Wild Gray Partridge: Not!

Sometimes, a day of birding starts with great hope. Sometimes, that hope converts into success, like that May morning when Bruce was confident it was going to be a mega-day at the tip of Point Pelee, and it turned into the most amazing mega-day ever!

Other times, hope turns to disappointment. Today started with the excitement of seeing wild Gray Partridges just outside of Paris. It's been a long time since wild Gray Partridge were seen in the Hamilton Study Area (HSA). As I was finishing my coffee before packing up my gear for the drive, a message went ding-a-ling on my phone. It was a post to the Ontario Birds messaging app from Jean Iron, who had just watched someone release two Gray Partridge in the exact location where they’d been seen yesterday. She spoke with the fellow, who said he uses them to train his dogs. I can only imagine the collective sigh of disappointment let out by many birders in southern Ontario at that news. So much for the resurrection of wild Gray Partridge in the HSA!

Plan B: Go to the usual winter spot in Dundas for Snow Buntings. Someone reported a flock of 50 at this location over the weekend, so I figured the chances were decently good that I'd see them. Enter disappointment number 2. Not a single Snow Bunting to be seen. But there were some Horned Larks, so I took some snaps of them from the car, and even though the were quite far away, it was still nice to watch them run around and occasionally call in the cold wind.

Tomorrow? Drive around looking for Snow Buntings, Snowy Owls, and whatever else there is to see. No expectations.

Here's a snap of one of the Horned Larks today:

Horned Lark, Dundas, ON