Greetings! It turned out to be a lovely day at the park. We saw a pair of Northern Flickers (who did not wish to be seen) and a male GC Kinglet with a beautiful crest.
If you wish to get close to a Horned Grebe in (almost) breeding plumage this would be your opportunity. There are about ten or so and they get quite close to shore. Along with them are some Red Necked Grebes who also look lovely. There are some White Winged Scoters in and amongst them. The Grebes hang out by the marina and if you take the path that goes around the marina and heads west you will see them as you go. They are in the lake too: but tend to be very far away. There are also Buffleheads, American Wigeon, Mallards along with RWBB, Grackles, and Song Sparrows. While not rare it is great to hear their competing harmonies. A Bufflehead male was on the shore, I had never seen that, across from the viewing platform. We looked for but did not find the Western Grebe. We spoke to the local birder (I do not know his name but everyone knows him!) who said he has seen a Cooper's Hawk pair nesting in the pines by the power station. We saw our first cormorant and then we saw three more and then we looked up and saw two hundred fly by. They're back. Colonel Sam Smith Park is south of Kipling and Lakeshore Blvd. Get off of the QEW/Gardiner at Kipling and go south. Parking is either close to the marina (free) or across from the old power station that has a large chimney (paid). Cheers, Bernie Monette _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
