May 5, 2009 - Day 3 - LIFER!!! Western Meadowlark

I am so happy right now. Happy it's May, happy I got a new species on my life list this afternoon, and happy that I still have 11 days of heavy birding to go. I missed you today though, Marianne!

I put in 11 hours total and it felt great. The park was incredibly slow for birds as there has still been very little movement since yesterday or the day before. Hopefully with rain Wednesday night and Thursday, along with predicted south winds, there will be an influx of migrants into the park and surrounding area.

Even slow days produce good birds, though. I birded most of the morning with Hugh Currie. Shortly after we arrived at the tip together, I spotted an adult breeding Little Gull land on the beach. The bird didn't stay long as it was harassed by other gulls. Beyond that, there wasn't much happening in the tip area. We later did the Woodland trail together and picked up a male Prothonotary Warbler. It was actually fighting a House Wren over one of the nest boxes in the vicinity. When we arrived, the House Wren was dragging itself through the water to the closest tree. That was a sight to see. Also on Woodland, we had a Northern Mockingbird fly over along with a Northern Harrier (both firsts for my trip).

I tried Tilden Trail as well with limited success. My target birds were Kentucky Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Sandhill Crane. I only got one of the four: Worm-eating. I left the trail a wee bit frustrated but then I heard a report of a Western Meadowlark at the tip! Obviously I was on the next train to the tip.

The bird was found by Kevin McLaughlin and co. on the West Beach Birding Footpath near the transit loop at the tip. It was not a hard bird to find. Flushed as soon as I walked by the spot it was hiding, the bird flew to the top of a nearby tree and actually called out right in front of me, which was spectacular.

I ended the day at Hillman, struggling to reach 100 species (arghh what a struggle!) for the day and finally achieving that goal just as I was leaving for home: a Great Egret next to the entrance to the marsh. All in all, a good day that added quite a few species to my growing (but growing enough) May list. Oh, and how could I forget?! My first Chestnut-sided Warbler for May! It is and always will be my favourite warbler.

Day List:

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover - a single bird among the hundreds of Black-bellied
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Dunlin
Little Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspain Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species: 101!