OFO bird walk: Durham Region and Lake Ontario Marshes

So I got up at 03h30 (the alarm was set for 03h40, but my brain has this fear of being late that is difficult to adequately express) and I got on the 04h30 bus south, negotiated through some unexpected streetcar outages on King and Queen Streets, got on a GO bus to Whitby, and eventually wound up at the Lynde Shores conservation area for 07h40 or so, ten minutes after the nominal start time but actually in time for the walk to start.

The day list for the group as a whole was some 70 birds; I saw 26 well enough to be able to identify them myself.

American coot—family group! possibly the same family groups as Thurs. 13th
American robin
bald eagle—a wandering juvenile and the last bird with the group
belted kingfisher—repeated high hovering dip-and-swoop
black-crowned night heron—three, all flying, all at disparate times
blue jay
cedar waxwing
chickadee—multiple separate supervising flocks
common grackle
double-crested cormorant
downy woodpecker
eastern kingbird
goldfinch
great blue heron—multiple individuals at different times
green-winged teal
grey catbird
lesser yellowlegs
mallard duck
marsh wren—from a minimum distance of about five feet
northern harrier—from the train coming home!
northern mockingbird
osprey—three, in two trees, two devouring fish
red-winged blackbird
ruby-throated hummingbird—perfect profile hover
spotted sandpiper—emotional belief in how small these are is difficult
yellow warbler

Special thanks to Ian, Jerry, and John, for being so kind as to ferry me about when movement went vehicular.

I keep learning things at these; one of the things I've been learning is that the expensive binoculars were worth it. Getting a sharp version of the—quite distant—kingfisher flight was amazing, white wing patterns and all.