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With Blake Mann

Birding in 1954

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

A few years ago, I was browsing in a used bookstore and came across a booklet published by the Detroit Audubon Society in 1956. It is entitled "Bird Survey of the Detroit Region, 1954". The region included the area around Detroit from Toledo up to Lexington west to Ann Arbor and Flint, and extended into Ontario from Grand Bend down to east of Rondeau Park.
It contains a wealth of information about bird sightings, particularly in Ontario. What caught my interest were all the sightings in Lambton and Kent Counties, as well as the names of observers mentioned. Wallaceburg residents like Dennis Rupert, and the Carscallen brothers were familiar ones. Other names may be familiar to some. Rupert became a well-known birder in the province and was active until his untimely death in 1996. The Carscallens are still interested in birding.

Let us step back in time almost fifty years when birdwatching was unique, and look at some of the local interesting sightings of 1954.
SNOWY EGRET: April 17 by J. R. & C. Carscallen and Ross Brown at Bradley's Marsh. (apparently Ontario's 5th record).
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON: J. Peter saw 200 in a ground-nesting colony in St. Luke's Marsh on May 22.
GLOSSY IBIS: seen by Peter and others with above B. C. Night Herons on May 22.
WOOD DUCK: female with 12 young on north Sydenham seen by Tom Martin.
RING-NECKED DUCK: Two on St. Clair R. on May 17 seen by Dennis Rupert.
LESSER SCAUP: one male at Fawn Island on August 2 by Dennis Rupert.
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK: On June 16, J. Carscallen and R. Soens had one on 8th conc. Sombra.
PEREGRINE FALCON: One south of Port Lambton on June 15 by C. and J. Carscallen.
PIGEON HAWK (MERLIN): One on August 7 in Dover Twp. by Carscallen.
PIPING PLOVER: several nesting records for Port Franks area.
GOLDEN PLOVER: a flock of approximately 2000 in Dover Twp.
WILLET: one at Bradley's Marsh on Sept. 26 (first survey record since 1947).
SHORT-EARED OWL: R. Carscallen saw one on the ice of St. Clair R. on Feb. 14.
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER: one on July 16 near Wallaceburg, Carscallen et. al.
WESTERN MEADOWLARK: One on July 16 in Sombra Twp. (Carscallen).
Nesting Records:
PINTAIL DUCK: broods seen at Dover Marsh and St. Luke's Club.
BLUE-WINGED TEAL: 11 nests at St. Luke's Club.
REDHEAD DUCK: 11 nests found by E. A. Roberts on May 24 at Walpole Island.
CANVASBACK: 2 nests and six other females at Walpole Island by E. A. Roberts.
RUDDY DUCK: Roberts found 9 nests at Walpole Island.
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER: Carscallen saw an adult excavating a nest at Wallaceburg on May 24.

These are just a few of the sightings for the year 1954. I left out many of the observers for brevity. The booklet is 100 pages and contains all kinds of records (including banding records) that are interesting to browse through. Although the original price was twenty-five cents, what a bargain for $5.00!