Sportsmans Show Success and A Great Surprise

Nova Ready for Take Off BIGFRANK-Nova,Ann with Alexandra The Great...Horned Owl

Ann and Alexandra

Bruce and Kyla the American Kestrel

BIGFRANK and Kyla

BIGFRANK and Oscar the Peregrine Falcon

Murray and Kyla(she is popular)

March 16th-20th,myself,Bruce and Ann were going to help out at The Toronto Sportsmans Show at the Canadian Peregrine Foundations live birds of prey booth. Bruce and I are oldtimers,while Ann is on her 3rd year I think it was. The wonderful surprise was that CPF had a few volunteers back out at the last minute,so I was asked to get a few of my birding friends to help us out. A few folks I had met on Murray's birding tours joined us and so did Murray and his wife Deb. I loved Murray's comment to me when he agreed to come help. "First I did cartwheel then I called to say YES!"They were both thrilled to hold Kyla the Kestrel and Oscar and Nova the Peregrine Falcons. The show went great as we saw thousands of folks and passed on the good word about endangered species,conservation and birds in general.

Join The Canadian Peregrine Foundation Feathered Educators at The Toronto Sportsmans Show

Hi gang,please come join the CPF feathered educators and volunteers at The Toronto Sportsmans Show March 16-20th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. See our educational birds of prey up close and personal.

Kyla The American Kestrel

Alexandra The Great Horned Owl

Oscar The Peregrine Falcon

And all the rest March 16th-20th. For admission prices,directions and more information about the Toronto Sportsmans Show see here:http://www.torontosportshow.ca/visitors/ We hope to see you there. Regular Rosetta McClain Raptor Watchers Ann,Bruce and BIGFRANK will be there! (dont let that discourage you from coming! ;-) )

Owling At Amherst Island with Authentic Canadian Tours

On Saturday Jan 29th,a few of the Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch gang,went on the maiden tour of Authentic Canadian Tours,run by our buddy Murray. We were joined for our Owling Experience by Murray and his wife Deb,who hosted myself,Walter,Lee,Brad and Pam,plus several of Murrays family and a few friends. We got underway by just after 7am and made a stop to pick up a few folks in Durham area. Onward to Amherst! Along the way we saw a few roadside Redtailed Hawks,at least one Common Raven and Walter and Lee spotted a Pileated Woodpecker. We also saw a Coyote in a field,from the bus. The sun rose as we drove,revealing a beautiful day.
On arrival at the ferry dock,the bay was covered by ice,except where the ferry had broken through. Walter and I spotted it way out,and could hear it breaking the ice as it went.
Amherst Island Ferry

We boarded the ferry,and got underway. The sound of crushing ice was loud. We searched the ice and sky as we crossed,when we spotted a lump on the ice. With binoculars I recognized it as a Coyote. I snapped a few quick photos as below. They are my first of a Coyote so I was quite pleased. Im not sure what it was thinking..."hmmm this spot in the middle of a frozen lake looks like a good spot to rest?"



We did our best to see all we could. We spotted a few Rough-legged Hawks,winter visitors from the high north and Arctic. We saw a few dark-morph Roughies. In the distance 2 Bald Eagles being harrassed by 2 Common Ravens was a good sighting. We stopped for a visit to a sheep farm that sold woolen goods,before heading onward to search for a Northern Hawk Owl. As per several posts on Ont Birds,the Hawk Owl was found easily at the address #3600,in short order. It was off the road a fair distance but binocular views and better yet Brad's scoped views provided everyone with a decent look at what for some was a Life Bird.

Northern Hawk Owl

We then proceeded to Owl Woods. We had spoken to a few people in our travels that has said only a Northern Saw-whet Owl had been spotted Saturday. ONLY! The road into the woods was impassable,so we walked in the 1.5km to the Owl Woods.

For me the walk was a personal victory,so although I lagged,and spent only a short time with the Saw-whet,in the interest of leaving directly to walk back to the bus so as not to hold up everyone,it was a great sighting. The little beauty sat in clear view,snoozing comfortably,paying us no mind at all. A short video clip can be seen here of the little Saw-whet.

http://tinypic.com/r/90t36p/7

Northern Saw-whet Owl(8inches tip to tail)

We made one more pass to see if the Hawk Owl was in a better position to be viewed,but no luck,so we drove along near the Kingston Field Naturalists property and spotted a Snowy Owl on a fence post. It was distant,but again Brad's trusty scope gave each person a good view.

Needless to say we had a great time. Heading for home we saw a couple more Coyote along the highway. We stopped off at Colborne at The Big Apple and I successfully resisted something called a Carmel-Apple Pie...that was tough! By about 730pm we arrived back in Toronto,all very satisfied,having enjoyed some great Owls,met some new friends and enjoyed Authentic Canadian Tours inaugural tour. Im sure we will all get out again with Murray sometime in the very near future. Its a great chance to go abit further afield and leave the driving to someone else and especially great for those of us non-drivers to get the chance to go to someplace new,with such great creatures to enjoy! Thanks to Murray and Deb for a great day. I wish all the best to you both and Authentic Canadian Tours. Moose at Algonquin...Carden Alvar...I can hardly wait to see what else U come up with.

