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

Lifer! Barred Owl / and also: Leslie Street Spit and the search for Pine Grosbeaks

Due to work, I've had little time to provide an update for last weekend but I'm happy to now report it was a great success. I finally know why so many people talk about the Leslie Street Spit, which must be one of Toronto's most unique birding locations; a large peninsula piercing Lake Ontario on the city's east end and made up of concrete, metal, and stone. The area, also known as Tommy Thompson Park is a 5 kilometer stretch that is man-made and through much effort, the land is now a safe-haven for many birds, mammals, and other wildlife. I was not disappointed with my first trip.

8:30 in the morning was our starting point as Anne Marie, a friend I met through the TOC, gave me a tour of the park, finding many of the highlights that have been reported over the last few weeks. Not long into our walk, we found an American Kestrel along the road in the center of the peninsula. Shortly after, the flashing wings of a Northern Shrike compelled us to venture into the various woodlots within the park. There we saw our first owl, a resting Great Horned that was quickly perturbed by a group of photographers (we had two birds for sure, possibly even three individuals). To me, you really haven't experienced the beauty of the Great Horned Owl until you've heard its rhythmic, mourning call at dusk, or seen it fly by on silent, richly coloured wings. We were fortunate to have one fly just over our heads; a bulky bird the size of a buteo that eventually perched high in a deciduous tree where it apparently spent the rest of the day. Owls we missed (but that have been reported this winter) included Northern Saw-whet Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Long-eared Owl.

Being a milder weekend, we were able to find some landbirds including American Tree Sparrow, Hairy Woodpecker, a single Northern Flicker (an unexpected surprise), Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Song Sparrows, and a small flock of Snow Buntings in the fields adjacent to the aptly named 'Cormorant Graveyard'. During the summer months, skeletons of nestling birds demonstrate the grisly reality of natural selection (larger, strong birds often push small, weak birds out of the nest). Black-feathered carcasses hang from some branches.

Along the way, we found the Barred Owl, a first for me and a great bird. Perched on a branch not 20 feet from the ground, we had good looks and were able to walk full circle around the bird to admire all of its features. The owl was well aware of our presence, its black eyes following us wherever we walked.

We also had a few Red-tailed Hawks and an assortment of common waterfowl on the lake (the highlight was that many ducks are pairing off right now so we were able to watch the mating displays of Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Goldeneye while the incessant OW OWELEP! of the Long-tailed Ducks provided song).

We ended the trip around 2:00 in the afternoon fairly exhausted from the long walk through deep snow (my lack of proper winter boots is definitely a problem, but heated socks help immensely). On Sunday, I took a walk around Mt. Pleasant Cemetery hoping to find a flock of Pine Grosbeaks but to no avail. I did, however, see a few White-breasted Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, a few Goldfinches, a Red-tailed Hawk, and of course, Black-capped Chickadees. On my trips to work (which sometimes requires taking transit way out to Scarborough), I've been watching the tops of trees for any large finches but haven't been lucky enough yet...and anyway, imagine the frustration of seeing a new species through the window of a speeding subway car.

TOC- Guatemala

Tonight I attended my first official meeting with the Toronto Ornithological Club as a guest of Don Barnett. Two more meetings and a short biography later, I'll be a member. Tonight's speaker was a woman who had just gotten back from a trip to Guatemala. Her presentation was excellent and she had many great photos of some fascinating birds as well as some Mayan temple ruins. There are some amazing birds from there including the Resplendent Quetzal, Pale-billed Woodpecker, and the Red-capped Manakin to name a few.

Here is a video she showed of the mating ritual of male Red-capped Manakins during the presentation that I have to share because it's just hilarious what this little guy can do.

The meeting was great and I look forward to the next outing. I also have a contact that might provide me a ride out to the Leslie Street Spit this winter so that would be a great experience. I've heard a lot of good things about this hotspot and I hope to get out there soon.

Also, just a quick update in terms of sightings: Sunday was an awful day for hawk migration (0 birds tallied), but I did get some good ducks on Grenadier Pond in High Park after a tip from some of the hawkwatchers. There were Hooded Mergansers (males doing their territorial displays), Bufflehead, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, and Mallard. American Wigeon was also reported but I couldn't find them. Also of note were three domesticated Mallard varieties hanging out together near the shore where people often feed the ducks. All three were quite large compared to their wild counterparts. One was an all-white bird, another an all dark bird, and another mostly dark with a white patch on its head.