The Wood Duck

The Wood Duck, our HNC journal, is available to HNC members, and comes out nine times a year. Each 'Duck' contains 24 pages of illustrated articles ranging from bird records, to dragonfly counts, to environmental issues, to South American adventures. (View recent article.)

The Wood Duck is now available on-line (immediately below). If you would rather read the Wood Duck online and no longer wish to receive a mailed copy, e-mail our Membership Director and ask to have your mailed Wood Duck discontinued.

Download The Wood Duck - May 2010

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Archived issues of The Wood Duck can be found at the bottom of this page.

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We are always looking for articles, photos, and artwork from local nature enthusiasts!

A Recent Wood Duck Article

Bird of the Year - Long-billed Curlew

By Cheryl Edgecombe, from the May 2010 issue of the Wood Duck

Photo: Long-billed Curlew

One of the great things about birding is that anything can show up at any time. Unexpected rarities are always a thrill and the Bird of the Year 2009, Long-billed Curlew, was no exception.

On August 23 rd, 2009, I wandered down to the beach where a number of the local birders including Rob Dobos were lake watching. We were hoping to catch a view of the first migrating specialties that we are so fortunate to have at this end of the lake in late summer and fall, Sabine’s Gulls, Jaegers and Kittiwakes. Although early for these species, a steady light east wind was blowing after a cold front the night before setting up the right conditions for this type of birding. I stood with Rob watching the lake as the other birders were finishing up their stint. They had been there since early morning with little success. As we stood, Rob gave a call to Barb Charlton and asked if she wanted to join us at the beach for a lake watch. It was raining up in her area in Flamborough and it was hard to convince her that the sun was actually shining down here at the Lakeland Tower but she agreed, thank goodness!

Barb joined us after about half and hour and we watched the lake for a while with no results and decided to go for lunch at the café at the Lakeland Tower. We sat in the back corner with scopes tucked in and decided to celebrate the start of the lake watching season with a fortified beverage. Margarita, Bellini and Daiquiri were the beverages of choice.

At approximately 1:20 p.m., after our food was ordered, a large shorebird flew over our heads at a distance of about 20 meters. Rob Dobos was the first to get on this bird and without directly quoting what he said, he brought our attention to this large curlew going over. We all were in awe over the size of this bird. Rob was able to grab my scope and get the bird in a better view noting plumage details beyond its obvious cinnamon buffy colour and exceptionally large decurved bill. Having seen this species outside of Ontario we all immediately knew that we had a Long-billed Curlew, only the second documented record for the province and a bird that only had been documented in historical records dating back to the late 1800’s in Hamilton.

We were elated and were high fiving and celebrating. Even the waitress got into the enthusiasm as we exclaimed what a rare find this was. The other patrons in the restaurant wondered what was wrong with us.

Barb immediately ordered the food to go and the bill. I grabbed my scope and went down to the shoreline in hopes of finding the bird along its flight line. I was thrilled to scan and refind this bird sitting on the beach about a kilometer down at Confederation Park going down to the water and scooping its bill into the lake for a drink. The bird was then flushed by a Herring Gull and I watched as it flew down the beach and out of sight.

Cell phones were going crazy. We put in an immediate post to Ontbirds and enjoyed a very quick downing of our cocktails! We hit the road running going into Confederation Park and various spots east looking along the western end of the lake to see if the bird had landed again. There are few places to get good views of the shoreline along this stretch so our task was daunting. We ended up at Fifty Point Conservation Area where the view was more extensive but alas could not turn up this bird again.

The bird of the year this year was a difficult choice since there were many great birds in the Hamilton Study Area in 2009. The choice is made by a committee using criteria of Provincial Rarity, Hamilton Area Rarity and the number of observers seen (enjoyment factor). Other candidates considered this year were Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Painted Bunting and Lark Sparrow.

Being at the right place at the right time sums it up. It was difficult to call the birders who had put in their time down at the beach and left a half hour before this bird came over. I would not have been a happy camper if the tables were turned. It is always better when many are able to share in the experience. It truly was a lucky day.

Archived Issues of The Wood Duck

2010

April 2010 (PDF - 4 MB)
March 2010 (PDF - 650 KB)
February 2010 (PDF - 2.97 MB)
January 2010 (PDF - 596 KB)

2009

2008