High Park - Hawk Hill

On my way to High Park to visit Hawk Hill for the High Park Hawk Count for the first time, I was concerned with the weather conditions. After a full-scan, I couldn’t see a single cloud in the sky, there were very low winds, and it looked like the temperature was on the rise. When I stepped off the subway at High Park station, I stepped in a fresh pile of dog excrement and figured the fates were trying to tell me something.

However, upon entering the park, I saw a cloud in the distance and once I finally found Hawk Hill (north of the restaurant, not south like I thought), my initial concerns were unfounded. It ended up being a great day.

At the hawk count, I met Don Barnett, the count leader who promised to sponsor me at the next Toronto Ornithological Club meeting so I could become a member. I also met a handful of other dedicated hawkers whose experience was immediately palpable. To start, we had individual sightings of Red-tails, or tails as they are called at hawk counts as well as a few isolated sightings of Sharp-shinned Hawks, short-form Sharpie. Once more eyes joined the group, we picked up a handful of late Broad-winged Hawks, a couple of Cooper’s Hawks (Coops for short), and a few more Sharpies. The real excitement began when the number of Bald Eagles gradually rose from 5 to 10, to a record-breaking 13 for the High Park count, which was great to be part of (I spotted bird 11). Also, a few Peregrine Falcons made appearances as well as a spattering of Kestrels, more Tails (many juvenile), and a large number of Turkey Vultures (TV’s) later in the day. Around noon, the winds started to shift out of the south and the TV numbers rose significantly while other hawk numbers dropped. While earlier in the day, birds were being pushed against the north shore of lake Ontario, as winds switched, the line of migrants now were flying much farther north and higher in the sky. Cloud cover remained decent throughout the day.

More details as I attend more counts (my next planned trip is Monday before work).

Hawk Migration: peak numbers and migration times

I decided to start re-reading archived issues of the Ontario Field Onithologists Newsletter and the first issue I picked up, dated October of 1999 has an in-depth article on hawk migration. Perfect supplement for my last post. The article is written by Ron Pittaway and contains much important information.

Here's a list summarizing the migration periods of each species as well as peak numbers (late dates in brackets following migration periods) taken from the article:

Turkey Vulture

Migration periods: mid-September to mid-November (rare winter)
Peak numbers: early to mid-October

Osprey

Migration: mid-August to late October (early December)
Peak: early to mid-September

Bald Eagle

Migration: September to December (rare winter)
Peak: September (numbers always low)

Northern Harrier

Migration: late August to late November (winters)
Peak: September

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Migration: late August to late November (winters)
Peak: September

Cooper's Hawk

Migration: mid-September to early November (rare winter)
Peak: early to mid-October

Northern Goshawk

Migration: early October to late November (winters)
Peak: late October to early November

Red-shouldered Hawk

Migration: early October to mid-November (rare winter)
Peak: mid to late October

Broad-winged Hawk

Migration: late August to early October (early November)
Peak: mid-September

Swainson's Hawk

Migration: early September to late October
Peak: mid-September to mid October (very rare migrant)

Red-tailed Hawk

Migration: mid-September to early December (winters)
Peak: mid-October to early November

Rough-legged Hawk

Migration: early October to early December (winters)
Peak: late October to early November

Golden Eagle

Migration: late September to December (rare winter)
Peak: late October to early November

American Kestrel

Migration: late August to mid-November (winters)
Peak: September

Merlin

Migration: late August to early November (rare winter)
Peak: September

Peregrine Falcon

Migration: early September to late October (rare winter)
Peak: late September to early October

Here's what he has to say about High Park:

"This fabulous site in Toronto's famed High Park is in the city's west end between the Gardiner Expressway and Bloor Street. Go to parking lot of Grenadier Restaurant from Bloor Street via West Road or take the east entrance off Parkside. Note: On Sundays and holidays from 1 May to 1 October, vehicle entrance to High Park is from Bloor only. Hawks are viewed from the small knoll known as Hawk Hill just to the north of the restaurant. High Park offers excellent birding throughout the year."

I have been there a few times now and I agree with the last statement. I'm looking forward to attending one of their hawk counts soon.

