Ontbirders Further to postings by Alan and Ron..
The best place to find storm borne rarities is directly in the path of the eye or what is left of it. Birds trapped inside the eye may be carried great distances. On storms proceeding up the eastern Seaboard (the usual circumstance) the second best place is on the eastern side. This makes sense as easterlies blowing into the LOW are coming from seabird rich areas. Once the storm is well inland this east side phenomenon is much less dramatic as now there is no source area from which to draw birds. However, some may still be kept within the storm orbit by these strong easterlies. So, as the storm moves over the Lower Lakes being near the "epicentre" could produce some results. The latest tracking suggests a path a bit more easterly than earlier crossing L. Ontario to the east of Toronto. This may continue to change. Almost immediately after the storm centre has passed and moved inland again, winds will pick up from the southwest as they blow towards the receding LOW. Then, the place to be would be east of where the eye crossed as birds are drifted down wind. Given the present forecast of the track this might be at Presqui'ile or it might be at Kingston. As Alan pointed out some birds may survive for several days on the Great Lakes. Given the above trajectory and a forecast of rain for mid next week then easterlies could drift survivors to the west end of Lake Ontario. Finally, this will not be as intense a hurricane at first landfall as was Fran. Therefore I think it will not bring as many birds to Ontario. However, it likely will bring some and it may bring something very rare. Isn't anticipation fun! Bob Bob Curry and Glenda Slessor 3115 New St. Unit 30 Burlington, ON Canada L7N 3T6 905-637-2022 [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Bob and Glenda" <[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.
