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Lapland Lonspurs, Kleinburg - Common Eider, Burlington - GBH, 407 - Mon, 15 Jan 2001
Hi All,
Started at McGillivray Road around 11am where there were ~200 Snow Buntings, ~100 Horned Larks and at least 2 Lapland Longspurs. Then at Castlemore Road just west of Hwy 50 there was a dark-phase Rough-legged Hawk.
On to Brantford airport where I couldn't find any Gray Partridge but there was a Belted Kingfisher over the river that runs by Apps Mill Conservation Area. Also along Hwy 403 just west of the Wayne Gretzky Parkway exit was an adult Cooper's Hawk which flew over the highway.
On to Burlington lakeshore at the Travelodge Motel where the female dresseri Common Eider was very close to shore, got some good photos, also there were 2 American Coots along with the Trumpeter Swans. Looking well-out on the lake from the lakeshore just east of here was a huge flock of Long-tailed Ducks that I would guess to be in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 birds. Then on the drive back along Hwy 403 & 407 I counted 47 Red-tailed Hawks and 6 American Kestrels between the Ford Plant on the QEW (start of the Toronto-bound 403) and Dufferin Street on the 407. Also seen along the 407 at Fletcher's Creek (just west of the Hwy 10 exit) was a Great Blue Heron circling and then flying to the south.
Regards & good birding,
Frank Pinilla
Richmond Hill, ON
frankpinilla@hotmail.com
DIRECTIONS:
McGillivray Road - about 1km west of Hwy 27, along Rutherford Road, turn north along McGillivray and about 500m a field on the left/west has manure on it, the flock will be on the ground (it circles sometimes as well). Brantford Airport - Hwy 403 west from Hamilton, take the Rest Acres Rd. exit south to Robinson Rd, turn left/east and look in the fields for partridge, turn right/south on Green Rd, look in this area as well, follow down to Hwy 2 and turn right then right again into the airport area (look in this area as well).
Apps Mill C.A. - instead of turning left on Robinson off Rest Acres, turn right on Robinson and about 1km along here you will see a sign for the C.A. and the bridge running over a stream.
Travelodge Motel, Burlington - take the Brant Street exit south from Hwy 403/QEW, turn left on Lakeshore Rd. then right into the parking lot, walk down along the footpath and you should see a flock of ducks, geese & swans in the corner to the east (very close).
Ontario trip report - Sun, 17 Dec 2000 Hello Gord,
Took longer than I planned, but here is my report from a recent trip.Hope all is well with you,
Peter
----------------------------------Ontario Trip 3-8 December 2000
Kevin F. Crilley and Peter G. Saenger
Locations: Bancroft, Huntsville, Rutherglen, New Liskeard, North Bay, Algonquin Park, Pembroke, Kanata (Ottawa), Kingston, Thousand Islands, Cape Vincent (NY).
3 December
Pulled out of Henningsville, PA at 06:20 (5,262). Crisp, cold clear morning.
New York State border and Welcome Center at 08:35
Watertown, NY and lunch/gas stop at 11:05
Canadian border at 12:30North of Watertown, NY while driving through a marsh area along route 81, we had a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker fly over the marsh and circle around in front of us. I took this as a good omen of things to come. Lots (20 plus) Red-tailed Hawks seen along the drive.
At 15:05 just south of Bancroft along Rt. 62 we came around a corner and sitting on top of a deciduous tree was our first Northern Hawk Owl for the trip! The late afternoon lighting could not have been better and the bird was so close that there was no reason to use a spotting scope. The bird gave us fantastic looks while it hunted a small depression along the road; front, back and side views, as well as short flights from tree top, to fence posts below us. This was a life bird for me and all I can say is that the field guides do not do this species justice. The breast pattern on this bird was incredible (even noticeably crisper than the four additional individuals we saw), the patterning on the back and head were really spectacular. Nice way to start the trip! (The bird was approximately 3 miles south of Bancroft (along Rt #62), on the east side at house number A-B 27210.
A quick stop at Tim Hortons in Bancroft for coffee and a snack. This was Kevin's first time in Canada and he quickly agreed that the USA needs to have Tim Hortons- we visited at least five during the trip.