Fatal Light Awareness Program

So I promised a post on what the members of the organization F.L.A.P. do. Last Friday, I woke up insanely early to make it downtown to volunteer (I haven't went back since, mostly because I've been busy with job-hunting)...once I have my metro pass I might be able to make it down a few more times.

F.L.A.P. is looking to Toronto businesses to turn out their lights at night to reduce the number of fatal collisions by migrating birds. Passerines experience a change in metabolism around spring and fall along with weather changes and migrate. Most migrate at night. During this migration, the birds are lured towards bright lights, so Toronto is an obvious problem. Birds will often collide with windows because of their transparency, or they will get confused and exhausted on the streets, unable to escape the city borders. F.L.A.P. organizes volunteers to search the downtown core an hour before and an hour after dawn to save any birds that are still alive, as well as record and keep any birds that are found dead. This provides important statistics for research into problems caused by specific buildings and general trends. The organization has had some success but continues to fight. In fact, Toronto is the first city in North America to officially adopt migratory bird policies.

What needs to be done? Well, you can volunteer or donate by visiting the F.L.A.P. website. They are currently working on businesses downtown to get them to turn out their lights or install reflective glass that will prevent bird collisions. Unfortunately, those black silhouettes of hawks just don't work. I find it surprising that so many of these buildings leave their lights on anyway, as it must crank up the energy bill. At a time when climate change discussion has entered the public domain, Toronto could become a leader in turning out the lights at night whenever possible.

On my trip downtown to help out, we found the following birds dead: Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, and Bay-breasted Warbler. Only one bird was found alive, a tiny Tennessee Warbler, which will be released on the Southwest side of the city to continue on in its migration.

Anything can happen - Green-breasted Mango appears near Beloit, Wisconsin

During the month of September, a Green-breasted Mango, native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, was spotted near Beloit, Wisconsin. This is the first time it has ever been recorded in the state, normally being spotted as a rare wanderer into Texas. I first heard about the bird from Marianne and then read this report from Birder's World Magazine here. I have not found further reports as to whether the bird was still being seen, but any Google search will most likely garner results. Here is another, more detailed report from Birder's World magazine.

Truly a bizarre-looking specimen, this bird is proof that you must be ready for just about anything in North America. Who knows what might show up in your own backyard!

Fall Hawk Migration

We have entered a thrilling time for raptors and now is the time to get out to a hawk count or a site along lake Ontario or Lake Erie to witness the event. As I am now living in Toronto, a few wonderful sites from the Essex County area are off limits to me for now including Holiday Beach Conservation Area (the 2007 Festival of Hawks is currently on there), Sea Cliff Park, Leamington, and Point Pelee National Park (hawks tend to filter into the peninsula and can often be seen migrating off the tip, only to return as there are no warm thermals over the lake). Another hotspot is Hawk Cliff, Port Stanley, which is located northeast of Rondeau Provincial Park.

Raptors need warm thermals to migrate, which are large ascending masses of warm air that form after being heated by the sun. These columns of warm air lift particles and water vapour and often form cumulus clouds (beneficial for hawk migration as finding a hawk on a white backdrop is much easier than finding them in a clear blue sky). This form of migration is evident when you see raptors 'kettling'; a group of hawks spiraling and rising in the air. Since warm air will not form over the cooler surfaces of lakes and bodies of water, raptors have to find land-routes during migration so the northern shores of the Great Lakes are great spots for witnessing raptor migration. Winds are also important. Intuitively, northern winds give that extra push that hawks need so that they expend as little energy as possible during migration (it's a long way for some, all the way to the tropics in fact).

Yet another current besides thermals are important to hawk migration, deflective currents. This occurs when air runs into a large surface area like a cliff or woodlands and is deflected upwards, providing a chance for hawks to soar on the rising air.

Hawk migration starts as early as August, with the last hawks trickling through in November (excluding those that can stay well into December like Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, and American Kestrel). Peak numbers often occur in September due to the huge number of Broad-wings while peak species diversity occurs in October. On the Hawk Cliff website, there is a species status chart that describes the best times to see each species. There are pamphlets and books available at Holiday Beach detailing identification and status of each raptor species.