A very good friend of the Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch, Murray Shields, has created a company called Authentic Canadian Tours. The first trip will take place on January 29th to Amherst Island. A number of people from the Raptor Watch will be on the bus for this tour and we expect to see owls, hawks, eagles, deer and who knows what else! Murray and a couple of friends went to Amherst Island a few days ago and saw a number of birds of prey as well as other types of wildlife, so the upcoming trip should be a good one. To learn more about Murray’s company and to book a seat on the bus, check out his website at Authentic Canadian Tours. You can also follow him on Facebook by clicking here and to follow him on Twitter, click here.

Charts

Thanks to Walter who figured out how to get these charts into a usable form. You can enlarge the charts with the symbols above it.
High Bird Counts

Year By Year Counts

A Few Shots From Ann Dec 6th

Ann was down to the park briefly on Monday. Wow did she get a few beautiful shots(would we expect less). She got a few shots of an elusive Gray Ghost....male Northern Harrier. His gray/blue back and wingtips "dipped in ink" from underneath view are the field marks that make him unique.

The local Redtail looks great with the snow in the photo. Thanks Ann.

The last week,Ive seen some Peregrine Falcon photos posted to a local birding board. Through my volunteer work with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation,we have been able to identify them both. One was seen out at Frechman's Bay,a male hatched at King St in 2009 named Kendal. Kendal is very likely the male Peregrine being seen around the powerplant in Pickering,in the company of Quest from Rochester,who is being satellite tracked. Just after I made that ID,someone else sent me photos taken a few weeks back at The Spit(Tommy Thompson Park). It was a juvenile male Peregrine with a clear band number showing which Marion Nash of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation was able to ID for me,named Peter,from Hamilton's Sheraton Hotel this past season. We volunteers are always thrilled to know a Peregrine we watched as chicks,is alive and well. If you get any photos or band numbers,or hear of a friend who has,please report them to me at the raptor watch email address or The Canadian Peregrine Foundation at postmaster@peregrine-foundation.ca . Continued monitoring of our Canadian Peregrines is a very important part of their ongoing recovery. Everyone can contribute.

Frank And Walter's Thanks For A Great 2010

With another raptor watching season in the books,both Walter and I wanted to thank everyone for an amazing seaon. While it sort of fizzled out at the end,we sure had alot of highs this fall! High day,month and season counts and many fantastic views of all 15 species. We welcomed more visitors then ever. We welcomed more photographers who contributed more photos then ever. Thanks to all of you! Ann Brokelman continued to offer her pictures for use on the blog,which deserve more superlatives then I can include. Thanks Ann!! Your contributions have been enjoyed by many folks all over the world that follow the blog. So many people have commented on how interesting the photos make the blog. We added some great folks to the Rosetta Regular Irregulars.
Before I go further,thanks to Walter most of all for his help running the watch. There is no way I could have done it without you! Walter's constant commraderie,good humor and enthusiasm,kept me up,excited and helped me hang in on slow days. His help passing on information and teaching others is invaluable.
To all the Rosetta McClain Gardens Regular Irregulars,thanks for your friendships,interest and coming out to share the fall with us.You all made things much more fun,rewarding and successful.It's great to see peoples interest and abilities to spot and identify raptors grow.Tim Horton's runs are something unique to us at Rosetta. Thanks to everyone who sustained us with coffee,hot chocolate,Timbits,donuts and even chilli now and then! Welcome Cori,Mike 2,and Hugh,to our band of irregulars. Walter and I cant thank you enough for your contributions. I will be in touch with as many of you as possible when we plan over winter birding and non-birding outtings.
To the staff and management of Rosetta McClain Gardens...thanks to all of you,for your contiuned friendships and the immense amount of assistance which you gave. Our visitors loved the gardens and clean facilities. You are to be commended,as,as you well know,the impact of your work represents not just yourselves,but our community and city. Thanks for your many kindnesses to Walter,myself and others. Hot coffee(caffine fixes) got us going many mornings! Without your help and co-operation,we couldnt do what we do.
People call this BIGFRANK's watch...NO WAY!!,it would never be the success that it is,without everyone playing their part. People not only around Toronto,but southern Ontario,now recognize Rosetta McClain Gardens as a great place to view birds of prey during migration.

