Yesterday (Saturday) James Burk found a Townsend's Warbler near Rondeau Provincial Park, specifically at Center Street and 2nd Avenue. I was assuming that I wasn't going to be able to go, but I found a ride for Sunday with my friend Isabel Apkarian and Nathan Hood.
My alarm woke me up an hour early because I forgot to change it to daylight savings time, so I went back to asleep and woke up at the correct 6:05 am. My dad drove me out to meet Isabel, who picked me up, and then Nathan, and then we headed to Rondeau. As we were driving, Nathan checked and found the that the Townsend's had been seen only ten minutes prior. A really good sign!
We arrived and quickly located the small group of birders, strung out across the road. We got out and found out that it hadn't been seen for almost half an hour. They reassured us that it would come back, as it had been doing a loop around the block with the neighbourhood Chickadees. We walked the road when Barbara Charlton got a text from Steve Charbonneau that he had the bird just a few blocks up the road. We sped walked as fast as we could, turned the last corner and voila! The bird appeared at the top of a Juniper tree, which this bird had been favouring. It flitted around for a few moments before flying off with it's Chickadee pals in the direction of where we had come from. I managed two frames, but neither were very good. We headed back in the direction we had come, and relocated it briefly again, before it flew off in the opposite direction again. We spent a while trying to find it again, and eventually another group found it, and it stayed in one spot for long enough to get decent photos.
The bright yellow on the face and body and bold dark facial marking mean that this bird is a hatch year bird - meaning that it was hatched this year
This little warbler is normally found on the western side of North America, but they do occasionally stray over to Ontario. There is a total of 9 records on eBird for Townsend's although there is a few that aren't on there. I was surprised to find that 4 of the 9 records were all in Rondeau!
Here's a range map that I stole from What Bird, but it showcases how lost this poor guy is!
I managed to get a few more decent photos, and I was very satisfied with my lifer! Interestingly, this is the first fall record of Townsend's Warbler for the province! At least on eBird...
After satisfying ourselves with the warbler, we decided to check out the beach. We scanned the water and found good numbers Ruddy Ducks, as well as some Greater Scaups, Horned Grebes, and Long-tailed Ducks mixed in.
There was also some photogenic Ring-bills flying around
We noticed some shorebirds moving up the shoreline, and found them to be 6 Dunlin, and a Sanderling.
Dunlin and Sanderling are our two latest small shorebird migrants, and are often found in small groups. The Sanderling is on the right in this photo, it's pale white plumage contrasts to the Dunlin's smudgy grey
A female Common Goldeneye also made a quick flyby
All in all, avery successful trip well worth the drive! I've been having some really good luck recently birding wise, so I'll try my luck agin next weekend birding around in Grey County, and see what I can turn up!
No comments:
Post a Comment