Leader: Fred Jazvac
Participants: Fred Jazvac, Bonnie Patterson-Collins, James Turland, Ralph and Mary Anne Knowles, Carole Lupton, Norma Nanni, Arlene Richards, Alice and John Kain, Liz Addison, Bruce Edmunds, Doug and BJ Martin, Jim Punnett, Judy Wyatt, Marlene Ohler, Becky Grieveson, Joan Godden, Matt, Roberta and Joshua Cunliffe. (22)
HI Everyone.
We headed down to the Grand Bend area with three target birds in mind. The Tundra Swan, Tufted Titmouse and Red-headed Woodpecker. We missed on the RHWO. We were a little early for the waterfowl migration, but still managed to find 14 species, including a surprise, lonely American Coot. The Tundra Swans we seemed to find everywhere, but not in the 1000’s, in a one view kind of situation. There were about 300 on Greenway Road, but others seemed to pop up everywhere as we moved around.
The best moment of the day was not in finding a special bird, but happened at the Chalet in the Pinery, where Becky arranged for a large cake, complete with two table candles ,table cloths, utensils etc., to celebrate Bruce and Liz’s 25th anniversary. The Birding Club, captured in the moment, responded with happiness and good wishes for the couple’s achievement. Smiles, congratulations permeated throughout the room.
Another achievement happened today as Joshua Cunliffe set a new record for being the youngest ever to go on a BBC outing. Joshua is 6 months old. Sorry Grace, but you now hold second place.
The weather threatened all day, had a high of about 15 C., and dropped to -1 C by the time I got home. The rain held off until we entered the Heritage Trail, in the Pinery, looking for the elusive Red-headed Woodpecker who lives there. We headed home shortly after the rain started. The windspeed varied from low to high.
By the end of the day, 22 of us, jointly collected 46 species of birds.
Thank you, Mary-Anne for looking after the bird list for us.
1) Enroute
2) Greenway Road
3) Grand Bend Lagoons
4) Water Front
5) Pinery
• Canada Goose (CANG)
• Tundra Swan (TUSW) -2,3
• Mallard (MALL)
• Northern Pintail (NOPI) -2
• Redhead (REDH) -3
• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU) -3
• Greater Scaup (GRSC) -3
• Lesser Scaup (LESC) -3
• Long-tailed Duck (LTDU) -5
• Bufflehead (BUFF) -3,4
• Common Goldeneye (COGO) -3
• Common Merganser (COME) -3, 4.
• Ruddy Duck (RUDU) -3
• Wild Turkey (WITU) -1.5
• Turkey Vulture (TUVU) -1
• Bald Eagle (BAEA) -1
• Northern Harrier (NOHA) -1
• Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) -1
• American Coot (AMCO) -3
• Killdeer (KILL) -2.3
• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)
• Herring Gull (HEGU) -4
• Glaucous Gull (GLGU) -4
• Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG) -4
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI) -1
• Mourning Dove (MODO) -1
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO) -3
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO) -5
• American Kestrel (AMKE) -1
• Blue Jay (BLJA) -5
• American Crow (AMCR)
• Horned Lark (HOLA) -1,3
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) -5
• Tufted Titmouse (TUTI) -5
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU) -5
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU) -5
• American Robin (AMRO) -1
• European Starling (EUST)
• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP) -3,5
• Song Sparrow (SOSP) -3
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU) -3
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA) -3
• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL) 1.2.3.5
• Common Grackle (COGR) -1
• American Goldfinch (AMGO) -5
• House Sparrow (HOSP) -5
46 Species Seen.