As I increase my use of eBird, I am starting to appreciate what the site has to offer and its importance (I do think there is a bright future for this method of recording bird sightings). Of course, there's nothing like having regional coordinators and Alan Wormington of the Pelee Birding Circle and Roy Smith of the GTA are amazing at keeping records and helping with data collection. This is obviously the best way to submit sightings as it's more personal and you can get a dialogue going around your personal records, often with great feedback like whether the bird you saw was reported around the same time, whether your sighting is record early or of significant note for the number of birds you saw, etc. And, every once in a while, they'll tell you you were probably wrong. That's often a good lesson, too.
However, eBird is a great tool. It can feel pretty impersonal but at the same time, there's just so much potential when more people use the site. Instant graphs, trends, sharing your sightings with members of your group, a place to keep your lists while also contributing to a larger database, and a much faster way of getting your list saved without having to type out every species in a word document (which I've been doing for years). I feel I need to spend a bit more time really experimenting with some of the features to get a better grasp on what the site is capable of.
Another incredible benefit of eBird is that it gets you to pay more attention when you're out there. I'm a bit of a lister at heart so I love the feeling of having not only a list for the day, but a number of lists for each location you've visited in that given day. I notice that I pay more attention to every bird I see now, and make a mental note of which species I've seen where, sometimes how many. Maybe a bit obsessive but it sure keeps me more focused (and often makes me stay out longer).
Eventually, I plan to input every list I have stored away in my records. I have lists from countless trips home in the spring, trips to Florida, to the east coast, Long Point, and countless others. Lists that all exist in hard copy as ticks on a regional checklist booklet. It'll be a long undertaking but I plan to get all of my lists I've ever kept onto the site.
Unfortunately, there are many additional features I wish eBird had. However, the site likely will have them given time and donations. One such feature for example...can I see the total number of species I reported on a given day? If I can, I don't know how to do it easily.
For now, I realized you can download your lists in an excel file, easy for copying and pasting right into Cerulean Sky. Great for posting day lists.
My lists for Sunday, April 18, 2010.
Ashbridges Bay
Species Number reported
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 4
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Ring-necked Duck 2
Lesser Scaup X
Greater/Lesser Scaup X
Long-tailed Duck X
Bufflehead X
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Double-crested CormorantX
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Iceland Gull 4
Common Tern X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow 2
Tree Swallow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Brown Creeper 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
American Robin X
European Starling X
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch X
Total: 38
Lakeshore Blvd E & Leslie Street
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 1
Ring-billed Gull x
Rock Pigeon x
Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park)
Canada Goose X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Greater/Lesser Scaup X
Long-tailed Duck X
Bufflehead X
Red-breasted Merganser X
Double-crested CormorantX
Killdeer X
Ring-billed Gull X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin X
European Starling X
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Sparrow X
Total: 28
Colonel Sam Smith Park
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 1
Green-winged Teal (American) 1
Bufflehead X
Red-breasted Merganser X
Red-necked Grebe 9
Western Grebe 1
Double-crested CormorantX
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer X
Ring-billed Gull X
Mourning Dove X
Tree Swallow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
American Robin X
European Starling X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Total: 21
While Driving
Canada Goose X
Ring-billed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
American Robin X
European Starling X
Common Grackle X
House Sparrow X
Total: 7
Showing posts with label Ashbridges Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ashbridges Bay. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, March 30, 2009
Jeremy vs. Western Grebe Round III
No words can begin to describe the pure, utter stupidity of my decision to leave my house on Sunday to vainly go look for the Western Grebe at Ashbridges Bay. Waking up to rain pelting my window should have been the first deterrent. For any sane human being, no force in Heaven and Earth could have made one traipse and slosh through the mud, rain, and wind along the waterfront squinting into distant white-capped swells in the lake through fogged binoculars to look for a diving species that is consistently reported as "requiring a spotting scope to see."
And yet, there I was, standing on the rocks by the shore, my shoes soaked to the ankle, cold wind gnawing its way into every last warm nook and cranny my increasingly wet non-water-proof spring jacket had to offer, my jeans weighed down by so much moisture that I had to tighten my belt an extra notch, my umbrella slipping out of my water-logged gloves and getting caught on branches, and my backpack dropped into a large puddle and subsequently adding "character" to the novel I'm currently reading. To add insult to injury, there were hardly any birds on the lake besides a small spattering of Long-tailed Ducks. At some point I gave up and stopped avoiding puddles of water, splashing along, grinding my teeth and cursing Environment Canada for telling me the rain would stop by noon.
A first- or second-year Iceland Gull flew by. That was the highlight of day and the bird that kept my nerves from snapping beyond repair. Another moment that made me feel a bit better about my situation was when the only other human mentally unstable enough to be in the park with me let his dog off its leash and the little beast jumped right into the lake as the owner frantically tried to get it to swim back to the beach.
