Yesterday (April 27) at 6:00 pm, I had a flock of 13 Willets resting on one of the rock islands in Hamilton Harbour off LaSalle Marina. I wasn't able to post this earlier due to internet problems, but a few local birders reached by phone were able to get down last evening to see them. Unfortunately, a check this morning revealed that they had moved on. Nonetheless, given that Willets were found at a couple locations at the western end of Lake Ontario yesterday, they may be part of a broader flight which we often get at the end of April-early May, so be on the look out for them.
LaSalle Marina is at the foot of LaSalle Park Road/Waterdown Road in Aldershot (Burlington), most readily accessed from Plains Road. Rob Dobos Dundas, Ont. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Apr 28 11:11:59 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from m7.nyc.untd.com (m7.nyc.untd.com [64.136.22.70]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 9F77163A71 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 28 Apr 2005 11:11:59 -0400 (EDT) Received: from m7.nyc.untd.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by m7.nyc.untd.com with SMTP id AABBHCABLAPPT3HS for <[email protected]> (sender <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>); Thu, 28 Apr 2005 08:24:26 -0700 (PDT) X-UNTD-OriginStamp: +I4zx4PQdguu3tHbbJmamrkEZ3zE6PL7yroP0WZi2h42EQTRjTxWoQ=Received: (from [EMAIL PROTECTED]) by m7.nyc.untd.com (jqueuemail) id KRPDKTDS; Thu, 28 Apr 2005 08:23:58 PDT To: [email protected] Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 11:23:12 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Juno 4.0.11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-1,7-8,10,12-13,17-18,25-26,28-30,33-34,42-43,48-49,52-57,59-60,65,68-69,71-80,82-93,95-108,110-112 X-Juno-Att: 0 X-Juno-RefParts: 0 From: Alan Wormington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-ContentStamp: 30:15:1152379179 X-MAIL-INFO: 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 9950b0f9d114f99914d1a5d5d494d52d21814484cd9d4d45edcd55fd64355410c1651ddd791005c48074e08060e9d96074d9e9e5f0bd751004040c752125690d25250c45a98101fd05a090fde5c974ede9f074f02d25e1e19139701d79b01d1d919914b4d11450d1d4a5d4d46dd4f46d6df4f57989e11d4595c1398d8da491b031a1e1391db51405243499cdd97460d9e9c0e9e904e9750404 Subject: [Ontbirds].Ivory-billed Woodpecker found in Arkansas X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 15:12:00 -0000 This message is approved by the OntBirds co-ordinator. I thought readers of OntBirds would be interested to know that an Ivory-billed Woodpecker has recently been found (and video-taped) in SE Arkansas. Coincidently, the person who obtained the video was David Luneau of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was part of our 6-person Zeiss team who searched for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the Pearl River of Louisiana in February 2002 -- congratulations David! Readers may want to review what I said about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in 2002 on the Zeiss web site (you may need to piece this together): http://www.zeiss.de/__c1256bcf0020be5f.nsf/0/9b983169c82e3fec85256d240079 8704?OpenDocument&Click At present only a single bird has been confirmed. The Arkansas Nature Conservancy reported that there have only been 15 sightings of the bird in 7,000 hours of search time concentrating on a 16-square-mile area. Indeed the bird is elusive! The implications of this discovery are staggering. With very few birds remaining -- perhaps only a single individual! -- the species currently might well be the rarest animal on Earth. It will be interesting to see what happens during the next few months, to see what conservation strategy is developed. One thing is certain -- searches for additional birds at additional sites will increase greatly. Finding more birds will obviously be very important for a Recovery Plan. Van Remsen of LSU (Baton Rouge) yesterday sent me info on the great news. Rather than rehash what he said, here is his complete message: ************************* Tomorrow [Thursday] at noon, there will be a national press conference at Dept. of Interior in Washington D.C. to announce that we have confirmation that at least one Ivory-billed Woodpecker still lives. I have been part of a clandestine team over the last 7+ months that has attempted to obtain tangible evidence of the existence of this bird in the Cache River / White River area of SE Arkansas, following a reliable sighting last February [2004]. The team has been lead by Arkansas Nature Conservancy people and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and they will be the headliners in D.C. Watch the evening news tomorrow (Thursday). Our technical paper will be published online by Science on Thursday, and the print version should be out in a few weeks (including a cover). I agreed to keep this a secret from everyone. I apologize for the secrecy -- I feel bad about not being able to let any of you know about it -- but I know you'll understand. Our search team has decided to let selected groups of people (like you) know the basics before you hear it from the media. We were originally planning the press conference for May 18, but the word got out within a week after we divulged our evidence to state and federal wildlife agencies last week. Bottomline: -- no, we do not have a nest or reliable way to see IBWOs, yet. -- yes, we have tangible evidence -- a lousy, blurry, but indisputable video clip that will be available on the web, possibly Thursday. -- despite many thousands of hours of systematic searching and deployment of dozens of Autonomous Recording Units, we have only a few reliable glimpses, and, on tape, some double-raps and some 'kent' calls. The bird (no evidence for more than one) is incredibly wary, mostly silent, and uses the core search area only a couple of days every couple of months, as best as we can tell. It has mostly eluded a core of experienced field people. No surprise, then, that I had no luck either. -- by tomorrow, our web site on all this will be available, including directions on access points if anyone wants to try their luck. Van Remsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] LSU Museum of Natural Science Foster Hall 119, LSU Baton Rouge, LA 70803 ************************** A lot of stories will pop up in the days ahead, but now (or after noon today), the following will be reporting the find in detail: The Nature Conservancy (Arkansas): http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/arkansas/ Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyIdF22633 LSU Museum of Natural Science: -- link not yet available; this site will be one of few to provide actual directions to the area of discovery. Science Express at www.sciencemag.org/sciencexpress/recent.shtml after 2:00 pm EDT Thursday; a detailed scientific paper. www.ivorybill.org try mid-afternoon Alan ****************************** Please note that the following web site has NOTHING to do with the recent discovery: http://www.birdingamerica.com/ivorybilledwoodpecker.htm Everyone I have talked to has repeatedly said that this is not related to the current discovery, and the status of the Mary Scott report is currently not known. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Apr 28 12:13:12 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from hotmail.com (bay1-f40.bay1.hotmail.com [65.54.245.40]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B592763AA7 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 28 Apr 2005 12:13:08 -0400 (EDT) Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Thu, 28 Apr 2005 09:26:01 -0700 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Received: from 205.206.15.145 by by1fd.bay1.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP; Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:26:01 GMT X-Originating-IP: [205.206.15.145] X-Originating-Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: "Sarah Rupert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:26:01 +0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed X-OriginalArrivalTime: 28 Apr 2005 16:26:01.0471 (UTC) FILETIME=[F77350F0:01C54C0E] Subject: [Ontbirds]Black-throated Gray Warbler - Point Pelee National Park X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:13:13 -0000 Hi All The Black-throated Gray Warbler was relocated this morning. It was again found along the seasonal birding trail, leading south from the Sparrow Field. It was feeding and foraging approximately 3 feet off the ground and was seen for good lengths of time today. The Summer Tanager (male) found along the Woodland Nature Trail yesterday continues to be seen today. It has moved a little bit south, now located in the Red Cedar Savanna restoration area along the Redbud Footpath. Orchard orioles were also reported today, along with many more Yellow-rumps, Palms and several Nashvilles. Please ask for a birding brochure at the gate or the Visitor Centre for a complete guide to the seaosnal bird trails in the park. Good birding! Sarah Rupert Leamington, Ontario
