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Rare Birds in the Area, 2002
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
On July 7, 2002 after returning home from Point Pelee, I read on the internet a rather vague message about the sighting of a White-winged Dove near St. Clair NWA. No details were given, but I thought I would check it out. I arrived there and found other birders, including Paul Pratt, searching for the bird. Unfortunately we did not find it. The next morning about 07:30 I received a phone call from a friend, saying that he was looking at the bird. Again I went, but the bird had disappeared before my arrival.
The next morning, July 9, I decided to take a chance and look for the bird. I arrived before 07:00 to meet several other birders. We waited for over an hour, and suddenly the dove appeared on a hydro wire about 100m from our vantage point along Townline Rd. We watched it for about ten minutes before it disappeared into nearby trees. It was seen a few times in the following days for only brief periods until about July 14.
The White-winged Dove is actually a very rare and significant bird in Ontario. There have been only a few sightings, and these have been very brief. Very few birders have actually seen this species in Ontario, although it is very common down south and in the Carribean. In fact many of the top birders in the province had not seen one. This list included Alan Wormington, Ontario's top birder with over 400 species on his Ontario Life List. Alan was present to see the dove and take photos on July 9. This may be the ninth record for Ontario. The last was near Thunder Bay in 2001.
BLACK-NECKED STILT
On December 27, 2001 local naturalist Larry Cornelis was scouting for birds in the area in anticipation of the upcoming Christmas Bird Count. While looking at some Mallards on the Snye River across from Snye-View Orchards, an odd bird suddenly appeared from behind the cattails. It was a Black-necked Stilt from the south – a very rare bird in Ontario even in summer. Local birders were called, including myself. I put out the alert on Ontbirds Listserve, and continued daily updates until it left the area. Hundreds of birders from all over came to view this spectacle over the next week. It was last seen flying towards the St. Clair River on the morning of January 2.
The Black-necked Stilt is one of the most beautiful and unique members of the shorebird family. It is black and white, and has very long pink legs, hence its name. This particular bird was a female. Only ten previous records of this species have been recorded in Ontario, all in warmer months. What makes this sighting rather significant is the fact that it was seen in winter. A Black-necked Stilt has never been seen this far north in the winter months. It was recorded on the Wallaceburg Christmas Bird Count on the 29th, setting even another record. No stilt has ever been recorded on a Canadian CBC. Obviously, this is one for the record books. The news even made it into the National Post. To quote one top veteran Ontario birder, "this is one of the most bizarre late December records ever in this province".
If anyone has any unusual birds to report, contact the author of this column through the the cktimes.
