eBird - a few observations

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

Empty Ice Patch - An Ivory Gull Lament

Mark and I scan for the Ivory Gull at Cherry Beach, Toronto

Photo courtesy of Lynne Freeman

failing light - no miracle tonight – this rare visitor avoids my gaze like she has once before – this heavenly form – this delicate winter-white angel – an ephemeral rest on the lakeshore – a brief appointment yielding disappointment – the shelves of ice carry a congregation – black backed, great and lesser, ring billed iceland glaucous herring – but despite my silent prayer – she is no longer here – yet still my eyes rise skyward - for I cannot bear to miss her once more

____________________________________________________________

Yes. At 3:58pm today, while birding Colonel Sam Smith Park with Mark Field, a report of an Ivory Gull was posted for Cherry Beach, Toronto (an ADULT Ivory Gull no less). Bless the iPhone. I really wish I owned this device for birding. Up-to-date birding reports and directions right at your fingers (not to mention if you ever need a refresher with a bird call, there are helpful apps to do just that). Needless to say, it didn't take us long to decide to ditch Colonel Sam and head across the city (bless having a van) to give the gull a go. Through bitter cold, we made a valiant effort with Jean Iron, the original finder alongside Paul Prior, to spot the gull but she informed us that it had flown directly west away from Cherry Beach and was not spotted again. Check out Jean's site and see the bird by clicking here. I don't know about Mark but I felt slightly defeated as the light faded and the last of the gulls on the patches of ice flew away for the night. This isn't the first time I've missed this rarity. January 2006 was a tough time when I couldn't get home to see the Ivory Gull that showed up at Hillman Marsh and provided great views.

There's still hope this bird will stay. There will certainly be a lot of eyes looking out for it throughout the week and I can assure you I'll be checking out the postings on Ontbirds frequently. I'll add here that although the end of the weekend held the slight disappointment of missing the Ivory, I still had two great days of birding on Sunday and today. I'll be posting full day lists/counts for the days within the week.

Humber Bay East/West and High Park OFO Trip

On Sunday, December 9, David Milsom lead an OFO trip to Humber Bay, Colonel Sam Smith Park (southwest of Humber Bay), and High Park. All in all, it was a great trip lasting from 9:00am to 4:30pm with a total of 56 species, good for a day of birding in December.

I personally knew I was in for a good day within minutes as the first birds we saw walking away from the parking lot in Humber Bay East were a group of Trumpeter Swans in the small ponds adjacent to the bay. There were 2 adults and 2 juvenile birds, all trumpeting a few meters away from the group (32 people total to start). This was a lifer for me, as the species is now considered countable after enough years post-reintroduction. This is one of many lifers I've gotten this fall, probably due to being on Lake Ontario versus Lake Erie where some of the species that are difficult to find in my hometown are quite easily found here. Other waterfowl (and waterbirds) present in the ponds and also at Humber Bay East/West included Common Loon (3), Horned Grebe (1), American Coot, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, American Black Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Redhead (good numbers mixed in with large rafts of Scaup), Greater and Lesser Scaup, Long-tailed Duck (numerous), singles of Black and White-winged Scoter (each only seen by a few members of the group), Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Hooded, Red-breasted, and Common Merganser, and a single, nonbreeding male Ruddy Duck.

Landbirds were few and far between but in Humber Bay East/West we saw Northern Shrike, American Tree Sparrow, Chickadees, 2 Northern Mockingbirds, and a Killdeer at the warm-water outlet near the white archway connecting Humber Bay East and West.

We then headed to Colonel Sam Smith Park (at the foot of Kipling Avenue), which was a new area to bird for me and it produced some good birds. There we had 8 Snow Buntings, an American Kestrel, an American Pipit, American Tree Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, a single Winter Wren, and 4 Red-necked Grebes. At this point, it began to snow a bit more intensely so visibility was low. There was also the trouble with ice; two members slipped and fell leaving us with a knee and ankle injury.

Those brave enough to stay out in the snowfall then drove to High Park to visit the north end of Grenadier Pond where open water is still available. Here there were Mallards, a Great Blue Heron, 3 Swamp Sparrows, and the highlight for the day, a secretive Virginia Rail found by Chris Escott. In this area, we also picked up American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, and a few other passerine species.

The trip proved that winter birding can be a great time, especially when some of our common species produce the most excitement. Unfortunately, no white-winged gulls were present.