OUTINGS 2010

Outings are the backbone of the BBC. Early morning on the first and third Wednesday of the month the club meets at the Boathouse in Southampton.These are all weather events and some mornings our sanity comes into question going out on such days. But adverse weather can work to a birders advantage such as when strong winds brought a Long-tailed Jaeger onshore at Mirimichi Bay . The elation of finding such a rare bird seems to put all climatic conditions temporarily out of mind. The group leaves no stone unturned. Leadership is shared and so each outing is uniquely flavored by the leader of the day. January is Snowy owls near Paisley. In February we hope for early arrivals like Horned Larks, March takes us to Grand Bend to admire 1000's of Tundra Swan. April is a parade of ducks and Bonnie's amazing Bird and Food Orgy. May is when migration hits full force and nearly a hundred species can be seen on these outings. Each May the club is also very active supporting the Huron Fringe Birding Festival based out of MacGregor Point Provincial Park. June outings finish the season with a hike into the North Bruce and a Mystery Tour. No outings are held in the summer. We reconvene in September with a look for returning shorebirds. October is geese and those confusing fall warblers. In November there are still some lingering migrants and the winter birds arrive In December we enjoy our feeder birds and special winter visitors. There are also a number of local Christmas Bird Counts the group partakes in.. Which brings us back to the new year and for many birders the list starts all anew.