Huntsville at 18:30; stayed at the Comfort Inn ($88.48 Canadian). 570 miles for the day (5,832)
4 December
Left Huntsville at 06:30 (24 F) on our way to Rutherglen to try for the Great Gray Owl reported there the previous Friday.
At 07:50 we sighted our second Northern Hawk Owl, along Rt. 11, a ¼ mile south of Lindsay's Road (south of North Bay), on the east side of the highway.
At 08:55 we passed the small restaurant/gas station in Rutherglen, which we would have missed it all together but, we sighted our second Northern Hawk Owl of the day, sitting on a wire about 50 yards beyond the sign for Rutherglen (if traveling west on Rt. 17); near the turn for Talon Lake Road.
A quick stop for a cup of coffee and directions and off to look for the Great Gray Owl. We drove to the intersection of Adams and Brule Roads and began scanning fence posts and the trees along the edges of the fields. We went up and down a number of the surrounding roads, but no luck. There is a tremendous amount of habitat in this area and the bird could have been anywhere and easily missed.
During our search for the Great Gray Owl, we found our third and fourth Northern Hawk Owls for the day. The third (for the day) was found at 10:05 about 3/4 mile south on Burle road, from its intersection with Adams Road. The fourth (for the day) was found at 10:20 about one mile east on Adams road for its intersection with Burle Road. So, an incredible day for owls, just not the Great Gray Owl. Hard to complain about four Northern Hawk Owls in one morning (five for less than 24 hours), but still disappointing not to see the Great Gray Owl.
A quick discussion about where we wanted to be in the evening and what we could reasonably do with the remaining time in the day, we decided to try for the reported 200 Bohemian Waxwings in New Liskeard.
This drive turned out to be a little longer than thought and also unnerving with logging trucks riding our back bumper most of the way up Route 11. It was difficult and dangerous to try to pull off to view any of the few birds sighted while driving, sometimes taking more than a mile to find a safe place to turn around and go back to a good looking location. We did stop at one location that looks like a recent burn on both sides of the road to try for Black-backed Woodpecker. No luck, but looks promising and had nice looks at a Pileated Woodpecker working a tree and then going into a hole, not coming out again that we saw (watched for about 5 minutes). Other than ravens and a few starlings, not much seen while driving, except an unknown bird that was seen briefly on a guide wire for a telephone pole that looked like a bluebird species. We had a logging truck on our rear bumper, so it took awhile to turn around, but we could not find the bird again. The bird was a pale blue and was the right size and shape for a bluebird, but we will never know for sure.
Arrived in New Liskeard with about an hour and a half of decent birding light left and proceeded to drive up and down just about every street in the town. The posts had sounded promising, but all we found was about 200 starlings, 8 Cedar Waxwings and a brief glimpse of a flock of about 20 finches (probably goldfinches). Our original plans had not been to go this far north and I wished that I'd made contact with a few of the local birders to have specific directions to where to look, as I am sure we just missed the reported flocks. So it goes when you "wing it" in unfamiliar territory. A good excuse for another visit.
A stop at the local Tim Horton for a very late lunch and we headed south for North Bay at 16:18 (6,103). The drive was less than pleasant with trucks pushing all of time, one passing in a no passing zone, and seeing a truck that had not made a corner and was off the road, on its side (a car was already there helping). Arrived in North Bay at 18:30 and stayed at the Travelodge ($103.04 Canadian).
5 December
Up at 04:30 AM to begin another day. After about an hour, we looked outside to check the weather and to our dismay, saw that it was snowing heavily and there was already about four inches on the ground. This was to be expected, but we did not rush to begin our drive south. Left at 07:15 and with the snow and construction, arrived in Huntsville at 09:45. Only a few ravens seen during the drive. A stop at the Tim Horton for coffee & a snack. We met a man there that was reading the Golden Guide to Mammals; turns out that he had recently seen a Black Fox and was doing some extra reading.
We headed off for Algonquin Park, with a stop for a fly-over woodpecker at the Algonquin Family Campground just outside of the park along Rt. 60. The owner (Gary) came out to ask what we were looking at, asking if we'd seen some wolves. We explained that we were birders and had stopped for a woodpecker, after which, he told us that he'd seen three wolves along the facing hill during the past week.
Next stop was at the West Gate to Algonquin Park, where we met Ranger Kevin. Very eager to be helpful, but unfortunately, not a birder. We did add a single Evening Grosbeak to our list there and on into the park in the snow.
