ML61565801
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Tags
- Dead
Observation details
Original observers: Percy Taverner, John Willmott. The first documented sighting of a Whimbrel in Muskoka didn’t occur as one might expect. On 4 June 1897, Percy Taverner and John Willmott were visiting Crown Island in Lake Muskoka to check on the status of a Peregrine Falcon cliff nest in hopes of retrieving some eggs. In his Ornithological Journal entry of 4 June 1897, Taverner related that the nest appeared not to be in use, but as they were rowing around the opposite side of the island they noticed a pair of birds flying off the sides of another cliff. Upon landing on the island at the foot of the cliff to take a closer look at the possible nest site, and after a “diligent search of the shore” (Ornithological Notes), they discovered the “partly devoured and still raw remains of a Hudsonian Curlew [Whimbrel].” In his Ornithological Notes entry for this species, Taverner added that “the head and neck were eaten and the remainder was easily identified.” According to his Journal entry, this bird was “the first I ever heard of from up here. We hunted around for some time but could find no nest.” The skin of the Whimbrel is now in the collection of the Canadian Museum of Nature, specimen #4940.
Technical information
- Dimensions
- 1430 pixels x 717 pixels
- Original file size
- 346.47 KB