergansers 
  • 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • 1 Northern Shrike (new for the Rossport hotspot)
  • 5 Boreal Chickadees
  • 7 Bohemian Waxwings
  • 10 Red Crossbills
  • 1 Song Sparrow
  • 1 Red-winged Blackbird
  • 2 Northern Cardinals
  • Redpolls, both grosbeaks and lots of siskins


Some of those may not sound too exciting, but they are good birds in Thunder Bay! The cardinal and woodpecker were the only ones in the county this month in fact. 


- Red Crossbills

- Red-bellied Woodpecker

- Boreal Chickadee

- Another Red Crossbill

- Walking Rossport

- Random Sign


We spent the remainder of the day checking other small towns on the way back to Thunder Bay, although we were never as successful as we were in Rossport. One highlight was finding a berry tree with a mixed flock of Bohemian Waxwings and Evening Grosbeaks, not something you see too often.


- Bohemian Waxwing

- BOWA and Eveing Grosbeak

Another weird find in the towns were aliens… small, green and wooden, with a variety of different expressions, the towns around the area seemed to be weirdly fascinated with them, as we saw well over 60... standing in in front lawns, hiding behind windows and perched atop fences. Some intense research (a good search) turned up a CBC article about these. Apparently, a local artist makes them and they’re a huge thing here, and they’re even shipped out all around the world…. Strange…


- Alien

- Creepy


In the town of Nipigon we came across this large tower on the side of a ridge. There were some birds around (Evening Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls), so we spent a few minutes exploring the area and climbing the tower, which looked promising as a hawkwatch/morning flight spot during migration seasons.

- Nipigon Tower

Fear of heights 0 - Kiah 1

- The view


Nightfall is early during this season, so in no time our rarity search was cut short by darkness and we were forced to retreat back to Thunder Bay. The Canada vs Croatia FIFA game provided some entertainment that evening... but the 4-1 loss was a bit tough to watch : )


On Monday morning we spent an hour birding around the waterfront of Thunder Bay, mainly looking for Gyrfalcons, then started making our way back to Winnipeg. We had good luck with weather the previous two days (sun/cloud and 5 degrees, which is crazy for this part of Ontario in late November), but that luck had since run out. The morning was damp and cold with a constant light drizzle of rain. Any Gyrfalcons in the area were sensibly spending the day resting somewhere dry, so after checking out the grain silos and finding Mallards and Canada Geese (both tripped the eBird filter) we called it quits.

The 8 hour drive back to Winnipeg proved to be a long one, especially for Jim, who drove for the entire trip. We were a bit pressed for time, so we didn't do much birding on the drive back, however we did stop back in Dryden and drove around the town to look for for birdfeeders. A flock of 350 Bohemian Waxwings were the main highlight, with nothing else of note besides Black-billed Magie (not rare here, but a fun sight for us southerners). Something I'm not using to seeing, that was quite common here was the deer in town yards. Small groups of White-tailed Deer were scattered all over the town lots, sleeping under trees and beside garages, watching cars drive by from less than 20ft away... and never seeming fazed by the human activity.

Around the border we encountered slush covered roads and a snowstorm, a bit of added stress as the Rav only had summer tires... Seriously, why do rental companies in snowy parts of Canada do this? All was well though, and we arrived back at Winnepeg with plenty of time to spare

- Bohemian Waxwings

- Tame Deer


Waiting for the flight at the airport dragged on for a bit, as did the flight home, but that's often how it goes on the way back from chasing something... The way there is always more exciting. Due to some delays in disembarking I didn't get back to Guelph until after 2am, quite tired but happy with the success of the trip.


One final note, I do not recommend Flair Airlines... The leg room/seats are subpar, the website constantly crashes, customer support charges you to even talk to them... and they try to scam you for extra money at every corner. That is all.


Ontario Yearlist @ November 30th - 357






Shameless advertising


 

Not my usual type of post… but I thought I would use this platform to advertise Alessandra’s art! She’s working on a number of commissions for Christmas now and is available to do others if people want. 


They’re pretty great : ) buy them…. 


This is from her Facebook post


…….

Hey everyone!! Just putting this out incase anyone’s looking for a quality Christmas gift for someone they cherish (or hate, no judgment). 

 

I’m making custom bird art! I can bring any bird species to life, with some added creative flare! 

I have two main mediums I work with, Watercolour and Acrylic, and the subject will be a full bird with your choice of background, or a bird portrait. 


Watercolour is my favourite medium and I'm selling custom originals on your choice of paper (8.5"x6") or board (10"x8") for $80 and $95 respectively.

I can also do Acrylic paintings on canvas (10''x12''), these are more detailed and can include multiple birds, multiple species, + plants, background etc. These are more time consuming and use more expensive materials so I charge $230-300 depending on the details. 


Shipping is extra but I will be more than happy to deliver right to your door if you will be around Wellington or Bruce County! 


Some recent examples 







You can message her on Facebook (Alessandra Kite), or email alessandra_wilcox@yahoo.com



Big year related post with an insane chase coming in a few days 


Back to Ottawa for a Goose

 


When I was at Fifty Point November 6th, waiting for Cave Swallows to fly by, I was talking with some birders about my most likely new additions for the year. The first thing I said was Northern Gannet, then an hour later I see a gannet at Fifty! After the gannet, I explained that things are getting considerably harder because Pink-footed Goose is my most likely bird. That afternoon, of course, a Pink-footed Goose was found near Voyageur Provincial Park in Prescott and Russell by Jacques Bouvier. The goose had actually been around the area for a week, although it had only been seen on the Quebec side until then. 

