More Looney Tunes this morning in the 'Shwa

Our celebrity Pacific Loon enjoyed his overnight stay in the 'Shwa so much that he was an easy find this morning off the harbour, and more birders arrived on the pier to add him to their Lists before he flew off to the east:

My first White-winged Scoters for the season were noted further out on the lake, as well as several Red-breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, and Double-crested Cormorants.  

Common Loons lived up to their name, with some braver ones approaching the pier to investigate the nerding crowd:

And on an extremely sad note, it sucks to be a Black-capped Chickadee in my backyard this afternoon, more pics to follow tomorrow:

 

Cherchez les Loons

The last thing I expected to have happen on a dismal, rainy Sunday was to add two (yup, count 'em, TWO- deux- dos- zwei!!! sorry, Ann) more Lifers to my list, thanks to a mid-day Ontbirds posting by Geoff. Both a Pacific and a Red-throated Loon had been seen out on the lake from Second Marsh in Oshawa, so after grovelling with Robert to abandon him for the afternoon, I headed off on my search! 

There were still cars in the parking lot at Second Marsh, so I made it most of the way down the path to the shoreline before encountering a couple of birders on their way out, one from Grand Bend and another from Ajax. They confirmed the presence of several Loons still out on the lake, but west of the marsh, over by the Oshawa harbour.

As they were unfamiliar with the area, I offered to lead them to the harbour, and as soon as we exited our cars, numerous Loons were visible directly in front of us. Most of them were winter plumage Common Loons, but the Pacific Loon, with its pale gray head feathers, popped right out of the crowd through our binos, so we frantically set up our scopes for better views. The Red-throated Loon was also seen, my other lifer for the day, but quite frankly, it ended up being totally eclipsed by the Pacific, which is rarer for us here in Ontario. 

The Loons continued their eastward swim towards the pier, so I found myself at the end of it for even better views. Me, the lone nerder amongst some fishermen who initially gave me the hairy eyeball but eventually ignored me. At first the Pacific Loon spent more time underwater than above, so it was challenging at times to find him in the waves, but once more birders arrived on the scene, the extra sets of eyes helped out with the situation.

 

The Pacific Loon, seen on the left, is smaller than the Common, seen in the background here, and a good comparison of the bills clearly indicate that the Pacific's is more slender and straight:  

It's also been referred to as Pacific Diver and White-headed Loon:

Another point of comparison to the Common Loon is the greater amount of white on its back:

  

As I fought through the stampede of other birders arriving as I departed, Common Loons were swimming and diving in the harbour:

Its thick, daggerlike bill is chunkier than the Pacific's:

So in the end, today's Pacific Loon is my second western bird that I've seen in Ontario, just like the Yellow-headed Blackbird that I fully expected to find in British Columbia, versus ten kilometres from our cottage in the Kawarthas.

I intend to return to the harbour tomorrow again, even if it's raining freak, to re-locate both Loons, and perhaps give more viewing time to the Red-Throated...And thank goodness my scope is back in working order again, phew- Pelee Wings rocks! 

 

Feathered Orphans and Stragglers from my Drought

Okfine, it's been extremely painful for me to re-live my Twitching Days from a few weeks ago during my severe birding drought, but I've finally sifted through all of my non-photos in order to get back on track with my blog, even if it's out of order...

On Thursday, October 7th I returned to Whitby for some appointments, and despite the best winds ever, it was totally dead at the Cranberry Marsh Raptor Watch. Out of desperation, on my return trip back up to the cottage I checked out Windy Ridge Conservation Area, which truly lived up to its name as I was challenged by winds that made me feel like I should have been wearing a gingham dress just like Dorothy's now there's an image that you'll want to erase from your mind really quickly: 

Once again, it's another interesting spot to check out but under better meteorological conditions, but regardless of the high winds, the autumn views were spectacular of the Oak Ridges Moraine:

Other views along the path were equally rewarding, without a bird in sight, of course:

I continued along the trail, silently weeping due to my continuing Bird Drought, and then arrived at the so-called Habitat Tree, maybe this would be my salvation?? Yeah. Right.

Nary a sound, nary a movement, grrrrrrrr. Until suddenly I saw it: a BIRD.

I almost fainted on the spot:

A lone Yellow-rumped Warbler, my heart soared!!!

Two thousand and fifty-one photos later I'm totally exaggerating, the following are the best, as my one and only BOTD explored every crevice and cavity it could find in the Habitat Tree:

I was thrilled, it was a BIRD!!!!

I reluctantly tore myself away and finally arrived back at the cottage, where I photographed my first Dark-eyed Junco for the season...

...as well as a lingering House Wren(!) bad picture alert, desperate times, etc:

...and an Eastern Phoebe:

After recovering from my Thanksgiving Monday biking excursion with Laura, I decided to drive myself mad by chasing (well, not quite chasing, more like hobbling, after the biking) Golden-crowned Kinglets on the Tuesday along the back road. These teeny, tiny, incredibly active songbirds are a delight, but also a torture to photograph, but at least they were plentiful, mixing in with flocks of Black-capped Chickadees:

They're so tiny it would take three to five of them to add up to an ounce. Wow! This male's orange crown patch is partially visible here:

The female's crown patch is all- yellow:

A Red-breasted Nuthatch wanted in on the action too:

And so ends the tale of my Drought, I am now au courant again with my Blog- except for that missing Crescent Beach entry with those Bald Eagles in British Columbia, arghhhhhhhhhh...

As for today, I returned to the Iroquois Shoreline Raptor Watch in the Heber Down Conservation Area in north Whitby, and for once I wasn't the only one there, so I was able to learn more about raptors from the experts! It gets its name from what once was a giant lake known as Lake Iroquois, and the observation platform sits upon a bluff which used to be the shoreline of this lake!

For the two hours I was there, we had Turkey Vultures, Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered, and Red-tailed Hawks flying through, along with a few Golden Eagles, whooohoo! These eagles are theoretically  Lifers for me, but as they were mere specks waaay off in the distance, I'm not going to count them. 

A local Red-tail was on a hydro tower near where I had parked, so here are a few shots I managed as it took flight, what a magnificent hawk! Several of its wonderful field markings are visible, including a hint of red on its tail, a dark head, the light-coloured chest, the streaked belly band, and the dark patagial bar at the leading edge of its underwing:

Now if only I could go back to that day on Crescent Beach with those Bald Eagles and post some pics....