September Update

Apologies to my loyal followers... It has been a while since my last post! To sum things up, it has been a pretty quiet September for birding so far. Not just for me either, there just haven't been too many rares around Ontario... Though to be fair rarity season tends to really kick into high gear around mid-October, so hopefully there are many new additions on the horizon.

Since my last update I have added 3 species to my yearlist, which brings me up to 343 species!

All of my additions have been pelagic birds, well pelagic from an Ontario sense anyways. For us inland birders, a lot of fall excitment comes from staring through spotting scopes to see distant specks flying out over the lake. We are hoping these specks are jaegers, which if you haven't seen them before look like what you'd get if you mashed a falcon and a gull together. There are three different species, the more common Pararistic and then occasionally Long-tailed and Pomarine. All 3 breed on the Arctic tundra and winter on the open oceans of the world (they get around!), so they aren't birds you see without trying. Most inland states and provinces don't get very many jaegers, with the exception of the Great Lakes area, where they pass through annually in small numbers. The timing of their migrations is a bit different, with Parasitic moving throughout most of the fall, Long-tailed in late August and early September, and Pomarine moving late in the season (starting in mid-October and going all the way through Novmeber).You won't see these birds randomly though, and to see them you have to spend time lakewatching in Hamilton and Kettle Point during the right conditions.... Which are east/northeast winds for Hamilton and north/northwest winds for Lambton.

 For a big year you need all three jaegers, but if you aren't careful Long-tailed and Pomarine can be easy to miss. 

On September 4th east winds were forecasted for the Hamilton area, so I drove down and spent the day lakewatching. In typical Van Wagner's Beach fasion, it was raining and foggy... Not fun conditions for this type of birding! Because besides getting damp and soaked yourself, your optics get all wet and foggy, requiring constant cleaning with a dry cloth. Anyways I spent around 6 hours there and saw a Parastic Jaeger (341) and a few distant jaegery specks that were probably parasitic too... but just too far and lost in the fog to be sure.

- lakewatching at Van Wagner's

The following day there were also strong east winds, however this time there was no rain, and it was actually sunny a few times! After being there for just over an hour, a flock of 4 jaegers flew in off the lake and passed by fairly close heading inland. 3 parasitics and a gorgeous adult Long-tailed Jaeger (342) with full tail streamers! Always a treat to see one of these guys, and a bird I was glad to get out of the way for the yearlist. The rest of the day was fairly quiet, with a few more parasitics being the only other highlights. It is always an enjoyable experience lakewatching (I'm one of those people who enjoys distant specks remember) and getting my first decent fall days of 2022 in was a nice treat. Unfortunately, they were too far for my camera and I didn't have time to digiscope, so no photos to share : ( 

Fast forward two weeks. I did a few birding trips around southern Ontario (Pelee, Lambton Shores), but they were farily quiet save for the usual suspects. I was hoping to get Sabine's Gull out of the way, as the window for their migration period was rapidly closing (a rare bird past early October). Similar to jaegers, Sabines also breed in the Arctic and winter on the ocean... but every fall Ontario sees a small number that take the inland route. I had missed Sabine's by a day at Hamilton and Pelee, then I just missed a flock by Kettle Point in Lambton... new nemesis bird perhaps? 

Then on September 14th Bruce Di Labio found a juvenile Sabine's Gull while birding at Lake Dore in eastern Ontario. I assumed the bird wouldn't stick around very long, but then it was seen the next day, and again on the weekend. I wasn't too enticed to chase this bird, as it was over a 5 hour drive, for a mere "code 2" species. At the same time though it is one of those birds that could slip by easily if you let it... So on September 19th I made the trek out east, joined by my wonderful girlfriend Alessandra. 

Eastern Ontario is a scenic place in the fall, and even though the peak of fall colours are still a bit of time away, some nice shades of reds and yellows were beginning to appear across the rolling forest hills. Soon enough we had arrived at Lake Dore, a smallish lake surrounded by a dotting of quaint cottages. For the entire drive over it had been nice and sunny, but that changed 10 minutes before the lake and we encountered light fog and cloudy skies that threatened a thunderstorm. For 40 minutes we scoured the lake, sorting through large numbers of Bonaperte's Gulls and Common Loons. Then, my scope panned over a slightly larger gull with a brown back and dark, triangular patches on it's wingtips. Sabine's Gull (343), check! We enjoyed watching it for a few minutes as it foraged among a flock of Bonaparte's, before it lifted off again and disappeared down towards the far end of the lake.

A few photos…. Also if you want to see a video check out my eBird list Here

- Sabine's Gull

The timing turned out to be quite good, as just after we left the thunderstorm hit, and for the next half hour I drove through torrential rain, lightening and hail! With Sabine's Gull I tied Josh's 2012 list and Geoff's 2022 list of 343, so I now have the 2nd highest big year total in Ontario... Just for some random info!

That brings me up to date again! If anyone reading is going down to the OFO convention (and leading a hike on Friday) this weekend I may see you there...

Ontario yearlist @ September 21st - 343