Leader: Jake Nafziger, Julie Ann Prentice.
Sunday November 16th – Presqu’ile Provinical Park
Leaders: Jake Nafziger & JulieAnn Prentice
A group of 13 birders braved the blustery weather to search for waterfowl and shorebirds at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, tallying 42 species throughout the day. We met at the park store at 8am and started with a loop out to Owen Point. From the point we spotted several species of waterfowl bobbing amongst the whitecaps including Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Scoters, Common Goldeneye, and Buffleheads. A Cooper’s Hawk was seen flying off High Bluff Island towards the mainland, and a Great Black-backed Gull loafing on the shoreline with some American Herring Gulls. The group split up and 6 of us ventured through the water crossing to explore Gull Island. No Purple Sandpipers had arrived yet, but we were treated to fantastic views of Snow Buntings and 2 Black-bellied Plovers. Cool non-bird find was a large Burbot that had washed up on a shoal between Owen Point and Gull Island, an interesting deep-water fish species native to Lake Ontario.
After making it back to the mainland, our group reconvened and decided to check out a couple other spots in the park. First was the lighthouse, where we found shelter from the wind and had nice views of Redheads and a Horned Grebe off the point. Two immature Bald Eagles flew off the point and continued east over the lake, flushing large flocks of Scaup and Redhead in the distance. Just before we moved on, a Carolina Wren was heard singing loudly in the parking lot.
After a brief stop at the calf pasture, the remaining participants continued on to the last spot of the day in Gosport. Here we got nice scope views of several dabbling ducks including Green-winged Teals, Gadwalls, and a Northern Pintail. We also had two Bonaparte’s Gulls foraging on the mudflats, and the last bird of the day was a Pied-billed Grebe. Despite the difficult birding conditions, spirits remained high throughout the trip and the group had a great time!
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