Record Year!!! Wrap(tor)-Up Summary 2010

Another season of raptor watching has come to an end.It was a record setting fall,with a final total of 6545 raptors observed. This smashed our previous record of 5844. It seemed daily at peak migration time,that record after record fell,one day,one month and species final totals. Walter and I have been asked to submit a Toronto Records Committee report for our September 9th record Osprey count of 53 in one day. This is a GTA record! Thanks to Walter for this impressive list of records set this season at Rosetta. We set 21 and tied one other record this year.
53 Opsrey were seen Sept 9th,176 were seen in the month of September,which led to our season best 211. All new records! Bald Eagles were a similar story,18 were observed on Sept 10th a new site record. September saw a new monthly record of 43 Bald Eagles and a record final tally of 73 Bald Eagles were spotted. We saw a record number of Sharpshinned Hawks in September,finishing with 2067 and a new season high of 2797. 15 Northern Goshawks in the month of October was a new record. November 1st we had a record number of Redtailed Hawks fly by with 251. Roughlegged Hawks have moved in larger numbers then normal in southern Ontario and the sightings at Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch reflect this as well. We recorded a one day record of 9 on October 31st,a high of 18 in the month of November and a season best total of 28. We set records for all 3 falcon species. On Sept 9th we saw a day record of 203,a new month record of 581 in September were counted and the final total of 719 was also a record. We tied our best one day Merlin total of 10,on Sept 8th,had a record 52 sightings in September and observed 87 in total for another record. We saw the highest number of Peregrine Falcons for any southern Ontario count site,with a new site record of 85. On October 1st we tallied our best one day total of all raptors ever with 946! September saw our highest monthly count ever too,with 3385 total birds of prey counted. Lastly we had our most ever days with over 100 raptors observed,with 20. WHAT A SEASON WOW!!!!
Final Totals
211-Osprey
1195-Turkey Vulture
73-Bald Eagle
322-Northern Harrier
2797-Sharpshinned Hawk
82-Coopers Hawk
17-Northern Goshawk
21-Redshouldered Hawk
190-Broadwinged Hawk
707-Redtailed Hawk
28-Roughlegged Hawk
11-Golden Eagle
719-American Kestrel
87-Merlin
85-Peregrine Falcon
6545-Final Total
Thanks to everyone for an amazing season.
We also counted:
44-Great Blue Heron
20-Common Nighthawk
410-Common Loons
Oddities Seen This Season:
Cave Swallows
Sandhill Cranes
Snow Geese
American White Pelican
White-winged Crossbills
Short-eared Owl
Rusty Blackbirds

Nov 29 The Finale 4 Raptors

On Monday,Carol,Pat,Nancy and Peter,dropped by the park. In addition to our local Redtailed Hawk being harrassed by American Crows and a co-operative Coopers Hawk,they observed a final 3 Redtailed Hawks and one migrating Coopers Hawk. Pat sent along these shots of a Redtail chased by a Crow.

Our Co-operative Coopers,fence sitting.

End of season summaries soon to come.

A Few More Raptors

Walter,Mike 2(thanks for todays Timbits!!),Ann,Murray,(2 separate people not Canada's Snowbird)Anthony,Pat and I,were present today to count a few more raptors. A couple of "local" Redtailed Hawks tried to confuse things by making several passes of the park. Many times they were "accompanied" by the local American Crows. A nice male Northern Harrier was spotted about 1230pm,just over the lake. A few countable Redtails went through and a Peregrine went through the park in a hurry.
Just before the first of the gang got too cold to hang in,Mike picked up a high Sandhill Crane,which got ridiculously high,out over the lake. Eventually it made its way back toward land. One Common Loon was observed. Walter has been keeping track of Loon sightings and powered by a day that saw 160 down on the lake in October,todays made something over 400.(final tally will appear in our season end wrap up).
Todays Count
1-Northern Harrier
3-Redtailed Hawks
1-Peregrine Falcon
It was very cold. Extremities got the worst of it today.

Earlier this season Cave Swallows were seen. Anthony Glenesk sent along these 2 shots taken at The Spit(Tommy Thompson Park).

3 Cave Swallows

Cave Swallow Close-Up

Thanks to Anthony for his first contributions to our site. I hope the first of many come next season!

Nov 24th 10 More Raptors

Today the winds ended up weaker than predicted earlier in the week. Myself,Walter,Bill,BillB,Hugh,Betty,Cori,Shirley,Pat and Nancy saw a few raptors. A Peregrine Falcon circled very high up,while a few of the Redtails spiralled to "ozone" height. Good conversation was enjoyed,with some hopeful plans for winter birding among the many topics.Our final total today was:
1-Sharpshinned Hawk
2-Coopers Hawks
6-Redtailed Hawks
1-Peregrine Falcon
There looks like a number of very wet days coming up. If there is a north element wind in the next week we will be present to count.

A Few Days Left

With a week left in count season,things are really winding down. Walter and I will still be present on days we think could hold promise. Wednesday and Saturday look alright. Things will be over officially on Nov 30 and weather pending I hope many folks will come for the final day. Then its winter birding. Try to keep in touch and if you are heading out remember to get hold of some of your raptor watch pals. Later in the winter we will do a trip to Nanticoke to see Bald Eagles,check for Short and Long-eared Owls and see many Redtails and Roughlegs. Stay tuned for details.
Have a look at this video called How Hawks See
http://wimp.com/hawkssee