Wayne Renaud phoned me this morning and asked me to report a pair of Prairie Warblers found at the extreme south east of that Property (east of the creek, down by the Lake) at Paletta Park adjoining the neighbouring yard with a feeder where they were mainly hanging out.The male was singing on occasion. He felt they would stay for a while with the wind keeping them down.
Wayne also mentioned no Whimbrels found at the watch yesterday morning (until 2 p.m. when he left) at Col Sam Smith Park. A variety of shorebirds are suddenly turning up along Lake Ontario including some motley non-breeding plumaged Sanderlings, many Dunlin (beautifully "RedBacked" and black bellied for almost all) , the occasional early Semi-pal Sandpiper many Leasts and Semi-pal Plovers at both Second Marsh Beach and Presquile Provincial Park's Owen Point yesterday and earlier in the weekend. I spotted one Ruddy Turnstone at Second Marsh Beach yesterday between the Marsh and Darlington Provincial Park. One to four Whimbrel were seen throughout the weekend at Presquile (missed by me and most others yesterday) as well as Turnstones flipping pebbles. The poor birds are stressed in their staging areas by beach hikers (campers for the Long weekend at Darlington) despite warning signs posted, as they appear often oblivious to requests to avoid disturbing the feeding flocks. The shorebirds have little chance to feed and replenish, it seemed, at Second Marsh Beach or the open Public Beach at Presquile, although it was nicely roped off, further up to Owen Point. Good birding - Robin Lawson, Newmarket Directions: PALETTA PARK (from Wayne): easily marked and located mid-way between Walker's and Appleby Line where they intersect Lakeshore. Wayne found the working the western edge of park adds to the variety of habitats and numbers of species of birds, and particularly warblers can be found at this time of year. Darlington Provincial Park - clearly posted signs on the 401 immediately east of Oshawa for the Park south the 401 on Lake Ontario. Free access via Second Marsh directions thx to Tyler Hoar: Exit from the 401 at the harmony Rd. Exit(419) in Oshawa. Go south on Farewell St. Colonel Sam Drive. Turn East onto Colonel Sam Drive and follow to the parking lot at the GM Headquarters. Park in the west parking lot close to the marsh. The east (GM) platform is visible from the NW corner of the lot. For a trail map of the Oshawa Second marsh area visit http://secondmarsh.science.uoit.ca/ and check the link for a trail map of the area. Presquile Provincial Park - clearly posted signs on the 401 an hour east of Oshawa at Brighton. _______________________________________________ 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/
