Monday, November 23, 2020

Says Phoebe - April 25th, 2020

What started out be a normal day became an amazing day!

When I woke up I ate breakfast then went outside to play with my brother and my sister while my mom worked.

At about lunch time my mom came outside and said that my dad found a rare bird and asked if we wanted to go see it. Of course I said "YES!" so we packed some food for lunch and then we hit the road.

In the car my mom asked if I wanted to know what the species of bird was, but I said to only tell me the first letter of it and keep the rest as a surprise. She told me it started with an "S"and for the rest of the car ride I thought of different birds it could be while eating my lunch.

We met up with my dad at the spot and my brother, sister, dad and I started exploring the spot where my dad had found the bird earlier in the day.

He found it in Dundalk at a place where there was a lot dust and gravel with a few muddy ponds, so I asked my dad if it was a a type of shorebird that he found. He said "No" so I said a few more guesses (all of them wrong). Finally my dad said it was a type of Phoebe, then I asked "Is it a... Says Phoebe?" and finally I was correct.

After a few minutes of not finding the Says Phoebe we saw Barb Charlton and asked if she had seen it. She said yes and told us the location. We jogged to my dads work truck, got in and drove to a a little pond with some houses behind it and a fence going around the pond. As we got out of the car we met a few birders with their spotting scopes, bins and cameras all set up and as we followed Barb we saw it perched on the fence.

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Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:08PM


After a few seconds it flew down and perched on a metal railing, where it coughed up an insect or something else it had caught, then flew to another spot.


Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:10PM

As I was slowly walking toward the end of the pond to get a better look at the Says Phoebe I saw some flowers with bees and flies on them and I knew that the bees were Western Honey Bees but the flies I was not so sure. Later on they were identified as Narrow-headed Marsh Flies. I moved on and got some more photos of the Says Phoebe.

Narrow-headed Marsh Fly- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:29PM



Western Honeybee- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:26PM

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:45PM


At about 1:40 PM we decided to go check for some Upland Sandpipers with Barb and a couple of other birders. 

Oh! Here's one last photo of the Says Phoebe on a roof! 

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:50PM

Once we found the Sandpiper we got a few pictures. They weren't very good ones because they were far out in a field and since it was a hot day there was a lot of heat haze, making views and pictures not very good, but identifiable at least. After a few minutes we all headed our own ways, ending the day on the perfect note!

Upland Sandpiper- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 2:08PM



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