Because I was busy the next day chasing the gallinule, I decided to wait to go until that Wednesday, with the plan being to spend several days searching for the goose if need be. Since the spot was an hour east of Ottawa, doing it in a single day felt a bit risky and not that enjoyable! 


On the morning of November 9th, Alessandra and I were picked up at 4:00am in Guelph by Isabel Apkarian, who had dipped on Pink-footed Goose 4 times in the past and was out for revenge. We stopped a few minutes later to pick up the last member of our goose hunting party, fellow big year birder William Konze. The Subaru Crosstrek looks quite spacious from the outside, an illusion that quickly fades however when 4 people, several scopes and a mound of supplies are piled in. It did have adaptive cruise control though, which may be worth the trade for space... even if the annoying lane assist sensor wouldn't shut up for the entire trip.

After several hours of driving, I received a message that Jacob Stasso had just seen an Atlantic Puffin at Dick Bell Park in Ottawa. It was only a flyby and chances of refinding it were slim, but we were only an hour away from the spot so we changed course and headed into the nation's capital for a quick alcid detour. It was a bit of a shock to the system getting out of the car to a chilly wind beside the Ottawa River, after the 25 degree Cave Swallow weather only a few days before.... That's Ontario for you. After talking to Jake and spending an hour looking along the river, it became obvious that the Ottawa River is indeed very long, and a puffin is a small bird to find in such a large space. Since there were a number of local birders out looking who all knew the area better, we left the puffin search to them and drove the remaining hour & a half to the goose spot.

The best location to view from was a small dirt road beside a large dam, that spanned the river and was closed off for construction. It seemed a bit iffy about people being allowed in the area, but if you look like you belong workers tend not to bother you, so we walked up the edge of the road and began scanning. Vince Fyson joined us shortly after that and helped scour the area for the rest of the afternoon. Numerous Cackling Geese and a single Snow Goose were mixed in with the thousands of Canadas present, but not our hoped for pink-footed variant. We gave it our best until light made scanning impossible, then drove back to Ottawa. where the Skevington's had graciously offered to let us stay. As is the case every time I have visited here, we were treated to wonderful food (thanks Angela) and entertaining stories... Always a nice part of visiting Ottawa.


The next day we were up at 4:00am again because we wanted to make it to the dam for sunrise, when a lot of geese take off to spend the morning foraging in nearby fields. William seemed to be slightly more awake than the rest of us, so he drove while everyone else passed out. Upon arriving at said dam, it was quickly visible that there were hardly any geese there. It seemed that they had roosted somewhere else for the night, so we turned around and drove down the river a bit further to find a vantage point to scan. I was just starting to wake up when we pulled over beside the road a few kilometers away, where we spotted several large rafts of geese sitting out on the river. Just as we were setting the scopes up they started taking off, so I began rapidly scanning through the flying flocks. My scope passed over a slightly smaller goose, with silvery wings, a white tail and a dark head. It was the Pink-footed Goose!! I proceeded to lose it a few moments later when it disappeared behind a treeline. The rest of the group hadn't seen it, and were rightfully quite frantic. 
We piled back into the car and William gunned it inland while we tried to keep the lines of flying geese in sight. After 10 minutes of skillful James Bond level driving, we arrived at a cornfield where large numbers of geese were descending. Suspense... had we followed the right flock? had the pink-foot peeled off? Isabel got on the bird as it was landing with canadas. Success! An Ontario lifer all around, we enjoyed amazing views of it in the scope for half an hour as it contently fed with the other geese. After putting in 3 long days looking for this species in the spring, seeing it felt pretty satisfying : ) This was 356 for my yearlist, and 350 for William (big congrats on breaking the 350 barrier sir!).

- Pink-footed Goose with Canadas


- #356

- Alessandra in goose watching stance

We spent the remainder of the day searching for Barnacle Goose (which William needs) and scouring the river for alcids, but came up short on both. That evening we enjoyed another great meal at Jeffs and had Eric Baldo over to play Wingspan (a birding board game). The following morning we returned back to Guelph, satisfied we wouldn't have to return to Ottawa for another goose in the near future. Unless...



Since then I have been busy leading a few bird hikes in Grey/Bruce and birding around Guelph and Hamilton. No new birds, but a few highlights including;

- My first self found King Eider of the year (flyby at Van Wagner's Beach)

- Self found female Barrow's Goldeneye with Alfred Raab on a birding hike around Owen Sound

- First of fall Northern Shrikes and Common Redpolls, also great views of a Golden Eagle



In rarity news, there is a Limpkin in Lewiston NY... just across the river and actually visible from Ontario... so close but so far........ arrrr. A plee to US birders, please flush this bird across the river. Use firecrackers, whatever in necessary.. Just make it happen ; )


Kidding of course...


Ontario yearlist @ November 17th - 356

Panama Trip - Part 1

Just after midnight on the morning of February 22nd (I couldn't really sleep due to preflight jitters/trip excitement, so to me it was s...