Trip Leader: Fred
Participants: Fred, Bonnie, John and Brenda, James, Ralph and Mary Anne , Carole, Norma, Arlene, Liz, Bruce, Doug, BJ and Sarah , Jim, Bill, Beryl, Judy, Kerry, Melitta, Marlene, Joan, Bob and Linda, Lionel, Becky, Cory.
amd
Hi Everyone,
We had 28 people participating on today's hike. This hike replaced the cancelled one from a week earlier because of weather.
We had high hopes that the Tundra Swans would be there in great numbers and they were. We didn't get the 10.000 TUSW that someone reported but we did get into the 1000's. We drove past the flock 2 or more hours later and it looked like half or more had left either for other fields or to restart there long journey to their nesting grounds in the Arctic . The reliable Tufted Titmouse was easily found at the Pinery's Visitor Center and we found a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers to round out a great reason to go to Grand Bend and the Pinery. Another great bird that was a fly past by a Glaucous Gull at the Grand Bend Harbor A surprise for us was the number of Northern Pintails we saw. Several experienced birders commented that was the most NOPI they ever saw in one place. There must have been 100's of them. Our total for the day was 44 species with 17 species of waterfowl. The 4 hour car ride up and back to see these birds was well worth it.
The weather had a high of 5 with stiff winds of 20 K and the cloud cover was mixed with some sun. The sun at lunch hour outdoors at the VC was wonderful
Thank you to Alison Lake who arranged our lunch time use of the visitor center, to Mary Anne Knowles for keeping the bird list for us and to Bonnie Collins-Patterson for providing an interesting diversion to keep us amused.
Places visited:
1) Enroute
2) KIncardine Sewage Lagoons
3) Greenway Road
4) Klondike Road
5) Harbour Grand Bend
6) Grand Bend Sewage Lagoons
7) The Pinery
• Wild Turkey (WITU) - 1, 7
• Tundra Swan (TUSW)- 1,3
• Canada Goose -(CANG)
• Wood Duck (WODU) -6
• Mallard (MALL)
• American Black Duck (ABDU) -3,6
• Gadwall (GADW) -6
• Northern Pintail (NOPI) -3
• American Wigeon (AMWI) -6
• Green-winged Teal (GWTE) -3.6
• Canvasback (CANV) -6
• Redhead (REDH) -2, 3.6
• Greater Scaup (GRSC) -2,6
• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU) -6
• Bufflehead (BUFF) -2, 6
• Common Merganser (COME) -5
• Red-breasted Merganser (RBME) -6
• Ruddy Duck (RUDU) - 6
• Turkey Vulture (TUVU) -1
• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) -1, 4
• Bald Eagle (BAEA) -5
• Mourning Dove (MODO) -1
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI) -1
• Herring Gull (HEGU) - 2,5
• Glaucous Gull (GLGU) -2
• Red-headed Woodpecker (RHWO) - 7
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO) -7
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO) -7
• Hairy Woodpecker (HAWO) -7
• Blue Jay (BLJA) -1,7
• American Crow (AMCR)
• American Robin (AMRO) 4
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) -7
. Tufted Titmouse (TUTI) -7
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU) -7
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU) -7
• Horned Lark (HOLA) -1
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU) -7
• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP) 6,7
• Common Redpoll (CORE) -7
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA) -7
• European Starling (EUST)
• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL) -1
• Common Grackle (COGR)
Number of species seen - 44
Any errors or omissions, please contact sender