In Toronto, I plan to visit Hawk Hill in High Park for the first time this weekend. There have been some good reports coming from the area and mid-late September is peak migration for Broad-winged Hawks. Marianne and I witnessed this first-hand near Pelee where large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks were migrating. Full updates of my trip will be posted. In other news, I am going to have to purchase a metro pass for my new job, which will provide me the opportunity to increase my birding expeditions significantly. My shift also starts at 3:30pm, meaning all of my mornings are free. This will be great to shake off the rust of my fall migration knowledge.

Quick update

So I've been procrastinating with my usual posting proficiency but there is a reason: job hunting! Late last week and early this week have been dedicated to applying to a new position. Instead of a sales associate in a retail outlet, I am now employed with a Toronto Organization, Environmental Defence!

My shifts are all after 3:30pm, which leaves a lot of good time for birding (man, I'm going to be walking a lot) in the mornings. Hence, more posts. I have to provide an update for a short bit of volunteer service I performed last Friday though. Waking up at 5:30am so I could get downtown for 6:30, I helped out the Fatal Light Awareness Program (a clever anagram) with their work. More on that soon.

Another trip home. Highlight? Broad-winged Hawk migration

So, many updates along the way after another trip home to Essex County, which means a few more posts this week. The first bit of business I have to attend to my weekend list, which ended up being quite decent after birding Hillman Marsh, Two Creeks Conservation Area, and Marianne’s backyard (more on this little known birding spot in a bit). Give me a second while I throw in The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack…

O.K. Ready. I always love a trip home as it allows me to bird within the Pelee birding circle. There’s just something special to me about my hometown and birding, a feeling I have trouble finding anywhere else I travel (nothing will ever beat the Shire right?). Yes, I have found 2 wonderful birding spots in Toronto already but there’s just something about your home turf that ignites your passion to its fullest. Especially when that home turf is the Pelee birding circle. That being said, I wasn’t able to bird as much as I would have liked but when you’re only home once a month or less, there’s also a lot of visiting relatives you have to fit into that precious time. However, on with lists!

Marianne and I decided to meet at Hillman Marsh at 9:30 on Sunday morning to check out if there were any mudflats for shorebirds. When I arrived, I immediately heard a Greater Yellowlegs so I knew there had to be a spot appropriate for feeding somewhere nearby (we got a tip earlier from another birding buddy of ours, Steve Pike, that there were a decent number of shorebirds at the bridge at the northwest corner of the conservation area). But first, we checked out the secret hiding place of the ducks (a glaringly long name, but one that we have always used to describe the area beyond the boardwalk where they throw down feed for waterfowl). There we picked up Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, and a few other common species. We also quickly noticed that there were no shorebirds. So, we looked to the skies. There was a nice Northwest wind in the morning so a good hawk migration was underway. We scanned a few kettles and figured there must have been hundreds of Broad-winged Hawks migrating. We also picked up Sharp-shinned Hawk riding the warm thermals, and two Cooper’s Hawks flying lower to the ground giving great views. A few Harriers were scouting the area for food.

Broad-winged Hawk - things to note: broad, white band on an otherwise black tail, the dark border around the trailing edge of the wing, and the white feathers of the leading edge (juveniles share the dark border on wings, but paler).

We then checked out the bridge and located where at least some of the shorebirds were feeding. There we got Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, juveniles and adults. There was also a group of Northern Shovelers as well as a pair of one of my favourites, Blue-winged Teal (in eclipse plumage).

Hunger and hope for more hawks led us to Marianne’s house near Kingsville. There, we set up camp in a bean field behind her house and watched the hawk migration (there were more clouds at this point providing better views but the birds were much farther away…some only black specks in the sky). I was having trouble telling apart birds from those annoying black spots that appear in your eyes when you’ve been in the sun too long and the winds changed to West Southwest so we gave up. Most of the raptors were Broad-winged Hawks but we also saw an American Kestrel. In fact, at my house, which is about half an hour north of Point Pelee, there are many kestrels present right now, perched on hydro wires and hunting in the fields. On Monday, I actually witnessed a female kestrel chasing a goldfinch but to no avail. I saw the full pursuit, including the kestrel give up and fly back to its post: a dead poplar. I took the chance to actually sketch the bird, taking note of shape, posture, flight, and plumage details. This is actually extremely effective as a learning tool (even if it is such a familiar species) and I wish I would have sketched more in the field when I was younger. Now I just get lazy.

