A Morning At Carden

Birding Carden Alvar

This is my first blog post, so I thought I'd start this off with something special. On Saturday, May 27 I went up to Carden Alvar on a birding trip with a few friends. 

The day started off well, the first bird of the trip was an EASTERN BLUEBIRD. Shortly after that, a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO flew overhead, what a great way to start the trip! We then proceeded to the bluebird box 10 hide to try our luck for Loggerhead Shrike and Upland Sandpiper. On the way, we saw plenty of EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, BROWN THRASHERS and BOBOLINKS, birds that are usually hard to find in Toronto.

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Meadowlark

At the hide we came across the most cooperative pair of BARN SWALLOWS that I have ever seen. They were perched about 6 feet away from the hide and allowed for some excellent photo-ops. Inside the hide we found an EASTERN PHOEBE sitting on a nest. Unfortunately, we saw no sign of either shrikes or sandpipers.

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallows

Yellow Warbler

Common Loon

We then drove on to Sedge Wren Marsh, where we were able to locate a SEDGE WREN building a nest. Unfortunately, the bird was quite far away and I was unable to get any photos of it. As we were searching for Sedge Wrens we heard multiple WILSON'S SNIPE winnowing in the background and we were able to pick out some very distant snipe in flight. We also heard an ALDER FLYCATCHER calling (lifer!). As we were leaving the marsh we saw an AMERICAN BITTERN fly across the road.

At least the RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD was cooperative!

As we continued in our search for sandpipers and shrike we found an incredibly cooperative WILSON'S SNIPE posing for us on a fence post. We were also able to relocate the AMERICAN BITTERN which I was unable to get a photo of partly due to the rain, and partly due to the fact that the bird was hidden in tall grass as bitterns usually are.

Wilson's Snipe

American Bittern, photo taken by Eric Baldo

We then left Carden Alvar for a side trip to a small town nearby to photograph an OSPREY that was conveniently nesting about 10m off the ground next to the road. We were able to scramble up the side of the road to reach eye level with the nest. The Osprey was not pleased, but put on quite a show for us.

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

After the encounter with the Osprey, we went back to Carden Alvar to search for Golden-winged Warbler, an Alvar specialty. While we were driving we came across an EASTERN TOWHEE conveniently posed at the side of the road. At one point I thought that I heard a Golden-winged, so we got out of the car to check. Turned out that it was "only" a Black-Throated Green, but I was able to photograph this stunning male SCARLET TANAGER!

Eastern Towhee

Scarlet Tanager

At one point in our search we got out of the car in a spot that looked good for Golden-winged Warblers. We then started to play a recording of a Golden-winged in the hope that it would respond, after numerous attempts we heard it. The faint zee-zaa-zaa-zaa of a GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER! All of a sudden there were several males all flitting about 5-10m off the road. Then I saw movement in a tree and I raised my camera to photograph it, it clearly wasn't a Golden-winged so I assumed it was the Brewster's that I had heard someone call shortly beforehand. After careful analysis of the photo, I concluded that it was a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, a lifer!

Golden-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

After the warbler excitement, we went back to the Sedge Wren Marsh where we saw more Golden-wingeds but not much else. We then made one last stop to try to find shrikes and sandpipers. We dipped on Loggerheads but we managed to get some half-decent looks at an UPLAND SANDPIPER walking through the grassland habitat. Unfortunately, our time at Carden had come to an end, it was 1:00 and we had to make it back to Toronto for Toronto Birding Week's culminating event, "The Last Curley". A poetry/music/ballet rendition of Fred Bosworth's novel Last of The Curlews.

Birding Marie-Curtis Park (Etobicoke/Mississauga)

The performance was at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church near Colonel Samuel Smith Park. The show far exceeded expectations and now I need to go buy the book. I then heard that a Connecticut Warbler had been sighted at Marie-Curtis Park in Etobicoke. I had no idea what a Connecticut Warbler was or sounded like, or even precisely where it had been last seen. But I knew that I needed it for my life list. I was dropped off at the park (which I had never been too, or even heard of before Connecticut Warbler fame) and after some wandering was able to stumble upon a fellow birder. Then more birders emerged from the bushes, I had found the stakeout. 

This was my second stakeout of the weekend and wasn't my last. The birders told me that the bird had been heard shortly before I showed up so I decided to sit there and wait for a bit. There were plenty of warblers around (mourning, chestnut-sided, yellow, etc.) but no sign of the Connecticut. After over an hour of waiting for the bird to come to me, I decided to take matters into my own hand and try to find the bird myself. I walked off into the bushes in the bushes and after a few minutes of searching, I saw a small bird fly out in front of me. After a few more minutes of waiting for the bird to reappear it finally showed it self and I was able to get a surprisingly decent shot of it. 

Connecticut Warbler

On my way back to the bus stop, I managed to pick up a few more birds for the day. MOURNING WARBLER (lifer!), and BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO among others. It took me two hours to get back home from Marie-Curtis, but this side trip was definitely worth it for the warbler. All in all, I had a fantastic trip and managed to pick up six lifers! Shoutout to Mark Peck who dedicated his time and energy (as well as copious amounts of gasoline) to take me and two other young birders on an amazing outing.

Lifers of the trip

1. Connecticut Warbler
2. Mourning Warbler
3. Alder Flycatcher
4. Sedge Wren
5. Golden-winged Warbler
6. Blue-winged Warbler

Trip total: 81

My Canada Year List total at the end of the trip : 203