Hi everyone,
Yesterday (24 August 2017) I had my best ever shorebirding day in eastern ON. Our group tallied an amazing 15 species of shorebird! The water level has receded approximately a ft. since 8 August, leaving behind plum shorebird habitat from Beach 1 all the way through to Beach 3. This is approximately 2 km of shorebird habitat! Below are some photos and details from our day. BTW, I highly recommend that EOB clients sign up for the trip to Presqu’ile Provincial Park on Sunday, September 3rd. Though this is a weekend trip (Presqu’ile on Sunday, Kingston area on Monday), single day options are available. The shorebird habitat will remain the same, if not even improve slightly from now until then! Please see the following outing schedule: https://eontbird.ca/?page_id=5014.
Shorebird photos
Photo: Baird’s Sandpiper. One of eight individuals seen!
Photo: Baird’s Sandpiper
Photo: Ruddy Turnstone, juvenile.
Photo: Dunlin, juvenile, in complete juvenal plumage. This complete juvenal plumage is rarely seen in southern and eastern Ontario. Glenn Coady provided our group with very interesting information about this species’ two-step migration pattern. He writes, “Dunlin usually stay north of us in places they can more safely complete their pre-basic moult before resuming migration. Consequently most juvenile birds do not arrive here at all while still in that plumage. It is that plumage that is infrequent to see in southern Ontario more so than an early date. The two stage migratory behaviour making juvenal birds infrequent here is what makes your Dunlin the bird of the day.”
Photo: Dunlin, juvenile
Photo: The epitome of shorebird elegance and grace: Stilt Sandpiper, juvenile.
Photo: The EOB group is on a roll with Olive-sided Flycatchers this fall. This makes 2.5; the .5 is a flyover bird that looked really good for the species, but we couldn’t be 100%
Photo: The surprise of the day came in the form of this Red Knot, juvenile! It stayed for approximately 15 minutes.
Photo: Red Knot, juvenile. Juveniles are concolorous gray throughout with fine scalloping along the upperparts. They show a faint rosy blush to the chest. A lovely, subtle beauty.
Photo: More Stilt’s? Sure, why not. We tallied four juveniles in total, including this group of three foraging together 🙂
eBird checklists
Morning session on the Beaches (1-2): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38806519
Afternoon session on the Beaches (2-3): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38806523