Hi Ontbirders, Bill Gilmour, Maureen Riggs and myself did the weekly shorebird survey today and it was pretty quiet! We saw only 45 birds of six species. Young birds are becoming more common than adults, and we saw our first juv. Semi Plover of fall. The most notable observation was of a Horned Lark which flushed off of the natural beach and is about one month earlier than the previous record and fully 6 weeks ahead of the typical first arrival.
Results 2 Killdeer (1a,1u) 7 Semi Plover (6a,1j) 5 Spotted S/p (5j) 9 Lesser Yellowlegs (4j,5u) 7 Semi S/p (6a,1j) 6 Least S/p (2j,4u) 9 peep spp (9u) Birders should note that Beach 4*, which has been quite good for shorebirds in recent weeks, is being raked and scraped of all shoreline algae and interior vegetation so it may take some time before it becomes good habitat again. The ploughing under of the interior beach vegetation at this season may reduce the chances of finding Sharp-tailed or other interesting sparrows later this fall since this is the main area for beggar's ticks - one of Presqu'ile ST Sparrows favourite plants * = just a note about the terminology of Beach 4. The Presqu'ile beach, for the past 35 years, has been numbered 1 through 4 with 4 being the southernmost raked beach. The Natural beach is the beach section that runs south of 4 and leads to Owen Pt. Two years ago MNR stopped regularly raking beach 4 and it now exists in a limbo state, occasionally being raked but with no clear plan for its future or management - at least according to Park staff that I have asked. Also, MNR took down the Beach 4 sign replacing it with "Owen Pt. Trail" but have declined to provide a new name for Beach 4. Given this confused state, in order to keep park records straight may I suggest that birders continue to call this beach section "Beach 4" so that historical bird records can be compared with modern records, or at least until MNR decides if the area has a new name. Directions: Presqu'ile is located south of Brighton on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Take the Brighton exit from Hwy 401 and travel south on Hwy 30 through the town and watch for the Park signs. Cheers, Doug McRae Doug McRae <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
