Waterfowl through Rallids

An early flock of five Ross’s Geese were reported on 9 Sep in Matachewan, Timiskaming Dist (Jared Taman, Kari Taman). Early Brant were seen 7 Aug on False Duck Island, Prince Edward Co (Mark Patry) and 24 Aug at Northbluff Point, Cochrane Dist (Ross Wood, Ariel Lenske, Gillian Holmes). A Mute Swan on James Bay at Northbluff Point, Cochrane Dist on 19 Aug was notable for the Lowlands region (Ross Wood, Ariel Lenske, Gillian Holmes). Several Eurasian Wigeons made an appearance in the latter half of the fall: 26 Sep–25 Oct in Kingston, Frontenac Co (Dianne Croteau, Richard Brault), 2–31 Oct at Long Sault, Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Co (Robert Scranton), 20 Oct–3 Nov at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Sean M. Jenniskens), 21 Oct at Cumberland, City of Ottawa (Tom Devecseri), and 19 Nov at Rondeau Provincial Park, Chatham-Kent Co (James T. Burk). Hybrids of American and Eurasian Wigeon were seen on 17 Sep on Lake Scugog, Durham RM (m. ob.) and 2–3 Nov at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Sean M. Jenniskens). A Canvasback present from 4–5 Nov in Timmins, Cochrane Dist was a good record for northeastern Ontario (Roxane Filion). A group of five Harlequin Ducks at Thunder Cape, Thunder Bay Dist on 5 Oct (Mark Dorriesfield, Rinchen Boardman) was notable for northern Ontario as was a single bird on 2 Nov in Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma Dist (Carter Dorscht). Hybrids between Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes were reported on 29 Oct at Lake Park, Lanark Co (Michelle Martin, Paul Martin, Mark Gawn), 7–14 Nov in the City of Ottawa (Jon P. Ruddy), and 21 Nov into December in the City of Hamilton (Barry Cherriere, Kevin McLaughlin).

Eared Grebes were seen on 13 Aug on Amherst Island, Lennox and Addington Co (Mark Patry), 16 Aug–9 Oct in Exeter, Huron Co (Alfred Raab), 22 Aug in Strathroy, Middlesex Co (Dianne Hayman), 24 Aug at the Carillon Dam, Prescott and Russell Co (Jean W. Cote), 4 Sep in Harrow, Essex Co (Donny Moore), 1 Oct–8 Nov in Sudbury, City of Greater Sudbury (Bruce Gates), and 5 Nov in Strathroy, Middlesex Co (Laurie Wilson Neish, Dianne Hayman). Eurasian Collared-Doves were reported from Caledonia, Haldimand Co on 3 Sep (George Naylor, Rhondda James), Rondeau Provincial Park, Chatham-Kent Co, on 24 Sep (James T. Burk, Keith J. Burk), and Neebing, Thunder Bay Dist, from 4–11 Nov (Theresa Rahmer, Fred Lesnick). The continuing White-winged Dove from the spring in Rondeau Provincial Park, Chatham-Kent Co, was last reported on 26 Aug (m. ob.). An extremely late Common Nighthawk was seen on 3 Nov in Rondeau Provincial Park, Chatham-Kent Co (Stephen R. Charbonneau, Aaron Charbonneau, Garry T. Sadler). An Anna’s Hummingbird present from 3–20 Nov in Carleton Place, Lanark Co was visited by many birders during its almost month-long stay (Virginia Rogers). Unfortunately, the presence of a Costa’s Hummingbird, a first for Ontario, in Niagara Falls, Niagara RM from 3 Oct into December was not shared with the birding community until after the bird’s departure (fide Cindy Cartwright). An American Coot seen on 12 Sep at Longridge Point, Cochrane Dist was a good record for James Bay (Gray Carlin, Daniel Froehlich). A Purple Gallinule was present on 21 Oct in Gilmour, Hastings Co (Brian Pfrimmer).

