The Pacific Loon was present at dawn this morning in the ship channel 100m south of the piers. There was a frenzy of Red-breasted Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, and approximately a dozen Common Loons feeding on schools of Emerald Shiners.
The Frenzy broke up at 8:30 with the 1600+ mergansers moving westward towards Whitby. Once the flock left the Loons were much easier to see. I walked the Oshawa beach doing a predawn Botulism survey resulted in 9 bodies(6 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Common Loon, 1 Herring Gull, and 1 Ring-billed Gull). Surveys along this stretch in previous 3 years usually only resulted in 1-2 Common Loon bodies per survey at this time of year. Directions: Directions: Exit from the 401 at Simcoe St. (exit # 417). Follow Simcoe St. south to Lake Ontario. Tyler Hoar _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