Also, Monday morning I went to Two Creeks with my brother who’s training for Ironman Florida in November. He wanted to get some trail runs because it focuses attention on leg muscles you don’t normally use when running on flat ground. I took the opportunity to check out an area I rarely go to. It was slightly disappointing (very quiet) but still a nice area to hike even if the bird life isn’t abundant.

Here’s my list for the weekend:

Double-crested Cormorant (I hope to make a blog post shortly to give my thoughts on the planned Cormorant cull that’s supposed to take place soon).
Great Blue Heron (many including both adults and juveniles)
Great Egret ( 10+ at the northwest bridge of Hillman Marsh. I bet there were a lot at Muddy Creek just north of Wheatley Harbour, often a great place for shorebirds, waders, and waterfowl…not to mention rarities: I’ve seen Am. White Pelican and Ruff in this location).
Canada Goose (some migrating)
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (made up of females and eclipse-plumages males)
Blue-winged Teal (pair)
Turkey Vulture (a few)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (a few migrating)
Cooper’s Hawk (2 at Hillman)
Broad-winged Hawk (150+ over weekend)
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle (1 adult flying low over a field while I was driving to Windsor)
American Kestrel (many – migrating as well as hunting in the fields around my house; males and females)
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs (many)
Lesser Yellowlegs (a few)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay (many migrating – Hillman, Sea Cliff, Two Creeks, as well as over my house)
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1 at Hillman Marsh entrance)
Marsh Wren (1 singing at Hillman)
American Robin (many migrating – huge numbers at Two Creeks)
European Starling (many migrating – enormous flocks on the way to Chatham to the Greyhound station)
American Pipit (1 at Hillman)
Common Yellowthroat (5+)
Northern Cardinal
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird (many migrating, especially on Sunday over Hillman Marsh)
America Goldfinch (many migrating, large numbers over my house)
House Sparrow

Total Species: 37 (low because I didn’t get a chance to do much woodland birding, thereby missing countless vireos, warblers, flycatchers, etc.).

New Guide!

Well, I went downtown today the Indigo in Eaton's Center to look for a new field guide and ended up with the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (as well as 2 mangas...ugh!)

I've only looked through it briefly but quite a bit has been updated since the edition I used to own. Also, I was sifting through the warblers and I noticed that they have many of the fall male warblers that Sibley's doesn't show in its plates so that's really important. Personally, I find the tabs on the side a little annoying (you should learn your field guide anyway) but that's no big deal. The National Geographic Guides also suffer in that they don't use arrows like Peterson's or notes like in Sibley's (the best format). Instead, plates simply show the bird with accompanying notes on the opposite page. However, I'm using this as a reference guide more than anything and probably won't take it into the field much so that's O.K. as well. Another good aspect of the guide is the number of subspecies covered as well as updated range maps that zoom into the specific area (whereas in Sibley's, every map is of all North America and can be hard to see on birds with small ranges). One thing I'm not used to is not having the Loons first in the guide. I don't know if new evolutionary evidence has been found but to me, they should always appear at the front of the guide as they are the oldest family of birds.

The plates themselves are decent but many birds look quite ratty and some minor field marks are not shown (unlike Sibley's, which meticulously details colours, feather pattern, etc.). The guide also features birds in different positions, overlapping each other, perching on branches, walking along the ground. This is similar to the inferior All the Birds of North America. I prefer Peterson's and Sibley's where the plates are of the bird in profile only so that you can directly compare each species and see their entire body.

Anyway, that's enough about the guide. I'll be looking through it a lot soon and comparing it to Sibley's to see what important new information I can gleam from its pages.

Toronto Islands

Discovering a new birding hotspot is one of the pleasures of the hobby. Visiting an area with good habitat and plenty of birds can be a great experience. Upon visiting the Toronto Islands for my second time, I realize that this area has great potential for spring and fall migration and I look forward to birding the area again (hopefully not alone the next time so I can share the experience).

