Looking at the calendar, it currently says April 11. This means that we are only a single fortnight away from the most wonderful time of the year! April 25th (give or take 3 or 4 days) is usually when migration really heats up in southern Ontario and the first wave of neotropical migrants show up. Last year on April 24th I found a Snowy Egret and a flock of Willets, and I also saw Brandon's Neotropic Cormorant. The following day I had an Eared Grebe and Eurasian Wigeon at the Blenheim lagoons. Other good birds seen in Ontario during the April 24-27 period included Black-headed Gull (Niagara), Townsend's Solitaire (Rondeau), Cattle Egret (Whitby), Yellow-throated Warbler (Van Wagner's Beach, Mississauga, Rondeau, Pelee Island), Worm-eating Warbler (Long Point), Western Meadowlark (Pelee Island), Glossy Ibis (Pelee Island), Eared Grebe (Pelee Island), Prothonotary Warbler (Pelee Island), Western Grebe (Toronto). You get the idea!
This weekend is really starting to look good. Unfortunately I have 2 more exams - one on Saturday and my last exam of my undergrad career on the following Wednesday. Currently, strong southwest winds are forecasted for Saturday through Monday - hopefully strong enough to suck some southwestern species up from Texas! If my studying is going well I may sneak away for maybe Monday...we'll see.
In other news, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher showed up yesterday in Thunder Bay! I haven't heard any news on whether it is still around. Here is a shitty photo of the only Scissor-tailed I have seen in Ontario - one from Luther Marsh in the summer of 2010.
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Luther Marsh (August 7, 2010) |
By the way, I added three year birds yesterday in Guelph - Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, and Greater Yellowlegs.
2 comments:
Minnesota as had Brown Pelican + Neotropic Corm... OH/KY has that Ferruginous... Maybe we're in for a really early start to rarity season?? Long range is well above average starting Apr 20th..
Hopefully you nail down a STFL before too long at Pelee!
That was a pretty good run last year for late April. Hopefully we will get some good stuff this year--things are a bit earlier than usual--maybe next week! I wouldn't mind a Brown Pelican.....
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