First stop in the park was at the Western Upland Trail. It was snowing heavily as we walked the trail until it changed from Boreal habitat to deciduous and then went back to the car. While standing at the car, an American Black Duck flew over very low and disappeared into the falling snow. With most of the water frozen, what it was doing there, was anybody's guess.
Next stop was at the Lookout Trail for the report Bohemian Waxwings. Again, our lack of knowledge of the area and not knowing specific locations of sightings made our search less than hopeful. We hiked up the trail for about a half mile, seeing/hearing few birds. The wind was picking up a good bit and the snow had caught up with us again, so we moved on towards the East side of the park.
Stopped at Spruce Bog Trail to try for Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, and Gray Jays. The snow had stopped, the wind had increased, and the temperature had dropped from 30 F to 25 F in the past half hour. This was the last time we saw the temperature rise above 14 F (-10 C) until we were well south of Canada on Friday.
The bog was quiet. One Blue Jay and a few Black Capped-chickadees were about all the avian life we saw closely. We had a good number of fly over White-winged Crossbills and surprisingly, a flock of 12 male Common Mergansers, as well as a few ravens. We are unsure, but we thought we had a group of two or three Red Crossbills, but not sure. Plenty of hare tracks, as well as fox and fisher/martin tracks along the trail.
Next and last stop for the day was Opeongo Road. The gate was open, so we were able to drive the entire length. Again, very, very quiet. We found nothing other than a few chickadees and ravens on the drive out. There was one set of wolf tracks on the road, starting near the lake and going almost to Rt. 60. The wind was really howling down the lake, with billowing clouds of snow racing along the ice, pretty, but not very good for birding. The sky was clearing with the sun setting, but the temperature was dropping quickly and it was windy. We stopped and walked a long section of spruce and finally had two Gray Jays drop down to us to see if we had any hand-outs. It was really a site to see one of the Jays land and then fluff it's feathers, literally turning itself into a ball of feathers. It looked like a small grapefruit with a head and tail (I wished I had feathers, as I was getting quite cold at this point!). We walked the quarter mile back to the car and as we passed the location we'd seen the jays, we spread some trail mix (mixed nuts, raisins and peanut M&M's) in the tire tracks and headed for Whitney for the night.
Checked into the Algonquin Parkway Inn ($63.76 Canadian) at 16:30 (we were the only guests there). We ate dinner at the gas station/restaurant across the street. The hearty homemade soup helped take the chill off. While eating, a few logging trucks stopped for petrol and on one, we counted 30 tires- they sure are large trucks!
With the temperature dropping quickly, the wind blowing and a light snow falling, we walked over to the general store next to our hotel to see if I could find a box of Red River cereal that a friend from work had requested I bring back for him. What a great store! It has been years since I've seen a store so full of items, with not an inch of unused space and about anything that you could possibly need crammed into a small area. The women at the counter quickly found the requested cereal, though I think it would have taken me sometime to find it on my own.
6 December
Up at 04:00 and a look outside to see what the night had brought us. No appreciable amount of snow, just small wind-blown drifts. We took our time getting ready, since we were only a few minutes from the park, it would not be light enough to bird until at least 07:00, and it was COLD! When I started the car, the temperature gauge read 3 F (-19 C) and when we arrived at the park entrance, it was 6 F (-21 C). We went to the self-serve sign-in building at the entrance and had to go outside under the lights (no light working inside) read the sign-in directions. A set of fox tracks wandered up the path, around a garbage can and off across the parking lot.
In the pre-dawn light we drove down Opeongo Road. Where the trees had kept the snow from blowing, we had wolf, Fisher, and fox tracks. On the drive out after going to the end at the lake, the light had increased enough stop and try to see some birds. A few Chickadees, two Ruff Grouse, and a few fly-over White-winged Crossbills.
We stopped where we had thrown the trail mix in the tire tracks the evening before and found the area trampled with Fisher Tracks and two scats. You could see where the peanut M&M's had been by the bright blue, green, red, and yellow stains in the snow, and I remarked that someone would wonder about these colors if they came across the next scat the Fisher left behind! A pair of Gray Jays flew to the road edge giving us great looks as they seemed to be asking for a hand-out.
