I am writing this in mid April and the excitement and thrill of spring migration is ramping up and soon to reach its peak in Toronto in May. So far the highlight has been a "self found" Neotropic Cormorant I picked out in Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto. Similar to the abundant Double-Crested Cormorant, it is a vagrant from the South with their usual range being Texas - Argentina.
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| Note the Dark Lores (Area between eye and bill) that would be orange on a Double Crested, among other field marks like longer tail, hint of white surrounding the face etc... |
Being on the review list for Ontario (not for long I predict as it is becoming more and more common in Ontario), this is probably the rarest bird I have found (other candidates being an American White Pelican and Black Vulture at the Mitchell Sewage Lagoons, relatively more common species but Toronto is a birdier spot than Mitchell by far). The bird looked odd compared to nearby cormorants when I was scanning a marshy area and I am happy I gave it a second look!
Almost equally exciting to me was seeing some Eastern Bluebirds at the Mitchell Sewage Lagoons. The males looked especially electric blue in the leafless forest.
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| Female |
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| Male |
A Sora was also a lovely sight
Nothing like a crisp Swamp Sparrow!
Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers and Brown Creepers are almost everywhere.
Bonus Groundhog and Muskrat pics
