On January 7th, the Toronto Ornithological Club held its first trip in 2008, a winter gull expedition spanning the Lakeshore between Sunnyside Park and Humber Bay West led by Glenn Coady. The trip started at 1:30 and run until dusk with a focus on gulls and waterfowl. We were not disappointed.
Along Sunnyside Park, there were decent-sized flocks of gulls, but only three species present: Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed. There were also the regular locals including Canada Geese, Mute Swan, and Mallards as well as Redhead and Long-tailed Ducks beyond the break walls. As we walked west, we spotted 2 hardy Yellow-rumped Warblers, probably surviving on berries and the odd insect on milder days at this point. At the same location, a female Harlequin Duck was present close to shore but the group was not able to locate the male, which has also been reported in the vicinity. This was my first time seeing this species and we had great views through the scopes some members brought along. For the most part, she had her head tucked away but she looked up to show her white face patches eventually. Glenn noted how dark the bird was compared to female Buffleheads and although it is superficially similar to the scoters, size and bill shape easily separate it. I'll probably take a walk down to the shore to look for the male soon (we guessed that it was hidden in the rocks along the shoreline). Here on the lake, we also picked up Greater Scaup and a few Lessers along with many more Redhead, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, and all three merganser species (but only a few Hooded and a handful of Common).
At Humber Bay East, we found a small flock of Northern Shovelers, 4 Trumpeter Swans, American Black Duck, Gadwall, 1 Horned Grebe, 2 American Coots, but no American Wigeon (I had seen a few along this stretch earlier in the week). All in all, a great day for waterfowl! On the walk back, we saw a Northern Mockingbird tirelessly attacking a group of Starlings that were trying to eat the berries it was protecting as well as a Kestrel hanging around where we had seen the warblers earlier. The last bird we ticked off was a Glaucous Gull flying in the distance with a large group of gulls flying east towards downtown.
No winter finches, no Iceland Gull, and no owls (I was only REALLY expecting an Iceland Gull but I set up a trip this Saturday to go, for the first time, to Leslie Street Spit where Barred Owl is nearly guaranteed). Today, the phone rang and it was my roommate, Jess', dad on the phone who was providing a play-by-play of a Barred Owl right in their backyard! Erg, I have to see this bird!
Here is the day's list:
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan (4: 2 adults, 2 juveniles, a family group that is now tame due to visitors feeding them)
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (20 in total)
Redhead
- I asked Glenn about Canvasback and he says there are many on Lake Ontario but you have to look to the east. I'll hopefully see some good numbers this weekend at the Spit)
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck (lifer!!! woohoo!)
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye (many are starting to pair up)
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe (it never ceases to amaze me how long these guys can stay submerged)
American Kestrel
American Coot (2)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker (not on the trip but I had a few on the walk over)
Northern Mockingbird (Humber Bay East and West are very reliable spots for this species)
European Starling
Black-capped Chickadee (same as Downy)
Dark-eyed Junco
House Sparrow
Total: 32
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