As is usually the. case, late August and early September saw a spate of rare birds appear in southern Ontario. Part of this is due to the heavy migration that occurs, now that we are in peak autumn migration, but it is also because there are more eyes scanning for birds. I, like many birders, take the summer months off from serious birding. But with reports of rare species coming in hot and heavy it has provided me some extra motivation to dust off the binoculars.
On August 27 a local Niagara birder, Wally Parker, found a scruffy juvenile Laughing Gull along the Fort Erie waterfront. I jumped at the opportunity to see this rare species, one that is reported in Niagara Region only a couple of times per decade - it was a big hole on my Niagara gull list!
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Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario
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I arrived at the parkette at the end of Beatrice Street and immediately spotted the Laughing Gull as Dustin, a Fort Erie birder, pulled up in his truck. An older man and presumably his granddaughter were throwing bread for the Ring-billed Gulls, causing quite a commotion among the local gull flock. The Laughing Gull was right there with the ringers, bullying its way to the best pieces of bread. Laughing Gulls are experienced in food-thievery along the sandy beaches of the Caribbean and Gulf Coast (among other places) - they fit right in with the local ringers!
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
Dustin and I were treated to a few flybys of the Laughing Gull, though it was, at times, much too close for photos! In this picture you can nicely see the brown juvenile scapular feathers and wing coverts, along with some newer gray feathers coming in.
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
The broad white upper side of the tail and thick black tail band are good ID features for a Laughing Gull of this age.
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
Some other features easily visible in the next photo include the long, even-width black bill, an uneven white eye-ring, and black legs.
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
Eventually, the laugher landed on the breakwall with the ringers. They obliged my request and each of them nicely faced the same way in the same pose. Thanks, guys!
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| Laughing Gull (left) - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Laughing Gull (left) - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
And because they do not get enough love, here is a scruffy young Ring-billed Gull that is around the same age as the Laughing Gull.
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| Ring-billed Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
One more shot of the Laughing Gull - I couldn't resist! It was by far the best experience I have had with this species in Ontario!
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| Laughing Gull - Fort Erie waterfront, Niagara, Ontario |
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Western Sandpipers are reported every year in southern Ontario but it is never more than a handful. Undoubtedly many more pass through our borders but this species can easily be confused with Semipalmated Sandpiper, an abundant migrant in both spring and autumn. Western Sandpiper is a bird that I had not seen well for a few years, so with James Lees discovering one at Christie Lake in Flamborough, it was one I was eager to "twitch". Additionally, this location is only 15 minutes from where I grew up in Cambridge.
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Western Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario
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I ran into Matt Mills and Simon Carter who were scoping the shorebirds from a small bridge. It took a few minutes of scanning but eventually we picked out the Western Sandpiper and enjoyed distant scope views. Matt and Simon mentioned that there was a small path heading through the forest towards the area frequented by the shorebirds and so we grabbed our scopes and made the short walk over. We were certainly glad we did as the views were much better than from the bridge.
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| Western Sandpiper (right) and Semipalmated Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
The above photo shows the Western Sandpiper on the right, with a Semipalmated Sandpiper. This Western Sandpiper was easily identifiable, unlike some of the "tweeners" that seem to be reported each year. Compared to the semi, the Western Sandpiper exhibits more gray/white tones (brownish on Semipalmated), has a row of contrasting reddish scapular feathers, a longer more curved bill, and longer legs giving it a lankier appearance. Western Sandpipers often appear thick-necked and they lean forward more when they feed. But these features are subtle.
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| Western Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
The Western was clearly the star of the show but there were other shorebirds to study as well. The next two photos show a Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Plover.
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| Semipalmated Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
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| Semipalmated Plover - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
By lying down in the dried mud, the shorebirds tolerated my presence and walked right past, only 20 feet from me.
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Shorebird photography (photo taken by Matt Mills)
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| Western Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
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| Western Sandpiper - Christie Lake, Hamilton, Ontario |
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Early September is prime time for lake-watching on the lower Great Lakes. At this time of year it is not too unusual to find species such as Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Black Tern, and various shorebirds including Red-necked Phalarope. Since I am living in Niagara for the time being I have lake-watching options for most wind-situations. If the wind has a north or east component, I head down to Port Weller or any other of the good spots in the Region - like the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, 50 Point Conservation Area or Port Dalhousie. If the winds have a south or west component, Fort Erie is a great spot to be. Birding the morning after a front seems to be most productive since usually that means that a new crop of birds has appeared on the lower Great Lakes following a long migration from James Bay.
I have only managed to get out a few times in the last two weeks but I had a productive lake-watching session in Fort Erie on September 2. I arrived as a heavy band of rain passed through the area but the winds were strong and out of the southwest - great conditions to, in theory, concentrate pelagic birds to the far east end of Lake Erie (and visible from Fort Erie).
The best activity occurred just after the rain passed through. I locked onto a crisp juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger not too far out in front of me, heading back out towards the lake from the upper Niagara River. For the next five minutes I kept an eye on the jaeger as it slowly cruised along the shoreline and disappeared to the west. Awesome! Despite many similar lake-watching sessions here, this was my first Long-tailed Jaeger in Niagara.
The other highlight of my vigil was a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope following a very similar flight path as the Long-tailed. Other than a brief moment where it touched down on the water, it flew pretty steadily out into the lake. Another new one for my Niagara list. Sanderlings were also present in very good numbers with one small flock hanging out on the small sandy beach where I had parked myself. An excellent way to spend a windy afternoon!
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On August 25 Steve Charbonneau made an exciting find as he was birding the Blenheim sewage lagoons. He discovered a juvenile Purple Gallinule along the edge of one of the cells! In the days since, the gallinule has been a frequent member of the local lagoon avifauna. It can usually be found without too much trouble in the east corner of Cell #1 (the first one on the right).
I finally bit the bullet and hit the road on September 5, hoping to see and photograph this rarity in Ontario. Dodging rainstorms on the drive down, I made decent time and lucked into a period without rain for the duration of my visit.
I actually heard the gallinule before I saw it, as the bird was uttering a series of keek calls. Eventually I tracked it down and took my time to approach carefully for photos.
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Purple Gallinule - Blenheim Lagoons, Chatham-Kent, Ontario
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The gallinule sat quietly amongst the Flowering Rush, looking around but generally ignoring me.
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| Purple Gallinule - Blenheim Lagoons, Chatham-Kent, Ontario |
Purple Gallinules are quite rare in Ontario, with perhaps one record every two or three years. So far, there have been 21 individuals that have been accepted by the Ontario Bird Records Committee, the first being a juvenile that was reported by George North in the Dundas Marsh on October 7, 1967. Most records of this southern species occur in the autumn and they are almost always juvenile birds, like this one.
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| Purple Gallinule - Blenheim Lagoons, Chatham-Kent, Ontario |
Adult Purple Gallinules are unmistakeable with their royal blue head, neck and underparts, greenish back, and gaudy bill colour along with pale blue frontal shield. The juveniles, while lacking the bold colours of the adults, are still quite distinctive in their own right. The rich brown tones of this bird along with bright white undertail covers are a dead give-away for this species. While not as brightly coloured, the bill and frontal shield are reminiscent of the adults', just duller.
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| Purple Gallinule - Blenheim Lagoons, Chatham-Kent, Ontario |
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Purple Gallinule - Blenheim Lagoons, Chatham-Kent, Ontario
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As we move deeper into September, migration will continue and the days will (hopefully) be a little cooler, making birding more enjoyable. While I intend on doing lots of mothing/insecting in the upcoming months, it is nice to have birds back on the radar as well!
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