[Ontbirds]Northumberland "Big" Day

[Doug McRae]

Greetings all,

Today (4 Dec 07), Margaret Bain, Richard Pope and I spent the day  
birding around Northumberland Co. to see what we could find.  We  
birded from 0630-1730 in a rough triangle between Presqu'ile,  
Warkworth and Cobourg, ending up with 59 species which was OK, but  
there were 15-20 easy species missed because of bad luck and/or poor  
conditions (very cold, windy, high waves).  None the less we found a  
few goodies and had a great time in the field - highlights follow:

1f Am Wigeon - off Presqu'ile Pt. lighthouse
1m Ring-necked Duck - off Government Dock (Bayshore Rd.), Presqu'ile
1f Harlequin Duck - off Presqu'ile Pt. lighthouse
1 Red-necked Grebe - off Government Dock, Bayshore Rd., Presqu'ile
1 imm Bald Eagle - flying over Gull and High Bluff Is., Presqu'ile
1 Am. Coot - Cobourg Harbour
4 Purple Sandpiper - SE corner of Gull Island; happily walking and  
even floating from exposed rock to rock amid ice, wind and high seas  
- simply amazing!
3 Iceland Gull - Cobourg Harbour (2 1st year, 1 2nd year)
1 ad Glaucous Gull - Cobourg Harbour
1 Carolina Wren - end of  Bayshore Rd., Presqu'ile
1 Hermit Thrush - base of Owen Pt. (25m NE of Owen Pt. pond),  
Presqu'ile,  in only obvious fruiting buckthorn
2 or 4 Am. Pipit - 2 were seen at east end of Gull Is., then either  
that 2 or another 2 were feeding on exposed algae flats where Owen  
Pt. meets the High Bluff Campground
35 Bohemian Waxwing - in crabapple in front of Salt. Ck. Golf Course  
Clubhouse, Warkworth (both the waxwings and Pine Grosbeaks have been  
in this tree for several weeks)
1 Lapland Longspur - feeding with H. Larks along Carman Rd., 2 km  
east of the Carman Church (@ 15 km N of Brighton, east of Hwy. 30)

If birders are interested in seeing Purple Sandpipers (and you see  
them so much closer here than at Niagara), I would suggest going soon  
as it is freezing up big-time along the shore and they may head on  
soon.  Also, remember that only hunters can go to Owen Pt. or the  
islands on Mon., Wed., Fri., and Sat. so plan your visits for Thur.,  
Sun., or a Tuesday.

Cheers,

Doug McRae


Doug McRae Nature Services
P.O. Box 3010
Brighton, Ontario
Canada K0K 1H0
613-475-5014
rdmcrae at sympatico.ca