Am Avocet and Eurasian Collared-Dove

Days like this don't come around often, especially at this time of year. Two unusual birds: one a new species for the year and the other, a new species for my Rondeau list as well as a new one for the year, both within an hour or so of each other. And I didn't have to drive out of Chatham-Kent. Of course if it weren't for intrepid birders, in this case Keith and Jim Burk, discovering both of these species and getting the word out, my year and Rondeau list would likely not have changed. So thanks Jim and Keith!

Yesterday afternoon I headed towards Rondeau with the hope that the Eurasian Collared-Dove that they had found earlier in the day was still hanging around in a visible location. But on the way, I went by the entrance to the Blenheim Landfill where the day before Keith had noted an American Avocet in the pond just inside the entrance, but which is still visible without going through gates. It was at the far end of the pond, of course, so with the long telephoto and peeking through the Phragmites, plus some heavy cropping, this is one of the better shots I got. Check.

Now it was on to Rondeau in my search for the dove. I got to the Dog Beach area and noted a birder along the road. It was Kit McCann, who had been searching for about 45 minutes without seeing the bird. That wasn't what I was hoping to hear, so I drove to the end of Lakeshore Road and parked, gathered my camera and binoculars and slowly walked north. I noted an immature Redheaded Woodpecker in the cottonwoods next to the last cottage. A nice bird at any time of the year, but not what I was looking for, so I kept on. I met up with Kit, who was walking in my direction. We saw a few Mourning Doves in trees, but nothing we could make into a Eurasian Collared-Dove. We kept looking, and then spied a possible candidate. It looked a bit paler, and didn't have the usual speckling on the wings. But we couldn't see the characteristic dark neck band. There was a slight hint of a band, but was it just the shadow of a branch?

A little different angle, and then it popped its head up.

Bingo....target achieved! We watched it for awhile, and eventually it flew off to the north east, then swung around back in the general vicinity of where we had found it. It was in another dead tree, but this time much closer to the lake. Kit and I eventually went our separate ways, and since I had to drive by the spot again after retrieving my car, I decided to get my tripod and scope out to see if I could see it in the more distant dead tree. It was visible, but not without a bit of difficulty given the branches. While I was looking at it, a car approached and the driver asked whether the dove was around. It was Rob, from Mississauga, and when I replied in the affirmative, immediately pulled over and got a look through the scope, quite happy that checking this one off was so easy. We watched it for a few more minutes.

It wasn't as exotic as a Fork-tailed Flycatcher which was all the rage today at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, but I will take it! And given the nature of flycatchers to show up in unusual places in the autumn, who knows what might still show up??