We're reposting this from the Manitoba birding listserv because it's not
well known in Ontario. Paul Pratt and Tom Hince of Ontario set a new
Canadian Big Day record of 212 species in Manitoba on 2 June 2006. Previous
Canadian record was 205 species in 1987 in Manitoba by local birders. Paul
and Tom also hold the Ontario Big Day record of 200 species set in 1999. We
thought their hearing and vision were waning, but obviously not! See below.
Congratulations,
Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron
Toronto and Minden ON
Subject: Record Big Day Count
From: "Paul Pratt" <prairie AT netcore.ca>
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 03:00:31 -0000
Tom Hince and myself just completed an intensive eight day
birding trip to southern Manitoba. Obviously the Broad-tailed
Hummingbird was one of our key targets, but thanks to
Manitobabirds and local help we also tracked down the
Whooping Crane, Black-necked Stilts and many other great
birds. In addition to the incredible run of rarities, it was
great just to see typical prairie species such as Avocets,
Franklins Gulls, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and many other
regulars that we rarely see in Ontario.
Seeing Ken De Smet's impressive 2006 big day total of 199,
and knowing the stellar history of Manitoba big days,
inspired us to plan our own big day. We had a narrow window
of opportunity which allowed us really only June 2nd for our
attempt. Fortunately, the weather that day was the very best
of our entire week with virtually no wind or rain and warm
temperatures.
We began our route at midnight on Spruce Siding Road with
our first bird being Sedge Wren and ended twenty-two hours later at Coulter
Park
with our last bird being Say's Phoebe. We tallied a Manitoba
and Canadian big day record total of 212 species during the
day. Needless to say we were thrilled by the results. In
addition, this is also as far as we know, the highest June
big day on record for North America.
Highlights of the day included 23 species of shorebirds
(including Whimbrel and Black-necked Stilts at Whitewater
Lake), 22 warblers, all 5 vireos, 7 species of owls
(including a Great Gray that responded to Tom's
hooting attempts!), Least Bittern (Spruce Siding Road),
Harlequin Duck (male at Seven Sisters Dam), Northern
Cardinal (male in Whiteshell Provincial Park), Whooping
Crane (Stott Road), and Little Blue Heron (adult at
Whitewater Lake). Despite the great list of birds we still
missed a number of reasonable possibilities including
Loggerhead Shrike, Ferruginous Hawk, Pheasant, Chimney Swift
(!!!), Turkey Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, and Blackpoll Warbler.
We wanted to say a special thanks to all those who helped us
out in our quest for new Manitoba birds during our trip
especially Bob Taylor, Peter Taylor and Christian Artuso.
Lastly we wanted to let all Manitoba birders know how
important the Manitobabirds listserv is for out of province
visitors. Thank you for providing this excellent resource.
Good Birding!
Tom Hince, Wheatley, ON
peleetom AT netcore.ca
Paul Pratt, Windsor, ON
prairie AT netcore.ca
