The 81st consecutive Fall Field Day was held in Durham region today. The number of participants was diminished somewhat by a report of a certain unfindable rare swallow at Erieau. Nevertheless we turned upa respectable 140 species, a number which may increase slightly as late reports are still coming in. It was a pleasant though cool day. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Mute Swans continued their alarming increase with 112 almost equaling last year's record. Northern Shovelers were at a new high of 78 and so were Greater Scaup at 6. There was a big count of Broad-winged Hawks at Iroquois but we have no news from Cranberry Marsh yet.
Shorebird habitat was minimal. We found only 14 species but that included a juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher in the second cell at Nonquon. A Buff-breasted Sandpiper was seen at Sobey's Pond early in the day. Pileated Woodpeckers are showing an encouraging increase with this year's count of 5 setting a new high. Cedar Waxwings seemed to be everywhere and there were many juveniles frequenting the mountain ash. We have never before had as many as this year's 252. For some reason vireos were plentiful too. We had 9 Warbling, 8 Red-eyed, 3 Blue-headed and 7 Philadelphia. All were at or near record highs. Out tally of 19 warbler species was about average. The count of 36 Common Yellowthroats was the highest ever. Many thanks to Brian Henshaw for hosting the round-up. The pizza and beer went over great. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