As I was leaving the park, the rain stopped and I got on the streetcar, defeated. As the puddle under my feet expanded on the floor and I air-dried my water-damaged novel, I became determined to get this bird. My nemesis bird. The bird I will go look for again next weekend. The Western Grebe.
And yet, there I was, standing on the rocks by the shore, my shoes soaked to the ankle, cold wind gnawing its way into every last warm nook and cranny my increasingly wet non-water-proof spring jacket had to offer, my jeans weighed down by so much moisture that I had to tighten my belt an extra notch, my umbrella slipping out of my water-logged gloves and getting caught on branches, and my backpack dropped into a large puddle and subsequently adding "character" to the novel I'm currently reading. To add insult to injury, there were hardly any birds on the lake besides a small spattering of Long-tailed Ducks. At some point I gave up and stopped avoiding puddles of water, splashing along, grinding my teeth and cursing Environment Canada for telling me the rain would stop by noon.
A first- or second-year Iceland Gull flew by. That was the highlight of day and the bird that kept my nerves from snapping beyond repair. Another moment that made me feel a bit better about my situation was when the only other human mentally unstable enough to be in the park with me let his dog off its leash and the little beast jumped right into the lake as the owner frantically tried to get it to swim back to the beach.
As I was leaving the park, the rain stopped and I got on the streetcar, defeated. As the puddle under my feet expanded on the floor and I air-dried my water-damaged novel, I became determined to get this bird. My nemesis bird. The bird I will go look for again next weekend. The Western Grebe.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Missed! Western Grebe
My second attempt at getting the Western Grebe that has been hanging out in Lake Ontario off of the southeastern tip of Ashbridges Bay Park ended in what can only be described as an epic fail.
O.K., it wasn't that bad but still...I was disappointed. The bird has been hanging out for a couple of months now and I had went to look for it earlier when it was originally sighted but to no avail. It takes some planning to get to Ashbridges Bay, though. Sometimes (at all times?), it sucks birding without wheels. The park is in the east end of Toronto and takes a good hour and a half to get to by transit. It requires a subway ride followed by a transfer onto the longest Streetcar route in Toronto, the 501. Admittedly, it's a relaxing ride, but it's LONG. By the time you get out to Coxswell where you need to get off, you're feeling the pressure of time. Most of the parks I visit for birding require similar planning (besides High Park, which is basically my backyard!).
Ashbridges Bay is a nice walk. It's quite similar in size and shape to Humber Bay East but without the marshy areas (at Ashbridges, there is a marina for small boats instead). From the park, you get a beautiful view of downtown Toronto as well as a full view of the Leslie Street Spit, closed through the week due to construction. I made my second visit to Ashbridges on Monday, March 23 in hopes that by some chance, the Western Grebe would be close enough to shore to see with my binoculars. The bird was either gone or too far out for me to see. Most posts on Ontbirds suggest bringing a scope but my loaned scope (thanks, Marianne!) is still in my room back home in Leamington. It's not easy to transport it on the Greyhound! So, I went hoping there would be another birder there with a scope but no luck.
I'll try again, or at least visit the park again. Other birds seen on Monday included a good number of Long-tailed Ducks, Common Mergansers, Bufflehead, a sing White-winged Scoter, and Lesser Scaup. Red-winged Blackbirds are out along with many robins, and a few Killdeer in an open field just north of the park.
O.K., it wasn't that bad but still...I was disappointed. The bird has been hanging out for a couple of months now and I had went to look for it earlier when it was originally sighted but to no avail. It takes some planning to get to Ashbridges Bay, though. Sometimes (at all times?), it sucks birding without wheels. The park is in the east end of Toronto and takes a good hour and a half to get to by transit. It requires a subway ride followed by a transfer onto the longest Streetcar route in Toronto, the 501. Admittedly, it's a relaxing ride, but it's LONG. By the time you get out to Coxswell where you need to get off, you're feeling the pressure of time. Most of the parks I visit for birding require similar planning (besides High Park, which is basically my backyard!).
Ashbridges Bay is a nice walk. It's quite similar in size and shape to Humber Bay East but without the marshy areas (at Ashbridges, there is a marina for small boats instead). From the park, you get a beautiful view of downtown Toronto as well as a full view of the Leslie Street Spit, closed through the week due to construction. I made my second visit to Ashbridges on Monday, March 23 in hopes that by some chance, the Western Grebe would be close enough to shore to see with my binoculars. The bird was either gone or too far out for me to see. Most posts on Ontbirds suggest bringing a scope but my loaned scope (thanks, Marianne!) is still in my room back home in Leamington. It's not easy to transport it on the Greyhound! So, I went hoping there would be another birder there with a scope but no luck.
I'll try again, or at least visit the park again. Other birds seen on Monday included a good number of Long-tailed Ducks, Common Mergansers, Bufflehead, a sing White-winged Scoter, and Lesser Scaup. Red-winged Blackbirds are out along with many robins, and a few Killdeer in an open field just north of the park.
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