[mou] Fw: Manx Shearwater on Lake Ontario

[Steve Weston]

I thought people might be interested in the sea birds being seen on Lake 
Ontario.  With the low presure system passing south of the Twin Cities, 
easterly winds should be over Michigan soon.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jean Iron" <jeaniron@SYMPATICO.CA>
To: <BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 3:39 PM
Subject: Manx Shearwater on Lake Ontario


> Ontario birders have a well-established "seawatch". It's Van Wagners Beach 
> in Hamilton at the west end of Lake Ontario, probably the best far inland 
> location in eastern North America to see oceanic/pelagic species. On 
> Thursday, August 31, Barry Cherriere found and photographed a Manx 
> Shearwater off Van Wagners Beach. It was seen well again yesterday by a 
> large group of happy birders.
> See three photos of Manx http://www.ofo.ca/photos/
>
> Yesterday we also had excellent views of two juvenile Sabine's Gulls, an 
> adult and several juvenile Parasitic Jaegers chasing gulls, and two 
> Red-necked Phalaropes, with Toronto's skyline on the horizon. This past 
> week adult and juvenile Long-tailed Jaegers, juvenile Sabine's Gulls and a 
> juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake were seen. The best conditions are winds 
> with an easterly component. From now until December birders will be 
> looking for all three jaegers, kittiwakes, juvenile Northern Gannets and 
> who knows what else. Apart from hurricane assisted birds, there are two 
> main sources of oceanic birds seen on Lake Ontario. First, most jaegers 
> and Sabine's Gulls and perhaps a few kittiwakes come overland from Hudson 
> and James Bays. Second, the St. Lawrence River (Seaway) funnels most 
> kittiwakes and all gannets (only one record for James Bay) and probably 
> all of the alcids seen on Lake Ontario. It seems likely that the Manx 
> Shearwater also wandered up the St. Lawrence River into Lake Ontario. 
> There's a previous record for Ontario from Ottawa, found dead 26 August 
> 2001 floating on the Ottawa River, which is the largest tributary of the 
> St Lawrence. The current Manx Shearwater photos and written documentation 
> will be reviewed by the Ontario Bird Records Committee.
>
> Good birding,
>
> Jean Iron & Ron Pittaway
> Toronto & Minden, Ontario
>
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