Weather conditions: sunny, slight winds

On September 8, I woke up early at 6:00am, something that hasn't happened since I moved to Toronto. Hopping on the streetcar, transferring to the subway, and finally boarding a transport boat (the ferries weren't running yet this early) to get over to the islands, I finally started birding around 7:30am. Almost instantly I found some interesting birds as a small group (4) of Gadwall (the males in eclipse plumage) swimming just offshore. I could hear a lot of bird activity so I immediately made my way to the housing area on Ward's Island (where the boat docked) and into the trails on this side. A few Blue Jays, a chickadee singing, a Mourning Dove and a Sharp-shinned Hawk flying overhead, and then BANG - a mixed flock of migrants all located within the vicinity of a few trees. I love the overwhelming feeling of a trail chock full of warblers and other small migrants when you're trying to identify as many as possible, ID'ing one bird, then quickly moving to the next, sometimes seeing the same bird three times. Within minutes, I had picked up over 10 warbler species, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, Downy Woodpecker, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, Red-breasted Nuthatch, chickadees, Northern Cardinal, a calling flicker, and goldfinches. There were numerous American Redstarts, both male and female, a handful of Black-and-white Warblers, 2 Wilson's, 1 female Blackburnian, 1 Canada (the highlight for me), 2 Magnolias, 1 Pine, 1 Nashville, many Blackpolls, and later down the trail, a solitary juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a single female Black-throated Blue.

As if this wasn't enough, after I hard circled Ward's Island and returned to the same spot, there were now a few additions to the group including a first year Northern Parula, a Cape May, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a few Swainson's Thrushes, and a calling Gray Catbird (I ended up seeing quite a few of these later in the day at Hanlan's Point, the western side of the Toronto islands). Warblers that I missed but could have been on the island include Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted (there could have been some mixed in with the Blackpolls but if there were, I couldn't identify them), Palm, Tennessee, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Yellow (early migrant), Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Connecticut, and Mourning (the latter two being very difficult anyway).

Being able to see all of these species was a considerable treat, especially since I missed out on spring migration this year at Point Pelee due to my early move to Toronto at the end of April. I really hope to get out to the islands at least a couple more times before fall migration has passed. This coming weekend, I'm heading home for a visit so I'll be able to bird my old stomping grounds, Point Pelee and surrounding area (though I heard from a group of Swedish birders on the islands who had visited the Point last weekend that the Stable Flies are in full force right now).

The rest of the day wasn't nearly as exciting. As the day wore on, the sun made everything a lot hotter, Center Island was full of people and noise due to a music festival held there that day, and by the time I reached Hanlan's Point, I was pretty exhausted. However, I did pick up White-breasted Nuthatch, a female Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, more Gadwall, and an Empidonax Flycatcher. Overall, a great day.

Trip List:

Double-crested Cormorant (20+)
Great Blue Heron (1 juvenile)
Green Heron (1 first year bird)
Mute Swan (20-25)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Gadwall (11 birds total)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1 migrating)
Spotted Sandpiper (1)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove (3 total)
- possible Yellow-billed Cuckoo heard (too brief to identify for certain)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1 female)
Belted Kingfisher (2)
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Empidonax Flycatcher (unidentified)
Blue Jay (considerably more than I have yet heard and seen at High Park)
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch (many throughout the park)
White-breasted Nuthatch (one heard)
Swainson's Thrush (3 total)
American Robin (many juvenile birds present)
Gray Catbird (5)
Cedar Waxwing (flock heard)
European Starling (many juvenile birds present - a few migrating flocks)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Red-eyed Vireo (1)
Nashville Warbler (1)
Northern Parula (1 first year)
Magnolia Warbler (2)
Cape May Warbler (1 female)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1 female along the beach)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1 juvenile bird - heavy spotting, very slight yellow wash on the sides and rump)
Blackburnian Warbler (1 female)
Pine Warbler (1 adult)
Blackpoll Warbler (the most abundant species - 30+)
Black-and-white Warbler (5)
American Redstart (10+ mixture of females and males; with females outnumbering)
Common Yellowthroat (1 female)
Wilson's Warbler (2 males)
Canada Warbler (1 female)
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch (many)
House Sparrow

Stats:

Total Warbler species: 14 - just shy of my goal of 15
Total Species: 48 - this is quite low compared to the reports coming from the Island of late as posted on the Ontbirds listserv, however I was not part of a group and only birded for the morning and not in the afternoon. With more time and more eyes, I don't doubt you could have an extremely successful day on the island during fall migration.