Shorebirds through Gulls

American Avocets were reported 23 Sep–14 Oct in Blenheim, Chatham-Kent Co (Keith J. Burk) and 21–30 Oct in Bracebridge, Muskoka DM (Doug Jagger). Nesting Piping Plovers were last reported on 6 Aug at Sauble Beach, Bruce Co (m. ob.), 23 Aug in Oshawa, Durham RM (m. ob.), and 7 Sep at Wasaga Beach, Simcoe Co (m. ob.); additionally, a migrant bird was seen from 30–31 Aug in the City of Hamilton (Ellen Horak, Jerry Horak). Slightly early Hudsonian Godwits were reported on 24 Aug in both the City of Toronto (Owen Yates) and the City of Hamilton (Charmaine Anderson), and 31 Aug in Port Stanley, Elgin Co (Aaron Allensen). Several Red Phalaropes were seen in October and November: 8 Oct on Lake Dore, Renfrew Co (Mark Gawn), 31 Oct–1 Nov in Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Northumberland Co (fide William Gilmour), 1 Nov in the City of Hamilton (Mourad Jabra), 10 Nov in Sarnia, Lambton Co (Scott Connop), 11–12 Nov in Wiarton, Grey Co (Alfred Raab), 13–14 Nov in Long Sault, Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Co (Jon P. Ruddy), and 24 Nov in Oakville, Halton RM (David I. Pryor). The only Willet report of the fall was of two birds in Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma Dist on 12 Sep (Ken McIlwrick). A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, only the fourth for Ontario, was seen on 3 Sep in Exeter, Huron Co (Riley Walsh, Robin Walsh). The date of occurrence and age of the bird fit well with what is “expected” for this species in Canada. Western Sandpipers were reported on 20 Aug in Blenheim, Chatham-Kent Co (Blake A. Mann), 10 Sep in Cressy, Prince Edward Co (Mark Patry), and 29 Sep–9 Oct in the City of Hamilton (James Lees).

A Long-tailed Jaeger seen on 1 Sep at Northbluff Point, Cochrane Dist was a good bird for the Lowlands region (Ross Wood). Two Black Guillemots were seen on James Bay in Cochrane Dist: 8 Aug at Longridge Point (Daniel Froehlich) and 23 Aug at Northbluff Point (Ross Wood, Ariel Lenske, Gerhard Bruins, Gillian Holmes). A Razorbill was present from 31 Oct–1 Nov in the City of Ottawa (Bruce M. Di Labio). A Thick-billed Murre was found in a weak state on a road in Vaughan, York RM on 20 Nov and sent for rehabilitation (fide Amanda Guercio). Unidentified large alcid species were seen on 30 Oct and 24 Nov in the City of Ottawa (Jon P. Ruddy). Several Black-legged Kittiwakes were reported: 11 Oct in the City of Hamilton (Brandon R. Holden), 13 Oct on Long Point, Norfolk Co (Stuart A. Mackenzie), 4 Nov in Burlington, Halton RM (Mark Jennings), 4–5 Nov in the City of Hamilton (m. ob.), 10 Nov in Sarnia, Lambton Co (Brandon Edwards), 11–12 Nov in the City of Hamilton (Henrique Pacheco, Deborah Pacheco), and 26 Nov into December in Niagara Falls, Niagara RM (Betsy Potter). Away from the southern Great Lakes, Sabine’s Gulls were seen 8–9 Sep in Georgina, York RM (Frank Pinilla), 22 Sep on Bedivere Lake, Thunder Bay Dist (Connie Hartviksen, Ken Hartviksen), 29 Sep in the City of Ottawa (Jon P. Ruddy), and 7–9 Nov in both Georgina, York RM and Brock, Durham RM (Frank Pinilla). The only Laughing Gull of the fall was present on 24 Aug in Cambridge, Waterloo RM (Bill Wilson). A Franklin’s Gull was seen from 2–5 Nov in Fort Erie, Niagara RM (Marcie L. Jacklin).

Loons through Woodpeckers

Pacific Loons were widespread with reports from: Essex, Norfolk, and Simcoe Cos, the Cities of Hamilton and Toronto, and Halton, Durham, and York RMs. Ontario’s tenth Wood Stork was present from 12–30 Aug in Point Pelee National Park, Essex Co (Mark Nenadov, Jenn Nenadov) allowing many birders to see this rare visitor. Unidentified frigatebirds were seen on 24 Sep near Giant’s Tomb Island, Simcoe Co (Andrew Bunting, Derek Meletzko) and 25 Sep near Lovett, Northumberland Co (Carlie Goodhead). There were two reports of Northern Gannet this fall, a bird in the City of Ottawa from 11–12 Nov (Bruce M. Di Labio) and another that moved between Burlington, Halton RM and the City of Hamilton from 20 Nov into December (Bruce Mackenzie). A Great Cormorant was photographed on 27 Nov in the City of Ottawa (fide iNaturalist). Neotropic Cormorants were seen on 2 Sep in the City of Toronto (David I. Pryor) and 20 Sep–29 Oct in Whitby, Durham RM (Mike Ferguson); both records likely pertain to the same bird. Notable American White Pelicans were reported 2–3 Nov at Erieau, Chatham-Kent Co (Dana Cofell) and 13 Nov in Windsor, Essex Co (fide Ojibway Park). Yellow-crowned Night Herons were present from 26 Aug–23 Sep in St. Jacobs, Waterloo RM (Theresa Binkley, Martin Binkley) and 9–14 Sep in LaSalle, Essex Co (Denyse-Anne Miller). Two Snowy Egrets were present in August: 6 Aug in Glencoe, Middlesex Co (Kathryn Hoo, Todd Hagedorn, Reuven Martin) and 29 August at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Kory J. Renaud). Western Cattle Egrets were widespread with reports from Essex, Chatham-Kent, Norfolk, Northumberland, Hastings, Lennox and Addington, and Haliburton Cos, the City of Hamilton, and Durham, Niagara, and Halton RMs.

