Late Summer Birding and the Return of the Migrants

The Neotropic Cormorant might not fit directly into the category of returning migrants, but it does only seem to show up in during the two migration seasons.  I had hoped for one to land locally, near Burlington in the Niagara region, where I had seen them before, but not this time.  This one showed up in Cataraqui Bay, in Kingston, Ontario and had me spending most of the day in the car and less than an hour enjoying the bird.  The 8 hours round trip was worth it, especially because I was able to visit with my daughter, Helen, who moved to Kingston many years ago, to work with Autistic children.

Neotropic Cormorant on the right, defending its rock against the Double-crested Cormorant:

Meanwhile, I should have just kept driving, as my nemesis bird, the Stellar’s Sea Eagle was once again found off the coast of Newfoundland.  I have a couple more trips to the east coast, so I will bide my time and take advantage of some time at home to relax, recharge my batteries, and not spend too much money for a few weeks before Sue and I head to Sydney, Nova Scotia for our, well her, summer vacation.  Maybe the birds will be with us and the sea eagle will come close enough for us to get to.  I have accepted that I can’t see every bird and that some are going to slip away.  But that’s birding.  If it was easy, what fun would that be. 

Just a little closer to home, in Chatham County, near Rondeau PP I was able to view a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a common fall visitor to southern Ontario.  Often seen on sod farms or in freshly ploughed fields in the fall, this one turned up at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons.  Fellow birder Kelly Sue had recently moved out there, so I messaged her that I was coming for the bird and arranged to meet her there. Two hours later, I arrived and was able to get the bird in my scope for a few minutes until a flock of Killdeer took flight and flew right over the buff-breasted and flushed it, not to be seen again that afternoon.  Kelly Sue arrived five minutes later and for the second time that day missed the bird.  I know her pain.  I have missed that darn sea eagle three times this year.  Of course, I had to travel a lot further.

Bad photo of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper from a few years ago…  I don’t have any good ones…

Those two species were 417 and 418 for my Canada Big Year, and I’ve been out birding most days since I returned, but other than those two, nothing I haven’t seen already this year, somewhere in Canada, has shown up.  Maybe that Swallow-tailed Kite, we had come visit last year will drop by before we head to Nova Scotia, or a rarity I can’t even imagine, like when we had the Groove-billed Ani show up.  Either way, the anticipation of something rare or just getting on a plane again and heading out on another adventure, keeps me going.