Saturday 23 November 2013

Tommy Thompson park - negative 4 degrees celsius, snow, and 45km/h winds.

Today I went birding at Tommy Thompson Park. It was -4 degrees, was pelting snow, and there was 45km/h winds. Yeah, what a great day. That didn't stop me from getting 7 new species though!

Here's what I saw:

1 American Kestrel
1 Great Horned Owl
600 Long-tailed Duck
200 Common Goldeneye
100 Greater Scaup
50 Bufflehead
10 Redhead
20 Mallard
10 American Wigeon
50 Gadwall
10 Red-breasted Merganser
8 Trumpeter Swan
3 American Black Duck
10 Black-capped Chickadees

Here are some shots:


Mallards


Hooded Mergansers 


Common Goldeneye - 6 males, 1 female


Common Goldeneye flying through the snow - 3 males, 1 female


American Black Duck (left) and Mallard (right) 


Long-tailed Duck


Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Gadwall, and Redhead


Toronto skyline


Long-tailed Duck


Bufflehead


Red-breasted Merganser


Great Horned Owl - my first owl I've ever seen!


Long-tailed Ducks


Please comment!

Happy birding!

-Owen
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7 comments:

  1. Gwinnett Birding23 November 2013 at 22:38

    Whoah, awesome birds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown24 November 2013 at 08:50

      I was also shocked to get great birds considering the weather. Thanks!

      I missed out on Tundra Swan and all three Scoters, though. You can't see them all!
      I'm going back in mid December, though!

      Delete
  2. Sergey23 November 2013 at 22:46

    Amazing shots and birds! Congrats on the lifers.

    Now our ABA lifelists are equal! I'm going to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains next week, though, so I hope to get some lifers.

    Good birding!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown24 November 2013 at 08:52

      Wow, I caught up! Because of the weather here, that was my first birding trip in weeks! I got my last lifer 3 weeks ago!

      Thanks for the compliment, and good luck on your trip! ( a warmer trip ) :D

      Delete
  3. Unknown24 November 2013 at 09:04

    Nice birds! 600 Long-Tailed Ducks is making this kid supremely jealous (and so are those Redheads)!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Passionate Naturalist3 December 2013 at 14:54

    Wow - so lucky to see the Great Horned Owl! Do you have Snowy Owls in Toronto....? That would be awesome to see in the wild.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown3 December 2013 at 17:08

    Snowy Owls are rare, but regularly occuring - I hope to see one in December!

    ReplyDelete

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