Things I am Thinking About Right Now...

  • 1. Finally Updated; A busy ( and not-so-birdy fall ) fall
  • 2. A smew in Ontario ??? And I got to see it !
  • 3. Thinking about summer vacation...
  • 4. And Sping trips too !
  • 5. Quite a few Winter rarities around. May try to add a few more to the list
  • 6. Still no snow on the ground...
  • 7. Project FeederWatch is going strong. Two eports submitted...
  • 8. I think I have convinced my wife to visit Cape May next summer !
  • 9. The Elephant Pepper Development Trust ( Check out their site ! )
  • 10. Tying to decide how to spend my remaining gift certificates !

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Willow Ptarmagin at Darlington Nuclear Plant

The Birding community in Ontario is abuzz with the sighting of a Willow Ptarmagin on the grounds of a local nuclear power plant. So much buzz that it made the paper...

Of course, the one ( and only ? ) trip to the facility coincided with a big party for my Dad's 70th birthday, which goes to show that I have my priorities in the right place. However, I now find myself living the experiece vicariously via Youtube:

To explain this odd bird sighting, I will use the power of Copy/Paste from Ontbirds ( the Ontario bird sightings page ) and Jean Iron:

 "Last winter there was a very large irruption of Willow Ptarmigan and even a
few Rock Ptarmigan into south-central Quebec. The Darlington Willow
Ptarmigan is likely an extreme overshoot from last winter's irruption.
Remarkably, there was a specimen taken near Whitby, which is close to
Darlington, on 15 May 1897 following a large irruption in the winter of
1886-1887."

Hopefully, there will be another trip arranged so even more birders can enjoy this amazing sighting !

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