Friday 18 November 2011

Odds and ends

I'm getting ready to leave for Pelee soon, as the forecast has remained strong. Strong southwest winds are still forecast through tonight until tomorrow night, before shifting towards west winds. Maybe I'm getting excited over nothing, but I'm pretty stoked for the potential possibilities that weather like this can bring. A Cave Swallow was seen at Pelee yesterday, and today they were reported from New Jersey and Ohio. Hopefully we'll get lucky tomorrow at the tip! Speaking of Ohio, here's a link to the photos of the state's first Black-tailed Gull found a few days ago right across the lake from Point Pelee.

http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6142&PID=18445&#18445

A Grayleg goose, which apparently most birders think is a wild bird, was found on the other side of Ontario, in Montreal. If accepted, it would only be the 2nd (or 3rd) record for North America! Scroll down to the entry entitled "16 Novembre 2011". If only I knew French...

http://www.quebecoiseaux.org/index.php?option=com_oiseauxrares&Itemid=133&lang=en

Despite all the fantastic rarities being found just outside of Ontario (especially in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota), there are still a couple of things being seen in our province. The Razorbill is still present in Niagara, as well as 3 Black Vultures which apparently could be a family group. This in particular interests me, with my big year starting in 6 short weeks. The last Razorbill seen at Niagara-on-the-lake, in 2006, was present from November 19 until January 7 the following year. I hope that this bird hangs around until the new year - it would be a great way to kick off my big year! The Black Vultures are also exceedingly interesting - while its unlikely that they will hold until the New Year, you never know...

2 comments:

nishiki_85 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nishiki_85 said...

Good idea about the Razorbill. I did that in 2007/2008 with the Northern Hawk Owl that hung around 10th Rd East in Stoney Creek for a good length of time. Queens Royal Park will be much colder in January than it was last weekend.