Today we counted 1819 Whimbrels at Colonel Sam Smith Park, Toronto. This was the most exciting Whimbrel watching event that all the people there had ever experienced. The first flock of 100 flew north at 5:40 a.m. followed by a consistent stream of 24 more flocks until the last was counted at 10:40. Flocks ranged in size from 10 to 230. The marvellous spectacle continued for several hours more as several flocks joined up, circling out on Lake Ontario many times, likely undecided about landing on this busy built-up shoreline. 300 Whimbrels swirled about us at Whimbrel Point as if seeking a place to land and rest. We all crouched down on the ground and the strategy eventually worked as 18 then 37 birds landed on the rocks nearby. Spotted by Gavin McKinnon was one with a white flag on its upper left leg, but we could not get close enough to read the flag combination.
Other Shorebirds: 426 Dunlin, 52 Black-bellied Plovers, 3 Semipalmated Plovers, 50 unidentified peeps, 6 Least Sandpipers, 10 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, 2 Killdeer, 1 Spotted Sandpiper. Other Birds: 12 Common Loons, 40 White-winged Scoters, many Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Caspian Terns, many Common Terns, 1 Hooded Merganser, 1 Peregrine Falcon, many Double-crested Cormorants, Savannah Sparrow The team: Tim McCarthy, Hugh McNeil, Kris Ito, Howard Shapiro, Michael King, Jerry DeMarco, Anne Bell, David Pryor, Derek and Jennifer Lyon, Albert Kuhnigk, Ron Pittaway, Chris Cheatle, Garth Riley, Cecilia Verkley, Carla Agnesi, Kevin Empey, Freda Papott, John Crawford, Monika Croydon, Teresa I. Dias, Dominic Halas, David Scott, Margaret Kelch, Harvey Medland, Mark Patry, Gavin and Don McKinnon, Monika Croydon, MC Coburn, Glenda Amodeo, Hong Liu, Guoan Cao, Dave Shannon, Bruce Wilkinson, Glenn and Marian Pincombe, Susan Andrew, John Reynolds, Lynn Pady, and many others helped spot the birds. Directions: Take Kipling Avenue south of Lake Shore Blvd West to where Kipling ends at a parking lot. Walk south to Lake Ontario where a short peninsula juts out into the lake. Note: tomorrow, Saturday May 23rd, is also the Colonel Sam Smith Park Birding Festival with walks, displays and more. The Whimbrel Watch is a project of the Toronto Ornithological Club. Jean Iron Toronto, Ontario _______________________________________________ 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