Thoughts, reflections, and aspirations

I don't know if it's the oncoming fall migration or the fact that I have 2 major birding trips planned, but my hunger for studying birds is at a high right now. Wait, I know the real reason. Now that I am done university and am a free man, I have more time to concentrate on my hobby rather than stress over tests, assignments, and essays that have little or nothing to do with anything I'm interested in.

I've been taking full advantage of this sudden revival of interest and reading my field guides, listening to my bird CD's, but most importantly, paying much more attention to the finer details. In my blog, I have started to use many scientific terms just to get more comfortable. Basic and alternate plumages, bird topography, identifying the bird rather than just the species if that makes sense (i.e. instead of just identifying Ring-billed Gulls as Ring-billed Gulls, I want to start identifying their age as well). This becomes imperative as I have learned. Juveniles, too. Those little mystery birds that pop up and don't match anything in your basic guide (of course, the Bible of birding, Sibley's has a juvenile plate for almost every species so it's a good reference). Well, if you've been studying, even those guys will become easier to identify, and you'll gain an appreciation of times of molt, aging, feather wear, breeding distribution and countless other important features. It's also more fun. As I described on my High Park blog, a group of Mallards, which I often dismiss entirely, became an intense moment of close study. In fact, these common guys: Ring-billed Gull, House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Mallards, are all great starting points for the study of finer details. Being able to look at a bird and actually identify where its tertials, malar, auriculars, etc. are located can be pretty fun (and rewarding).

O.K., I'm starting to sound like I'm just starting birdwatching so I better stop. In my 12 years I definitely regret not learning the finer details earlier on. However, there are steps involved in this hobby that prevent early learning anyway, I think. Beginners just go out and look at the birds and become fascinated at how many species they can pick up in a local woodlot. For me, as time progressed, I started to buy a few guides, looking through them for hours at a time, looking over numerous field marks, and getting to know the names of all of the North American birds. Then, the field study became more intensive. I was birding! Identifying by studying the bird then finding it in the guide. Through time, you get the book memorized (as well as evolutionary order) so that you aren't desperately searching for a warbler species in the sparrows section. I then reached a level of comfort where I could identify many birds, while admittedly too many still went unidentified. After some time, I started to love learning about range, early/late arrivals during migration, rare versus uncommon versus abundant species, etc. I still do, and I still have a lot to learn. Eventually, I realized how important song identification is and started to listen to bird tapes (warblers are a great place to start in my opinion).

Now? I'm into everything I just listed, but all of it in much more depth. I am currently trying to learn to age birds in the field and it's been a great experience so far. I also want to learn a lot more about songs and calls (I have never studied this enough). I also love statistics on when each species arrives during migration, breeding ranges and times, early and late dates for specific areas, etc. I was sorely disappointed when Point Pelee Natural History News was canceled. Alan Wormington's section on birds of note during each season was always fascinating to me and I spent a lot of time reading through each account.

Anyway, now I've written a bit of a brief background to my past, as well as where I'm headed for the future. It can be frustrating at times to see how far ahead people are in their skills, but hell I'm still young! I've got a lot of time to hone my skills and I started early, so that's certainly a bonus. In the next few years, I really hope to become a much better birder. Time will tell.

Additional Guide

To add to my growing list of guides I want to someday own (someday soon), I shall mention Peterson's Field Guide to Mexican Birds. I'm not planning a trip to Mexico per se but there are a lot of interesting sightings that occur in the southern states as well as farther afield involving stragglers from Mexico. I think it'd be great to know some of these species (plus, there are some pretty sweet birds in the country!). Many of them are not covered in Sibley's or other North American guides because of issues of space so it's a guide that I'll probably purchase soon. I'm not sure if there's an updated copy of it or not though because from what I remember, it was last published years ago.

