Bird, Travel & Art Photos, Birding Sites, Bird Information

Sunday, September 20, 2015

NONBREEDING SPOTTED SANDPIPER, HUMBER RIVER, LAMBTON WOODS PARK, TORONTO, ON

We identified this sandpiper as a Spotted Sandpiper in nonbreeding (winter) plumage as follows:

Relatively dark and unpatterned above and white below (in breeding plumage there are spots below).
White wedge near shoulder, between dark above and dusky smudge.
White line over eye.
Orange-yellow legs and bill.

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, HUMBER RIVER, LAMBTON PARK, TORONTO, ON

This morning Sharon and I went on a Toronto Ornithological Club field trip to James Gardens/Lambton Woods in Toronto. Nineteen birders attended and we saw or heard the call of 44 species of birds. This is a great hotspot for migrating birds.

We sighted a couple of Dowitchers on a sand bar in the Humber River. It is very difficult to differentiate between a Long-billed Dowitcher and a Short-billed Dowitcher. The consensus of the experts and long-term birders was that these birds were Long-billed Dowitchers. In doing research on the differences between the Dowitchers one field mark which seems to confirm this is the "humpback" appearance of the probing Dowitcher in the third photo. Long-billed Dowitchers have this appearance when probing for food, while Short-billed Dowitchers have a flatter appearance.

The Longbilled Dowitcher is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 155.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

RING-BILLED GULLS & FOAM IN NIAGARA RIVER, NIAGARA FALLS, ON

The two gulls are both Ring-billed Gulls in the Niagara River just below the falls.

The foam at the lower right of the photo consists of clay, diatoms and other forms of algae. It is naturally occuring and is not toxic. The clay comes from the mist (water) as it evapoates while going over the falls. Eventually, as it moves downstream it remixes with the water and disappears. It also appears in the area of the Whirlpool, further downstream.