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Least Bitterns at Bronte Creek

September 17, 2008

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This adult male Least Bittern gave fantastic views (of a range of postures) as it stalked fish amongst the floating water-lily leaves in the pond just upstream from Bronte Harbour on the
29th of August.

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Blasts from the Past

Lapland Longspur, just up the road from the house, January 2011. Northern Map Turtle, Frontenac Provincial Park, June 2011. Common Whitetail, Dundas Valley, June 2011. Male Varied Thrush, Cold Creek Conservation Area, March 2010. Nesting Great Egret, Toronto, June 2011. Blanding's Turtle, Frontenac Provincial Park, June 2011.

Hooded Warbler

Now we live down in the steamy Carolinian zone of southern Ontario, I was looking forward to some more regular encounters with Hooded Warblers, but I wasn't expecting one quite yet! We came across this little cracker at Confederation Park in Hamilton this morning. It gave a great performance, even giving some short bursts of song. The first significant arrival of warblers occurred only yesterday and the stormy weather overnight seems to have pinned many of them down until this morning. Other warblers were Yellow-rumped, Palms and Pines. Other stuff included a Brown Thrasher, an Eastern Towhee, lots of Chipping and many White-throated Sparrows. Bring it on.

Lake Ontario & Kittiwakes

Despite being almost 600km from the nearest open ocean, the west end of Lake Ontario does surprisingly well for several species of migratory 'sea' gulls and jaegers (skuas). Over the past three weeks there have been some impressive tallies. These have included at least 2 Pomarine Jaegers , 7 or more Long-tailed Jaegers and in excess of 45 Parasitic Jaegers ! In addition, at least 10 Sabine's Gulls and 5 Black-legged Kittiwa kes (in one flock) have been recorded. Throw in the odd Red-necked Phalarope or Surf Scoter and you have the kind of list most actual seawatchers would be proud of. Ok, so you're probably not gonna see any shearwaters or auks - or whales for that matter, but in terms of anticipatory excitement, it's hard to beat. Don't competely rule out those real seabirds either, there have been recent records of Manx Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, Gannet, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Fulmar, Razorbill and Ancient Murrelet! Most of the birds seen dur...

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