A wandering Canadian: Ontario Birds

Purple Sandpipers

It's been a while since I've written a blog entry. The world has changed so much; continues to change. We all know this; there's no need for me to re-hash it here.

My one consistent solace has been birds. The warblers and thrushes, waterfowl and songbirds, migrate like clockwork, completely unaware of the current pandemic or the political turmoil south of our border. Borders are irrelevant to them. And so I find comfort in their tiny eyes, their fluttery wings, their vibrant or muted colours.

Purple Sandpiper Range Map (allaboutbirds.org)

I took a walk the other day to search for a Purple Sandpiper. There had been reports on ebird.org that Purple Sandpipers were being sighted in a nearby area, so I took a chance. Why are they so special? Well, as you can see from the range map, it's quite rare for them to appear in Ontario at all. They breed and migrate in very remote northern regions, though they can very rarely be seen around the Great Lakes.

These elusive creatures had been spotted at Pipit Point at the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, which was about an hour's hike one way. I got up before the sun, and was on the trail as the sun started to rise. I was mostly alone on this solitary hike, though I did pass the occasional cyclist or runner. I was actually surprised I didn't run into more birders, eager to see this rare appearance.

Finally I arrived at Pipit Point, and scanned the rocky shoreline where the waves of the lake were splashing gently. No signs of birds at all, only mossy-covered rocks. I climbed over some boulders and made my way to a different viewpoint.

2 Purple Sandpipers on the left; Dunlin on the right

Suddenly there it was - a Purple Sandpiper. Quietly walking along a large boulder, periodically pecking at the rocks. I recognized it instantly. The overwhelming feeling of wonder is hard to explain. Up until that very moment, the Purple Sandpiper had been a mythical creature; something I had only ever seen in photos; something that lived so far away from these southern shores that I'd never imagined I would see one. And there it was. Just like that. A few moments later, a second one joined it, as well as a more common Dunlin.

Purple Sandpiper

I sat on the rocks for half an hour, watching them as they walked back and forth along the rocks, oblivious to my presence. Part way through, a flock of unidentified birds swooped over the lake in the distance, and without warning both Purple Sandpipers and the Dunlin immediately took to the skies and joined the flock, flew with them for a few seconds, and then circled around and came right back to the rocks where I was. Why? For what hidden reason did this happen?

Birds have so much to teach us.

Jen and I have recently revived our Ontario Bird Flashcards project and increased the number of cards in the deck to 100. All of our own photography was used to create these beautiful cards. They have a photo of the bird on the front and the name of the bird on the back. We have been completely floored by the response we've gotten - we've sold almost 500 decks since the pandemic began. I guess birds are offering a comfort to many people during this time.

We still have some remaining if anyone is looking for holiday stocking stuffers. You can watch a cute little video about our bird cards here: https://youtu.be/A9DgdJ_OIpU

Cards are available for purchase on our Etsy shop at this link: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/820429876/ontario-birds-flashcards

Stay safe out there everyone. We will get through this.