Day 1 of Summer Target Birding - Squat

My last Grade 9 exam was on the 20th so now I have a couple weeks before I leave for the Rockies to fill with target birding.

In search of Laughing Gull and Piping Plover at Ashbridge's Bay Park

In hindsight it was a bit stupid of me to try for Laughing Gull and Piping Plover at 6:00 am since the birds had only been seen at this location in the evening. When I got there, there were hundreds of RING-BILLED GULLS and BONAPARTE'S GULLS, but no Laughings. There were even a couple Redheads in the flooded grassy area, unusual for this time of year.

Bonaparte's Gull

 Then I noticed a Semipalmated Sandpiper running around on the sand. Somewhat of a rare find for this time of year. Probably a juvenile bird that didn't quite make it to the breeding grounds in the Arctic.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

 Since it didn't look like any Laughing Gulls were going to show up I spent a bit of time photographing the Bonaparte's Gulls before leaving Ashbridge's. On my way out of the park, to my surprise a LINCOLN's SPARROW ran across the path in front of me and into a bush. Very unusual for this time of year.

Bonaparte's Gull

Yawning Bonaparte's Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Clearly not Laughing distant hooded gull, Bonaparte's

In search of Carolina Wren at High Park

After leaving Ashbridge's Bay, with no clear idea as to where I was going to go next I got on the 501 bus (no longer the 501 streetcar) and ended up at High Park. I had heard that there were Carolina Wrens near the Allotment Gardens (inconveniently situated in the off leash area), I needed Carolina Wren for my year list so I went over to look for them. On my way, I saw plenty of birds feeding their young, including two BALTIMORE ORIOLE nests.

In the Allotment Garden area, there were plenty of dogs (and rehearsing Shakespearean actors), but no wrens. By then it was noon, so I guess I'll just have to try at a later date.

To sum it off

By the end of the day I had seen a grand total of zero target species, but the weather had been nice so I had a decent morning outing (not worth waking up a 5 in the morning for). Maybe tomorrow I'll have more luck.