A few Glossy Ibises were reported this fall: 28–29 Aug in Mitchell, Perth Co (Monika Pieper Landoni), 2–6 Sep in Harrow, Essex Co (John Schmelefske), three birds on 4 Sep in Collingwood, Simcoe Co (Logan Baldwin, Trevor Baldwin), and 6 Sep in Mar, Bruce Co (Kiah R. Jasper, Judy Jasper). Additionally, an unidentified Glossy/White-faced Ibis was seen on 30 Aug at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Paul Pratt). Away from Niagara, Black Vultures were reported on 28 Sep and 16 Oct near Union, Elgin Co (George Prieksaitis), 4 Nov near East Garafraxa and Centre Wellington in Dufferin and Wellington Cos (Dan J. MacNeal), and 29 Nov in Kingston, Frontenac Co (Todd Norris). A Swainson’s Hawk seen on 9 Sep at Northbluff Point, Cochrane Dist was quite notable for James Bay (Ross Wood, Ariel Lenske, Gillian Holmes); other records of this species were: 9 Sep and 30 Sep near Port Stanley, Elgin Co (Dave Brown) and 9 Oct at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Sean M. Jenniskens, Dan Loncke). A hybrid Red-shouldered x Red-tailed Hawk was seen on 7 Nov near Gananoque, Leeds and Grenville Co (Andrew Keaveney). A Barn Owl photographed on 11 Nov near Dean Lake, Algoma Dist was an excellent record for northern Ontario (fide Carter Dorscht). A Black-backed Woodpecker was a surprising find on 22 Oct in Newmarket, York RM (Steve McAllister).

Flycatchers through Thrushes

Both records of Say’s Phoebe this fall came from Thunder Bay Dist: 10 Aug at Thunder Cape (Rinchen Boardman) and 1 Sep at Flail Lake (Pegg L. Campbell, Mark Campbell). The second record of Tropical Kingbird for Ontario was only present one day: 19 Sep in Swastika, Timiskaming Dist (Serge Gendron). Western Kingbirds were seen on 26 Aug in Rainy River, Rainy River Dist (David New) and Thunder Cape, Thunder Bay Dist (Cory Ross, Cara Snell, Elliot Johnston), 2 Sep near Jobammageeshig Lake, Algoma Dist (Kathy Kaczynski, Tom Kaczynski), and 8 Nov in Kingsville, Essex Co (Jeremy L. Hatt). Ontario’s eleventh Fork-tailed Flycatcher was present from 24–25 Sep in the City of Toronto, allowing many to see this rare bird from South America (Noam Markus).

White-eyed Vireos were widespread with reports from: Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Middlesex, Elgin, Norfolk, and Prince Edward Cos, Halton RM, and the Cities of Hamilton and Toronto. A late Yellow-throated Vireo was seen on 7 Nov on Pelee Island, Essex Co (Patrick Kramer). Away from Lake Ontario, a Fish Crow at Point Pelee National Park, Essex Co on 29 Oct was notable (Kory J. Renaud). The end of October and beginning of November saw an influx of Cave Swallows into the province: 28 Oct at Point Pelee National Park, Essex Co (Jeremy M. Bensette, Tim Arthur), 30 Oct at Erie Beach, Chatham-Kent Co (Stephen R. Charbonneau) and Long Point, Norfolk Co (Matt Iles, Connor Hawey, Samreen Munim), 5–6 Nov in Almonte, Lanark Co (Michelle Martin, Paul Martin, Michael Tate), 6 Nov on Long Point, Norfolk Co (Tedd Maddeford, William Maddeford), 7 Nov at Holiday Beach, Essex Co (Sean M. Jenniskens), and 9 Nov at Long Point, Norfolk Co (Matt Iles, Audree Morin).

