Timiskaming Birds Forum

Well, the date for the local Baillie Birdathon is set for May 16 and our birder's are getting excited about spending a full day out birding and seeing what they can find.  The challenge is to identify as many bird species as possible within a 24-hour period. Sponsors can donate a fixed amount, or can sponsor an amount per bird species found.  It is our expectation to be able to find and identify between 60 and 80 species on May 16th.  Who knows, maybe we'll hit 100.

If anyone is interested in sponsoring the local Birdathon efforts, you can do so securely through the Bird Studies Canada web site using your credit card.  If you use the link below, then your donations will be creditied to the local Birdathon, and 15% of the funds raised will go directly to supporting the Timiskaming Birds web site.  The remainder of the proceeds go directly to funding bird research and eduaction programs in Canada. 

To donate, follow this link.

Canada's Baillie Birdathon is the oldest sponsored bird count in North America. It was established in 1976 as a national fundraiser to support the research and conservation of wild birds. Funds raised by participants benefit not only the work of Bird Studies Canada, but also designated bird observatories in the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network, the James L. Baillie Memorial Fund, which provides research grants to amateurs across Canada, and participating conservation and naturalist clubs. All contributions to Birdathon are tax-creditable (Canadian Registered Charity No. 119024313RR0001).  All sponsors contributing $10.00 or more will automatically be issued a tax receipt at the end of the year. To learn more about how the funds raised get used, please visit the Bird Studies Canada web site. 

I wish you guys 82 species!

Our local Baillie Birdathon took place as scheduled yesterday. Serge and myself tallied a final count of 74 species, as listed below.  There were some that we expected, but didn't get, like Snipe, Junco, and Sandhill Crane. On the other hand, we picked up several that we did not expect, like Short-billed Dowitcher at the Marsh, a Brant in Haileybury, and a Winter Wren at Kap-Kig-Iwan Park. Of those we found, an impressive eight species are first sightings for Timiskaming for 2010. Warblers and shorebirds were, as expected, not in abundance at this early date. Perhaps next year we'll try a week later so that we can pick up more of these late arriving migrants.  Here's the full list:

Brant
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Ruffed Grouse
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Sora
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Short-billed Dowitcher
American Woodcock
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Philadelphia Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Ovenbird
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow

Here's a photo of the little guy that had us stumped for a few minutes. I think this was the only time during the day when we had to actually crack open the field guides.

Does you Brewer was expected?

joe_frechette:

Does you Brewer was expected?

Not expected, but not unexpected either. I've been expecting to find a Brewer's somewhere for at least a week now - ever since I first found Rusty's, because they usually show up at about the same time.  We had Brewer's at two different locations on Sunday.

A fine day it was. Ann and I spent the day cruising Timiskaming, doing a big circle route from Swastika to Matachewan, Elk Lake, New liskeard, Hilliardton, Swastika. We managed to find 54 species, most of them before we met Mike and Serge for lunch in New Liskeard. I have listed them in order of appearance, with location markers at intervals eg species seen between Swastika and Kenogami. Best non-bird moment for me - weasel with deer mouse lunch on dike at the marsh. Best bird moment for Ann - a flock of about 100 Sandhill Cranes catching an updraft as they soared away from the marsh.

Swastika start

 Pine Siskin, White Capped Sparrow, Common Grackle, American Robin, American Crow, Blue Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Raven, Starling, Tree Swallow, Canada Goose, Ring-billed Gull, White-throated Sparrow

Kenogami - Highway 11-66 junction

Yellow-shafted Flicker, Ruffed Grouse, Mallard, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Wilson's Snipe, American Goldfinch, Killdeer, Common Goldeneye, American Bittern, Common Loon, Song Sparrow, Bald Eagle, Lesser Scaup, Mergus Merganser, Belted Kingfisher

Matachewan - Highway 65-66 junction

Ring-necked Duck, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, Pileated Woodpecker

Elk City

Cliff Swallows, Rock Pigeon, Savannah Sparrow

New Liskeard

Herring Gull, Bobolink, Pintail Duck, Northern Harrier, Barn Swallow, Eastern Bluebird

Hilliardtom Marsh

Ruddy Duck, American Widgeon, American Kestrel, Sandhill Crane, Pied-billed Grebe

Marsh to Swastika

White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Black Duck & ducklings

Nice list Mike.  Just for ease of reference, here are the 10 species that you got that we did not:

Pine Siskin, Wilson's Snipe, Bald Eagle, Pintail Duck, Eastern Bluebird, Ruddy Duck, Sandhill Crane, White-breasted Nuthatch, Great Blue Heron and Black Duck.

As Serge pointed out, I chose to sponsor Tom by the species for the Baillie Birdathon, in order to encourage him a little more.  I then made the mistake of mentioning this to Murph, who kindly offered to be at the marsh last Monday, May 24th, when Tom was doing his count.  Fully half of Tom's final list of 40 birds came from the marsh...thanks, Murph!  It's a good thing it was a scorcher and bird activity was low, or I'd be broke!  Anyway, here's Tom's final list:

1.    American Robin                      Englehart
2.    American Crow
3.   Cliff Swallow                             Evanturel Twp
4.   Canada Goose
5.   Bobolink
6.   Raven                                        Tomstown
7.   Tree Swallow                              Ingram Twp
8.   Red-winged Blackbird                  Hilliardton Marsh
9.   Swamp Sparrow
10.  Veery
11.  Magnolia Warbler
12.  Black Tern
13.  American Bittern
14.  American Wigeon
15.  Mallard
16.  Ring-necked Duck
17.  European Starling
18.  Common Yellowthroat
19.  Red-eyed Vireo
20.  Red-breasted Nuthatch
21.  Yellow Warbler
22.  Least Flycatcher
23.  White-throated Sparrow
24.  Blue-winged Teal
25.  Eastern Kingbird
26.  Chestnut-sided Warbler
27.  American Goldfinch
28.  Pine Siskin
29.  Barn Swallow                                  Hilliard Twp
30.  Savannah Sparrow                           Harley Twp
31.  Eastern Bluebird
32.  Rock Pigeon                                    New Liskeard
33.  House Sparrow                                 Elk Lake
34.  Killdeer
35.  Ring-billed Gull
36.  Purple Finch                                      Englehart
37.  Mourning Dove
38.  Common Goldeneye                           Englehart Lagoon
39.  Spotted Sandpiper
40.  Blue Jay

We had planned to continue from Elk Lake to Matachewan, Swastika, KL, Larder Lake, and home, but the utter dearth of birds along the highways in last Monday's heat made us decide to try our luck at home.  Note that there is not a single raptor on the list, even though we tried the usual haunts of Kestrels, Merlins, Harriers.  There wasn't even a gull at any of the fast-food outlets in New Liskeard.  Without the help of Murph and his gang at the marsh, it would have been a pretty dull day.  Let's hope tomorrow is filled with bird activity, especially at the marsh.  Hope to see you all there! 

Mike,

can you describe to me what kind of habitat you find the Brewer in?  I'd like to know what to look for because I have a couple of days left before to go back to work and I'm ready to give a try.  I'm at 145 species for the atlas and I'd like to be the first ever in Quebec to confirm it as a breeder!

Brewer's is most often seen feeding in open areas, on the lawns of rural properties, in shallow ditches along road edges, including those in residential areas of town streets - many of the same types of habitats where you might encounter a grackle foraging.  Almost all of the encounters that I have had with this species in Timiskaming have been in areas where the habitat has been modified by human activity (as opposed to natural undisturbed areas).  Hope this helps, and good luck on your quest.