In search of Nelson's

Well, I hadn't been out in a while so I decided that since I don't have too much work to do, I'd go birding this weekend. My girlfriend and I joined Brett, Erika and Julian at RARE this morning for some banding, which I will go into more detail on tomorrow, as I plan on going again in the morning! Afterward, we all piled into Brett's car and headed over to Hamilton, mainly to look for the Nelson's Sparrows that have been reported recently. We managed to get to the spot just as another group was preparing to head out into the marsh, and it turned out to be Anthony Miller and Tom Thomas leading the group, two friends of mine. So, we joined up with them and headed off into the willows. After a bit of a hike we got to the more marshy spot where the Nelson's like to hang out, and after some searching we eventually got a look at one.

Typical look at a Nelson's Sparrow...

It was a lifer for most people in the group (I'd seen them previously in MB and NC), but it was still special as it was my 300th bird for Ontario! Yes, I know some people see 300 in Ontario in one year but I don't put in that kind of effort... After getting the Nelson's we continued on to check the mudflats, and sure enough the previously reported Hudsonian Godwits were there, poking away in the shallows. Unfortunately they were too far out for any kind of decent pic, but good scope views were had. Hudwit was also new for my Ontario list, making today my first two-bird day since December last year, and was also the 40th bird I've added to my list since getting to university a little over 2 years ago! It also happened to be my 250th bird for Ontario this year. Milestones all around today apparently.

Also, have a try at the quiz posted yesterday! It isn't a trick, I promise! I've only had one comment so far, I'll publish that and any others I receive on October 10th and post the quiz answers sometime after that.