American Avocets Visit Presqu'ile

Nature Notes for April 29, 2011

You could hear the amazement in the voice on the answering machine message which I received late on Easter Saturday afternoon. At about 12:30 that day, after the morning rain had stopped, Doug McRae decided to visit Presqu’ile’s beaches to see what might have been grounded by the storm.

He found a treasure: American Avocets on Beach 3. There was not just one, but 32 birds! We decided that this was a sighting worth chasing and immediately decamped for Presqu’ile. Arriving at about 5:30 p.m., we crept carefully down the access road to Beach 3 and out onto the beach. There they still were, sleeping and preening on the beach near the water’s edge.

American Avocets are large, quite handsome shorebirds. They have black and white bodies with cinnamon neck and head. Their legs are so very long and thin that it almost seems impossible that they could support the weight of the bird. The bill is very long and upturned.

These birds are rare migrants in Ontario. If they are seen in the province, they are usually seen in the south-western Ontario and usually in ones and twos, not in such a large numbers. This flock  was also seen in a somewhat unusual place. They are more often found in wet fields, shallow marshes and sewage lagoons. Most nest in the prairie pot holes in the central part of North America.

The avocets stayed at Presqu’ile for the afternoon and into the evening. Thanks to modern communications, we learned of their departure at about 8:15 p.m., only minutes after they took flight.

This is the time of the spring for such avian surprises. I receive many e-mails and phone calls about “unusual” birds. “Is it possible that I have an Eastern Towhee in my garden?” was one query. Indeed it is. This large sparrow is quite obvious when it’s around. The male has a black head, bib, back, and tail, rufous sides the same colour as a robin’s breast, white underparts and a few white spots on the wings. It scratches at the ground with both feet at the same time, behaviour this observer described as a dance.

Although it is unlikely that an Eastern Towhee would stay to nest in a garden in town, they do nest in Northumberland County. They favour old field habitats. They used to be more common when agricultural fields were smaller and separated by hedgerows.

At this time of year, the birds around us are changing constantly. Songbirds are beginning to arrive. On a walk around today (April 26), after the rains stopped, there were many, many Yellow-rumped Warblers in evidence. They were accompanied by the first big push of White-throated Sparrows and some Hermit Thrushes. Many of these birds winter in the southern U.S.

The first few migrants from the tropics, such as Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula, and Black-and-white Warbler, have also arrived. Many more will probably have arrived by the time this column is published.

You have to be lucky to find rarities, such as a flock of American Avocets in eastern Ontario, but I encourage readers to really look at the birds around you. You might be treated to the unexpected.