Two Puzzling Birds at Ashbridge’s Bay / November 7, 2019

We had 2 bird species today which are not commonly seen in this area.

One was in a tree:

The other was with hundreds of others in a sandy area:

Both showed some yellow with streaking on the breast:

One showed bright white on the side of the wings and the other didn’t:

Here is the one in the tree:

That orange-ish circle under the eyes identifies it as a Cape May Warbler. The other closest-to-winter records I see for this species are all in September. Here is one from May:

Cape May Warbler

Here are more photos of the beach bird:

The white outer tail feathers identify it as an American Pipit. In addition, the bill is slender and the bird bobs its tail while walking which was evident today on this 0 degree, overcast morning.

Species list: mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, American black duck, gadwall,  bufflehead, red-breasted merganser, ring-billed gull, black-capped chickadee, American pipit, American robin, Cape May warbler, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, song sparrow.  (14 species)

Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
American Goldfinch
Gadwall (males)
Red-breasted Merganser (female)

I couldn’t resist photographing some plants showing the first snowfall of this season:

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Panicled Aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum)
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
Amur Maple (Acer maackii)
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
Hawthorn (Crataegus)
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)
Spindle-tree (Euyonymus europaea)

Park scenes:

Squirrel
The oil-rig like platform off shore is part of a project to put in a 3.5 km underwater tunnel to convey treated effluent from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant out into Lake Ontario. The project will continue until 2023.

This morning’s group:

NATURE POETRY

Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far.                                                – Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85)

Miles Hearn

1 thought on “Two Puzzling Birds at Ashbridge’s Bay / November 7, 2019

  1. George

    Cape May Warbler in November ! Is this a juvenile bird (hatch year) which doesn’t know its way South? You suggest this could be the latest record in Toronto for this species.

    Reply

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