As you can see, I love adding to my birding library. One bit of unfortunate news is that Ron Scovell is not bringing his used books to this year's OFO (Ontario Field Ornithologists) convention. AND THIS IS THE YEAR I WAS PLANNING ON PURCHASING SOME!!. Oh well, I'm sure I can find some old, used birding guides somewhere else for a good price.

Toronto Island plans and High Park list

So I just heard news that my trip to Center Island this Saturday might be affected by a music festival going on there over the weekend. Apparently it attracts hundreds of people but it is mostly restricted to the middle island, not Ward Island or those to the east where I plan to focus my attention. I'm also starting early and the festival doesn't start until 1 so hopefully I'm not drowned out by noise. The plan is to catch an early ferry ride across the bay to Ward Island around 7am and spend the morning and early afternoon birding. Hopefully I can get a decent amount of warbler species as well as some shorebirds on the beaches...mostly, I'll just be happy to get out and bird though. Thankfully the air show was last weekend or I would have been battling noise from the ground and the sky.

Since I didn't include it in my last post on High Park, I thought I'd put it in a new post instead of editing my old one (to create the illusion of almost-daily updates ;)

Great Blue Heron (3 - 2 adults and one first year juvenile)
Green Heron (1 first summer bird *note: greenish legs, dark green wings with no white spotting as in juvenile)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (4 adults)
Mute Swan (6 - 4 adults and 2 dark juveniles)
Canada Goose (many)
Wood Duck (many - mixture of adult males in eclipse, juveniles, and females)
Mallard (many - mixture of adult males in eclipse, juveniles, and females)
Red-tailed Hawk (1 adult)
Solitary Sandpiper (2)
Ring-billed Gull (many)
Rock Pigeon (many)
Chimney Swift (3)
Belted Kingfisher (2 heard)
Downy Woodpecker (2)
Northern Flicker (1 heard)
Great Crested Flycatcher (1)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (many - outnumber any other woodland passerines)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (5)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1 singing male)
European Starling (many)
Magnolia Warbler (2)
Black-and-white Warbler (2 females)
American Redstart (5 - 4 females and 1 first-year male)
Wilson's Warbler (2 males)
Common Grackle (many)
American Goldfinch (many - females and males in basic plumage)
House Sparrow (many)

Total Species: only 27 (granted, there are a few common species I may have forgotten)

Guides to Buy

So, I'm going through a phase of wanting to buy new field guides. This has its pros and cons. Pros of course include learning, learning, and more learning. Cons involve the high cost of high prices. My VISA will no doubt help me forget about the money I'm spending, if only temporarily but I think it's important that I buy more guides now; not only because I believe I'll be traveling more in the near future but also because birding is an enormous part of my life and will no doubt be taking up more time in the near future (now that fall migration is well under way).

In terms of travel, there is one guide that I feel is necessary because it's a family of birds I know very little about and I have experience with only one species from the entire group: Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. Yes, Sibley's has great plates of the North American hummers but I want to purchase the Peterson's Guide to Hummingbirds of North America. This will have more in depth species accounts of the common birds as well as detailed descriptions of rarities, better range maps, and since the guide only covers one family, a far greater amount of detail in identification. I already own the Peterson's guides to Hawks and Warblers so the addition of the Hummingbird will become useful (especially when Marianne and I make it to Arizona).

In terms of increasing my knowledge of birds in my vicinity, I need a definitive Shorebird Guide. Right now, I go only by Sibley's, which is great but doesn't have the space to describe detailed identification tips on each species (and subspecies). I'm also hoping to find a guide that gets more into range, times of migration, etc. (Marianne, what guide do you own? I'm probably going to check out that one first).

Eventually, I also plan to buy the updated National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I used to own a howlingly outdated version that my brother "borrowed" a few years back and didn't return so I'm in need of another guide. I think it's important to have various guides from different organizations because each contains at least some important features that others do not. Although I really have no desire for the Kaufman guide because I prefer plates to photographs (my least favourite guide is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds because many photos are awkward, poorly lit, or only represent one individual bird rather than the average of all variation within that species).

I realize that my next trip to Chapters (or Pelee Wings Nature Shop since I'm going home next weekend) will put serious stress on my bank balance but that's O.K. When you have a passion, you have to spend a little more to support it. Swarovskis anyone?