On to Spruce Bog Trail. A very cold walk around and even in Sorel Pack boots, my toes felt like a block of ice by the time we were half way around. Tons of Snowshoe Hare tracks, a wolf and fox tracks, about 25 White-winged Crossbills, some singing, and 4 Ruff Grouse, one of which allowed Kevin to take some decent photographs before walking off into heavy cover. At 09:45 we drove to a few other areas of the park, but added few birds to our list.
Another walk around Spruce Bog Trail with good looks at more White-winged Crossbills, heard at least one Red-breasted Nuthatch and an adult Golden Eagle circling above us as we walked the longer boardwalk area.
We drove by the visitors center, hoping it was open, though we knew it was closed during the week, then on to the office at the East Gate. Purchased a few presents for our daughters and left the park at 12:40. A quick stop in Whitney for coffee and off towards Pembroke.
I missed the turn for the bridge over to Quebec (snowing) and we continued south, ending up on Rapid Road a bit beyond the town of Westmeath. We had an adult Northern Shrike sitting on a wire over a field between house numbers 935 & 983. So, not a bad wrong turn. We ask a delightful young woman walking her dog where the road went and we learned we were on a dead end road, with no public access to the river. Back the way we came and quickly realized our mistake (and reread the directions we had) and crossed over to Quebec on Rt. 148 at Morrison Island.
We parked at a chained off road near the bridge and walked down the side of the bridge and underneath the span. There is a large concrete ledge there, where we could get out of the snow and be away from the danger of standing on the very narrow sidewalk beside the road. Between the snow falling and a mist raising from the water, visibility was very limited and we had about 25 Common Goldeneye and one female merganser. I tried to convince myself and Kevin that I had the Barrow's Goldeneye, but the viewing conditions where just plain poor and no way to even be close to sure of that one. This was also where we had our high Temp. for the day: 11 F (-12 C)
A long drive to Ottawa on Rt. 17 in the snow. We took the exit #138 (Eagleson Road) in Kanata, which was where we needed to go to get to Riddle Road Trail tomorrow. No luck with a room anywhere in the area, since there was concert and also we were told that hotels in the area are usually booked during the week with business travelers. Going to the next two exits and blindly following hotel road signs (some stating 15 Km) we ended up going towards the airport in the hope of a concentration of hotels. We finally found the Monterey Motor Inn on Highway 16 at 18:30. Nice and comfortable for $75 Canadian.
7 December
Up at 04:30 to a clear, but breezy morning. About 2" of snow had fallen during the night and at 6 F, the snow squeaked under foot as we load the car. Left the hotel at 07:30 and easily found our way back to the Eagleson Exit and followed good directions to the entrance to the Riddle Road trail. We walked until the trail entered an open area and took a sharp turn to the right, back into trees. We saw lots of woodpecker sign, but only had a few chickadees, a Downy Woodpecker, and a Brown Creeper. We both were very cold and went back to the car to regain feeling in fingers and toes and while sitting there, we had 8 Goldfinches. Two local birders arrived and after an introduction, they went off on the same trail. We went down the road about a 100 yards and took the trial on the opposite side of the road. We walked until the trees began to thin and as advised, turned back. Again, very few birds seen or heard. Back to the road and to the warmth of our car. The other birders had already departed, I would assume due to limited time or the cold. We Sat for awhile and decided to head south for the Kingston area; departing at 12:30.
We took Routes 7 & 15 south to Kingston, with of course, a stop at a Tim Horton for a late lunch around 15:30 along the way. For lack of a better plan, we drove the shore line from Kinston, west to the Conway area, stopping where ever we saw waterfowl. We added about 25 Gadwall, and a lone Tree Sparrow to our list, as well as 8 Black Duck, numerous Mallards and Canada Geese. Some areas seemed to have about 8 inches of snow in the unplowed parking lots, maybe more, as we saw where under carriage of lower cars had scraped the snow. Far out over the lake we saw a few groups of what looked to be scooter species, but too far out to tell. As we lost the light, we headed inland and wound our way along country roads back to Rt. 401. In almost total darkness, a large dark owl flew over the highway into a large marsh area (at Kingston). We can only assume that it was a Great Horned Owl, but too dark to see for sure.
