Just a quick update to keep people in the loop…
On Wednesday morning, Dave Smzyr found an adult Pacific Loon on Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie. I was down lakewatching at Point Edward in Lambton county at the time (didn’t see much besides a Parasitic Jaeger), so I decided to wait to chase it until the following day.
Most birds I would try and chase ASAP, but with this bird I wasn’t too concerned. For over 10 years there has been at least one (usually more) Pacific Loon on the Barrie waterfront in the fall. These birds stage here with the massive number of Common Loons and gorge on the concentrations of fish in the bay. The loons normally show up late September/early October and remain through mid November, so there wasn’t really a rush for me to see it.
On Thursday morning I left Guelph with Alessandra and headed up to Barrie. By the time we got there it had warmed up a bit and there was considerable heat shimmer over the bay.
We started off our search at the small park the bird had first been seen at, then moved up the shoreline until we were at the edge of the bay where it opens up to Lake Simcoe. Common Loons and Red-necked Grebes were around in large numbers, with several hundred of each scattered across the water. A large number of them were lost beyond the heat shimmer, making search for Waldo a bit of a challenge.
Eventually we returned to Tyndale Park, where we had started earlier, and took another scan. Apparently a large raft of loons had moved closer while we were gone, as there were now around 200 within scoping distant. I worked through the flock… then wham, a gorgeous adult Pacific Loon! #345! This was a lifer for Alessandra too! Pacifics in alternate plumage are truly gorgeous, their nape in the sunlight is such a vibrant golden colour that photos can’t really capture.
Speaking of photos… here are some of the worst ones I’ve taken this year! IDable? Maybe
I’m spending this weekend at Van Wagner’s Beach in Hamilton, where I hope to add Pomarine Jaeger. There is the possibility of Red Phalarope too, and maybe Northern Gannet or Purple Sandpiper. So potentially I could have a new Ontario record by Monday!
Ontario yearlist @ September 30th - 345
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