Saturday morning I took the GO train to Oshawa to go birding around Thickson's Woods and Oshawa Second Marsh. Two hot spots I've heard a lot about but have never been to. I knew it was going to be windy and rainy all day but I convinced myself to go knowing that "any day could be a special day, you just have to get out there and see if it is!" as Kenn Kaufman once said.
I had planned to walk the whole day in the blustery weather but Rayfield Pye (another Newfoundland birder in Ontario) offered to show me around! Thanks Ray, it sure made the day more enjoyable.
We began by searching around the Thickson's Woods for any recent migrants. I was surprised that several birds were singing despite the rain and bitter winds. We found most of the expected stuff plus a Great Horned Owl which was my first for the year. Apparently there's a nest in there somewhere!
Then we ventured off to Oshawa Second Marsh where we found 3 species of swallow (Barn, Rough-winged and Tree), several Little Gulls and Bonaparte's Gull and a Dunlin! Shorebirds are probably my favourite family of birds so I was happy to see my first one of the year (not including Killdeer and Woodcocks).
We also found a 1st year Glaucous Gull at the Oshawa Harbour.
Kenn Kaufman was right! It was a good day and it wouldn't have happened if I didn't persuade myself to get out there and see what I could find!
I didn't bring my camera along today so no pictures here just a bunch of boring words.
I've been following a multi-author birding blog lately: Birding Blogs
It has got some 'big name' birders there (although I don't know who most of them are). Kenn Kaufman is there - I've been mentioning him because I just finished reading his book 'Kingbird Highway' .
An interesting blog post about statistics and birding (I like Math and I did a statistics course last fall so this one appealed to me):
"Indeterminacy"
And another blog post: It's about Malta - an island that I think every birder should know about even though I have no attachment to it:
"How do we Solve a Problem like Malta"
And another article to read (reading is good for you!) about Jean Iron's trip to James Bay with the Royal Ontario Museum (slightly jealous):
"Volunteering for Bird Conservation on James Bay"