8 December
Drove on to Gananoque and arrived at the Country Squire Resort at 18:00. This was our best hotel (by room size) and at $79 Canadian, a good deal, though I imagine during the summer season the prices are much more. High Temperature for the day 14 F.
Up around 04:30 and left the hotel at 07:30, at 3 F. There was a Tim Horton next to the hotel and sadly we did not stop and at least get a cup of coffee for the road. Nothing beats a cup of coffee at Tim Horton. We drive a few side roads in the Thousand Island area with few birds seen and went to the Duty Free shop to spend the last of our Canadian dollars, buy a few gifts, and get the refund of taxes on hotels and purchases. On the USA side of the border, but still on the Islands, we hit a huge number of Tree Sparrows, a few Downey Woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatches, as well as a Black Squirrel and some deer. There was a heavy steam rising from the water, so waterfowl was almost impossible to see, though a group of Canada Geese and Mallards were seen here.
We took Rt. 12E out to Cape Vincent to try for Rough-legged Hawk, field species, and maybe Gray Partridge. We had great looks at a light phase Rough-legged Hawk just before Cape Vincent. Along the shore we added a single Greater Scaup, a few groups of Buffleheads and Black duck, a female Red-breasted Merganser, more Mallards and Canada Geese. The visibility was short due to the rising steam/mist from the water, but it was a sight to see the clouds rising from the water and the ice build up on everything along the shoreline.
Driving the roads, we quickly found a flock of 75 Snow Buntings with two Lapland Longsurs. A few small groups of Horned Larks as well. On a drive along the shoreline we flushed a group of sparrows, of which two were Savanna Sparrows. We had another light phase Rough-legged Hawk cross over Rt. 12 and further toward Watertown we had what appeared to be a Dark phase Rough-legged Hawk, but with traffic, we could not stop. No luck on the partridge, nor Snowy Owls. Left Cape Vincent at 12:15
Had lunch just south of Watertown and headed south though areas of varying amounts of snow (almost none to 8"). It started to snow north of Binghamton, NY (bad accident with a car, a truck and a school Bus-unloaded fortunately) and by the time we were at Clark's Summit (16:35: 7,190) it was snowing pretty hard. Stopped for a quick dinner and headed south in almost a whiteout at times. South of the Tunnel through the last ridge and into the Lehigh Valley, the sky cleared totally and arrived home at 19:05 under clear skies, 31 F, (7,278), after 2,016 miles and 53 hours and 43 minutes of engine time (a good part of which was not driving, but getting warm time!).
A great trip and a lot of fun. We missed all but one target species and seemed to miss most of the numbers expected, but that's the way birding trips can go and we saw some great country. A little luck and a little firmer plans and contacts may have helped, but we were looking for specific species that are never easy.
48 species for the trip (individual numbers approximate for trip)
Canada Goose-200 Gadwall-20 Mallard-100 American Black Duck-15 Greater Scaup-1 Common Goldeneye-50 Bufflehead-25 Red-breasted Merganser-1 Common Merganser-13 Cooper's Hawk-1 Red-tailed Hawk-30 Rough-legged Hawk-3 Golden Eagle-1 American Kestrel-1 Ruffed Grouse-7 Wild Turkey-30 Ring-billed Gull-30 Great Black-backed Gull-10 Herring Gull-20 Rock Dove-50 Mourning Dove-10 Northern Hawk Owl-5 Downy Woodpecker-3 Hairy Woodpecker-2 Pileated Woodpecker-2 Blue Jay-15 Gray Jay-5 American Crow-15 Common Raven-30 Northern Shrike-2 Cedar Waxwing-9 European Starling-1,000 Red-breasted Nuthatch-5 White-breasted Nuthatch-3 Brown Creeper-2 Black-capped Chickadee-25 Horned Lark-30 House Sparrow-10 Pine Siskin-2 American Goldfinch-8 Purple Finch-3 House Finch-3 White-winged Crossbill-25 Evening Grosbeak-1 Lapland Longspur-2 Snow Bunting-75 Savannah Sparrow-2 American Tree Sparrow-100 probable bluebird species owl species GRHO?-1Peter G. Saenger
Alburtis, PA
crex@early.com
Migration at Mountsberg - Tue, 25 Apr 2000 Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).
There was a high level of bird activity at Mountsberg Conservation Area this morning. Unfortunately I could not stay long, but in under half an hour I had several good sightings.
New arrivals included a Brown Thrasher, several Barn Swallows, and a persistently singing Chipping Sparrow. All of this despite a steady low flight of raptors including 1 adult Cooper's, 3 Broad-wings, at least a couple of Kestrels, and close to a dozen Turkey Vultures. All of these sightings were from in and around the parking lot!
Not much activity down on the reservoir this morning, but there were still several Ring-necked Ducks near the east shore.
Good birding,
Marcel Gahbauer
Scarborough ON
gsteve6@attglobal.netDirections: Take hwy 401 to exit 312 (Guelph Line), head south into Campbellville, and follow Campbellville Road west for ~5 km to Milborough Line, turn north and the park entrance will be on your left after ~1 km.
45 Yellowlegs, etc. - Sun, 23 Apr 2000 Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).
Sunday evening, 7:00, a flock of 45-50 Yellowlegs were at Mud Creek on Hgy 89, about 14 kms west of Shelbourne, or about 1/2 km west of 89 & 25. I was not able to definitively determine whether they were Lesser or Greater (no scope, family waiting in car), but my strong hunch is Greater.
At 7:30, opposite Tim Horton's in Island Lake just north of Orangeville, saw Ring-Necked and Ruddy Ducks among the Scaups, buffleheads.
On Saturday, birds seen at my in-laws' farm near town of Durham included RUSTY BLACKBIRD, VESPER, CHIPPING, WHITE-THROATED AND SAVANNAH SPARROW, PILEATED WOODPECKER, FLICKER, PHOEBE, HARRIER (also saw one Sunday on Hgy 89 near above location), BARN AND TREE SWALLOWS, BLUEBIRDS at nest boxes. Directions: From Durham, Hgy 4 east to road at Shell station just outside town (Eckert's), north about 2 (?) kms, right on 6th (?) concession road (the one with a tiny schoolhouse, Edgehill School, on NE corner). The whole area between that intersection and the first bend in the road is productive. Phoebe was at swamp just west of that intersection. KESTREL hunting in the area over the week-end.
Jack H. Alvo
alvo@interlog.com
Cave Swallow Woodstock Ont. - Wed, 19 Apr 2000 Please Excuse my spelling ,I am Dyslexic
thank you for your understanding.To day I drove to Woodstock and spent 3 hour,s at Gordon Pittocl lake looking for the Cave Swallow , and finally from Roth Park at 10:55 to 11:00 am I watched the Cave Swallow flying and feeding over the lake and got great looks at it (as disbelieving as it was) , in the end it flue out of sight across the park on the other side of the lake. To reach Roth Park exit Hwy 401 at Hwy 59 go north to Woodstock and turn right on to Hwy 2 ( Dundas st) go to Lansdown av and turn left follow to Devonshire Ave and turn left go to Huron st and turn right follow to the lake .
Craig
Craig.S.A.McLauchlan
Toronto/Ont/Canada/World.
csam@sympatico.ca
Cave Swallow - Ontario - Wed, 19 Apr 2000 Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).
This afternoon (Tuesday, April 18), a CAVE SWALLOW was found by James Holdsworth in Woodstock, Ontario. It was seen with other swallows flying over the water catching insects at the south end of Gordon Pittock Lake. James had great views and made a positive identification. Other birders saw it later in the afternoon.
The bird was viewed in the afternoon from the parkette where Lansdowne Ave. first meets the lake. DIRECTIONS: Exit Hwy 401 at Hwy 59 and go north towards Woodstock; turn right on Hwy 2 [Dundas St.]; turn left at Lansdown Ave. and follow it to the lake [where the road turns east].
At 7 PM the bird was relocated by Joan Dawdy and myself further west, at the foot of Huron St. [take Lansdowne back to Devonshire Ave.; turn right and go west to Huron St.; turn right and drive to the water]. The Cave Swallow was flying with about 20 Tree Swallows and 3-4 Barn Swallows low over the water. It is important to note that this bird does not have a particularly light rump patch, so it is best not to rely on this feature for picking the bird out while scanning.
Tonight, there was no wind and the sky is overcast and so one might speculate that the bird may still be around tomorrow. GOOD LUCK!
Gord Payne
London, Ontario
rgpayne@julian.uwo.ca
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