September 3 - High Park

Black-crowned Night-Heron - I was able to find 4 in one day, a feat that's not always easy in Essex County, but a breeze in T.O.

So I took yet another trip to High Park, Toronto with my day off (Labour Day) and had a great day of birding. A modest day in terms of numbers but diversity was up from past weeks and I had a chance to sit down and study a group of Mallards, Wood Ducks, Solitary Sandpipers, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and a Green Heron made it all worthwhile.

I also took out my new notebook and gave it a try. Very rewarding. It made me stop and think about what I was seeing, notice new details on common birds that I take for granted most days, and write down a few points that should help me remember them later on.

Weather conditions: low winds, slightly cloudy (warmed up by mid-afternoon, becoming very sunny)

Things started off pretty slow with the usual city birds: a flock of pigeons here, a group of sparrows there. But when I finally found a secluded spot in the woods away from people (there were a lot of visitors to the park seeing as it was a holiday), I got very lucky. By pishing until I started to feel my head spin, I was able to bring out a great mixed flock that included 2 Magnolia Warblers, 5 American Redstarts (4 females and 1 first-year male), 2 Wilson's Warblers, 2 Black-and-White Warblers (both female), 1 Downy Woodpecker, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a handful of chickadees, a Warbling Vireo, some goldfinches, and an unidentified fall warbler (possibly Pine but I only got a brief glimpse before the mixed flock moved on).

On the same trail, I also saw a Red-tailed Hawk riding the thermals with a lone Ring-billed Gull and heard a few flickers, goldfinches, and another Red-breasted Nuthatch (abundant in High Park at the moment).

Once I got to the ponds in the center of the park (where there are a lot of people), I sat down and studied the tamed Mallards and Wood Ducks that no doubt get many handouts from visitors (when they see you approach the pond, they come swimming). I decided to write down as many details as I could see on the various Mallards in the pond and it was a great learning experience (seeing details I never cared to look at before, noticing variation among the groups, and actually telling juveniles apart from adult females). This moment was as satisfying as seeing all of the migrants on the trail. The Wood Ducks are also interesting and I don't remember ever paying attention to seeing juvenile Wood Ducks but I took the time to look at them and actually study them for a while and it was great.

Also at the pond while watching the common ducks, a White-breasted Nuthatch landed on a trunk about 2 meters away and sang for a brief moment before flying off to another tree. I was also able to pish a Red-breasted Nuthatch within a few feet and it actually responded in time to my pishing. When I pished faster, it gave its alarm call faster. I've never experienced this before. Meanwhile a Great-crested Flycatcher landed high in a tree above. Finally, 2 Solitary Sandpipers fed at a small mud flat at the edge of the pond.

In the adjacent pond to the one I just discussed, there were Great Blue Herons (1 adult, 1 juvenile), 1 first-summer Green Heron, and 3 Black-crowned Night-Herons. Black-crowned Night-Herons seem to be much more common in the Toronto area than in Essex County where it can be hard to find one bird let alone 3 in one sitting. While watching these, I could hear the chattering call of a nearby Kingfisher. Another neat experience was seeing a kid that I guessed to be around 8 or 9 run up to the pond excitedly reporting to his apathetic father the birds he was seeing in the pond. This kid will be a great birder someday. He excitedly pointed out that he saw shorebirds (the Solitary Sandpipers), identified the Black-crowned Night-Herons in a heartbeat and although he first called the Green Heron a Bittern, he quickly corrected himself saying, "oh wait! I'm wrong...It's a Green Heron!" I love seeing kids getting so enthusiastic about birdwatching.

Later in the day, things slowed down as the sun heated everything up and as I was leaving the park, I could hear the thundering of the air show going on at the waterfront. In Grenadier Pond on the east end of the park, I found an additional Black-crowned Night-Heron fishing off a log, a few Mute Swans with juvenile birds in tow, and a group of Ring-billed Gulls hanging around the docks at the pond where some people were fishing.

All in all a great day, but next weekend I hope to find a bit more in terms of diversity (especially migrating warblers). The plan is to wake up really early Saturday morning and head over to Center Island where the birding is supposed to be peaking right now. I'll be posting my day list when I get back.