Hello Ontbirders John Thomson and I did the weekly shorebird survey resulting in 171 birds of 12 species on the survey route. Birds were scattered with the majority on the south shore of Owen Point, and in a few pockets along the managed beach, and offshore on Gull Island. While we didn't get out to Gull Island today, Don Shanahan mentioned that he had Pectoral, Baird's and Turnstone there, plus I had Spotted and Killdeer outside the survey area to the north of the park boundary so there were 17 spp in seen in the area today.
Results: 3 Black-b Plover (3j) 1 A Golden Plover (1j) 42 Semipalmated Plover (42j) 1 G Yellowlegs (1j) 2 L Yellowlegs (2j) 1 Red Knot (1j) 41 Sanderling (41j) 67 Semi Sandpiper (67j) 6 Least Sandpiper (6j) 3 Dunlin (3j) 1 Stilt Sandpiper (1j) - already well advanced into first-winter plumage. 3 Sb Dowitcher (3j) Other interesting sightings include a Lapland Longspur flying south over beach 3, and a first-year Bald Eagle soaring over Beach 4. As has been previously noted by others, Presqu'ile may be a good spot to search for Isabel related seabirds. Just a cautionary note: if you are planning to wade to Gull Island, please be very careful. Right now the crossing is just over knee deep and no problem in calm weather but the anticipated storm tomorrow may flush out the channel and change the situation substantially so go across with caution. While we locals will be on the lookout for "tideline" corpses, we don't want to find any birders that way! Cheers, Doug 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.