The sixth record of Rock Wren for the province was a one-day wonder on 8 Oct in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Bruce Co (Kenneth G. D. Burrell, Karen Knopf, Lillian A. Knopf). A Marsh Wren reported on 12 Sep at Longridge Point, Cochrane Dist was notable for James Bay (Daniel Froehlich, Gray Carlin). Notable Carolina Wrens were recorded on 12 Oct in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Algoma Dist (fide iNaturalist), 13 Oct–24 Nov in Englehart, Timiskaming Dist (Mark Milton), and 26–30 November in Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay Dist (Lindy T. Wagenaar). A Bewick’s Wren present from 9–10 Aug was a great find at the tip of Long Point, Norfolk Co (Mark Conboy, Logan Lalonde, Matt Iles). A Mountain Bluebird was found on 18 Nov in Waterloo, Waterloo RM and persisted into the winter (Anthony Vanderheyden). Townsend’s Solitaires were seen on 30 Sep at Thunder Cape, Thunder Bay Dist (Mark Dorriesfield), 1 Oct at Cabot Head, Bruce Co (Stephane Menu), 21 Oct at Thunder Cape, Thunder Bay Dist (Mark Dorriesfield), 2 Nov at White River, Algoma Dist (Alan Ryff), and from 14 Nov into December in Shelburne, Dufferin Co (Dan J. MacNeal). Varied Thrushes were seen on Long Point on 8–9 Oct (Ross Wood, Karen Wood, Graham Wood) and in Nipigon, Thunder Bay Dist from late November into December (Rob Swainson).

Old World Sparrows through Buntings

A Eurasian Tree Sparrow was seen in Wawa, Algoma Dist from 16 Oct into December (Gail Smith). A Brambling visited a feeder in Dryden, Kenora Dist from 13–15 Nov (Penny Ratuschniak). A flock of twenty Smith’s Longspur was an excellent find on 19 Oct in Pass Lake, Thunder Bay Dist (Lindy T. Wagenaar). The only Lark Sparrow of the fall was seen in the City of Toronto on 23 Sep (Adam Capparelli, Owen Yates). A Lark Bunting was photographed on Flowerpot Island, Bruce Co on 3 Oct (Jody Allair). A Henslow’s Sparrow was reported on 29 Oct near Union, Elgin Co (George Prieksaitis). Yellow-breasted Chats were seen on 21 Aug in Point Pelee National Park, Essex Co (Robert Gaucher), 17 Sep in Cambridge, Waterloo RM (fide Waterloo Region Nature Data), and 23–24 Sep on Long Point, Norfolk Co (Jody Allair). Yellow-headed Blackbirds were widespread with reports from: Essex, Chatham-Kent, Norfolk, Perth, and Northumberland Cos, Nipissing, Algoma, Cochrane, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay Dists, and the Cities of Hamilton and Ottawa. The Cochrane record, a bird seen at Longridge Point on 6 Sep represents only the third documented record for the Lowlands region (Kiah Walker). A Western Meadowlark seen on 25 Oct was a good find in Algonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing Dist (Amanda C. Guercio, Lev Frid, Dawn Sherman, David LeGros).

Notable Prothonotary Warblers were recorded 13–17 Aug in Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Northumberland Co (Doug Guay), 26–30 Aug in Whitby, Durham RM (fide Charmaine Anderson), and 24–25 Sep in the City of Ottawa (Sheila Craig). Kentucky Warblers were seen on 15 Aug at Prince Edward Point, Prince Edward Co (fide Prince Edward County Data) and 15–21 Aug on Long Point, Norfolk Co (Mark Conboy). A Black-throated Blue Warbler reported on 30 Aug at Longridge Point, Cochrane Dist was a good record for the Lowlands region (Daniel Froehlich). An Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler was present in Oakville, Halton RM from 29 Nov into December (Cheryl Edgecombe). A Yellow-throated Warbler was a good find in Elmira, Waterloo RM from 11–27 Nov (Darlene Lamarre). Two rare warblers from the west were found in the late fall and remained into the winter period: a Black-throated Gray Warbler in the City of Ottawa, first found on 2 Nov (Bruce M. Di Labio) and a Townsend’s Warbler in the Bates Subdivision, Chatham-Kent Co, first found on 11 Nov (James T. Burk). Summer Tanagers were reported 12–27 August in Longlac, Thunder Bay Dist (Fred J. Jennings), 19 Sep in Rock Point Provincial Park, Haldimand Co (Christian Friis), 30 Oct–19 Nov in Sudbury, City of Greater Sudbury (fide Bruce Gates), and 20 Nov in London, Middlesex Co (Pete Read). Dickcissels were widespread with reports from: Thunder Bay Dist, Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Norfolk, and Haldimand Cos, Niagara and Waterloo RMs, and the Cities of Toronto and Kawartha Lakes.

Report processed by Andrew Keaveney, 18 Sep 2024.