(Apologies for my previous misdirected email - I would like to blame my new email system, but I suspect this was a technogoof of my very own.)
The Nonquon lagoons were full of birds on this hot, sunny Sunday, October 21st. Most surprising was the unprecedented number of Trumpeter Swans: 14 adults and 9 young. I was sure at first that they must be Tundras because there were so many, but there wasn't one Tundra among them. Two families both accompanied by two adults, one with 5 young, one with 4, were in the second pond from the west. The others, all adults, were in the most easterly pond, one with the tag number 686. No others had tags. There haven't been any Trumpeters around the lagoons earlier in the year and no known local breeding spots, so I don't know where these birds came from. As well as Canada Geese (no Cackling or Snows) and Mallards were 12+ American Wigeon Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal + A few Northern Pintail A huge flock of at least 600 Lesser Scaup 2 Ring-necked Duck 20 Bufflehead 5 Hooded Mergansers 1 Ruddy Duck 1 Pied-billed Grebe Shorebirds, mostly at the north end of the middle pond, included 11 Killdeer - in the most westerly pond with the lowest water levels 9 Greater Yellowlegs, 6 Lesser 7 Pectoral Sandpipers, 4 Dunlin 5 juv. Long-billed Dowitchers, very vocal in flight 4 Wilson's Snipe - flushed from the lagoon edges 200-300 Bonaparte's Gulls - a monoculture American Pipits everywhere - at least 30 Very few sparrows heard or seen A small kettle of TVs went west on the strong southerly wind 2 Common Ravens flew west, croaking Almost as good as the old days here! Margaret Bain Cobourg [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm
