"Which day should I begin to look for that Western Grebe" I said to myself during my lunch break on Wednesday. Scrolling through the eBird species map for Western Grebe and seeing what the earliest and latest dates that it would show up. To give you some background information, a Western Grebe seems to show up at the mouth of the Credit river almost annually. Some years it decides to hang out somewhere else along the waterfront, like during 2021 in Bronte Harbor. It's very tough to tell if it really is the same bird because over a year a lot can change about its plumage but given that it keeps coming back to the same spot, it is very likely the same bird. The oldest eBird checklist I can find of that species at the Port Credit is from 2010, so if it was the same bird it would be at least 13 years old; which is very old for that species.
Surprisingly, in 2022, 2 Western Grebes appeared at this location. So maybe one of those birds appears here, or a different one, no one really knows for sure. It is always possible that a Western Grebe could not show up here for one year because birds only live for so long.
I hadn't really decided on which day I should go and look for it, but I probably would have started to look on the weekend. I got home from school and my dad arrived home early from work, so we had some time before I needed to be somewhere later that evening. I figured why not check Port Credit Harbor for the grebe. It was still a little early for it to show up as I saw that the most likely time for it was the start of April (4-10), but I still had my hopes up for it to be there today.
My dad and I arrived at J.C Saddington Park some 20 minutes later and I took a short walk to the mouth of the river. Setting my scope down pointed in the direction of the large rusty ship, I take a look through it. The very first bird I see is a grebe, long yellow bill, bright white throat, black back, it's the Western Grebe! Didn't even have to move the scope, the bird was right in the center of the scope; almost like magic. It was such an awesome feeling to see this bird and it being in the HSA made it even more special. To make it even more awesome, I was the first person to find this bird this year; so technically I can call it a self-found bird!
When I first saw it, it was maybe 150 meters out on the lake, and eventually it was swimming less than 20 meters from me. It was truly such an awesome experience. Finding this Western Grebe was one of my biggest goals so far, and I had just completed that! Aside from Western Grebe showing up here almost annually, Western Grebe is a significantly rare bird in Ontario and in the HSA, which is why it's a "Code 4" bird.
The next day a Pink-footed Goose showed up in Durham Region, so George, Luke, and I went to go see it. It was a lifer for both Luke and I, and George was happy as it was a new species photographed for him. On the way there, we stopped to see the Western Grebe at the Port Credit Harbour again, and found it swimming quite far out on the lake. It seems to have disappeared for now, but maybe it's just floating around somewhere else along the waterfront. This was also a new bird for Luke.
On April 1st, George and I went out again together and drove around Brant and Hamilton County. We were hoping to see puddle ducks, yellowlegs, and maybe the Glaucous-winged Gull that was found last week by Bill Lamond.
We left early in the morning and after picking up some breakfast we headed off to Brant. One of our first stops was the field that the GWGU had been spotted in last week. There were many gulls including an Iceland Gull that I really thought was the GWGU, but it wasn't. A Lesser Black-blacked Gull has also been seen here for a few days but we could not find that either.
We then drove over to look for some Lapland Longspurs on Paris Plains Chruch Rd that had been heard/seen there earlier in the day. This is a good spot to get in them in migration as they stop in these fields for a few days before continuing North to their breeding grounds. We never saw nor heard any but the numbers will just keep growing until atleast the 20th we'll be back for them in a few weeks. Numbers of LALO can reach incredible numbers of like 700 and maybe if you're lucky, you'll be able to spot a Smith's Longspur with them.
Your best chances of seeing Smith's Longspur are after SW winds, when the largest numbers of SMLO are just south of Chicago and then get blown up this way.
After birding Brant County we drove around Hamilton and around Stoney Creek. We were surprised as the fields were too flooded! There was too much water in the fields that no shorebirds like yellowlegs could feed here. We did find a few ducks like Blue and Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails, as well as a few Black Ducks and Mallards.
After that we stopped to check Tollgate Ponds for a possible Neotropic Cormorant that was seen in that general area a few days ago by Rich Poort. Lots of gulls and a few cormorants, but no NECO.
On Sunday I was planning to go hawkwatching at Beamer, but since I was gone for most Saturday and my parents were very busy I couldn't find a way over. So that morning I birded around my house and did homework. That evening when my mom had time we drove over to Princess Point to check out Cootes Paradise.
I was surprised to see so many swallows flying out on the water, the majority of them being Tree Swallow, but 2 out of about 60 were different. One was a Barn Swallow, and the other was a Cliff Swallow; one of the earliest records for Hamilton! At this location I was also able to spot my first of the year Osprey!
On April 4th something went wrong with my school's power system which resulted in the school without power for the day. As I was home for the day, I found a Hermit Thrush skulking in the bushes in my yard!
Later that afternoon, George and I drove over to Guelph hoping to see Bohemian Waxwings that had been previously reported at this location earlier today and yesterday.
With the help of Luke's constant updates on their whereabout's, we were able to track down the group in a matter of minutes. I felt so relived to finally see these inside the HSA because Bohemian Waxwings are know to always be on the move and rarely stay in the same location for long periods of time unless there is a lot of food for them; which was here!
Today consisted of on and off thunderstorms, so after school I got out briefly to Oakville Harbour and did a short 30 minute lakewatch. Saw a few Bonaparte's Gulls which was nice as well as a Eastern Phoebe perched on a tree right by the lake!
Waking up and going outside to hear the songs of so many birds in the morning, I find so peaceful. These next few days will be fairly warm so migrants will be on the move! Looking forward to this long weekend starting Friday; hoping to add at least 5 new species.
A goal I have set for the end of April is to be at 150 species.
HSA Year List: 121
Recent Rare Bird Sightings:
Western Grebe - Reoccurring bird found at the mouth of the Credit River in Missisauga (Markus Legzdins; March 28)
Bohemian Waxwing - A group of 32 seen flying over Hilton Falls CA in Halton (Lev Frid & Amanda Guercio; April 2)
- One heard just SE of Guelph (Quinten Wiegersma; March 30)
-Several reports of ~80 in and around the University of Guelph Arboretum and campus
Black Vulture - A migrant; high over Beamer CA headed West (Matt Mills; March 2)
California Gull - Adult in breeding plumage, sitting in a field with Ring-billed Gulls. It flew, and was not able to be relocated; might show up in Brantford (James Lees; April 4)
No comments:
Post a Comment