Members of the Feminist Bird Club in Toronto and Hamilton participated in some friendly competition Sunday morning as the two groups of birdwatchers challenged one another to determine who could spot the most species of ducks.
A newer tradition to the area, the second annual ‘Duck Off’ challenge brought more than 20 viewers to the Outer Harbour Lookout off Unwin Avenue near Tommy Thompson Park between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. today.
Water doesn’t tend to freeze at the lookout due to the nearby generating station, which makes the harbour a popular wintering location for all kinds of ducks and other birds.
Participants with the Hamilton group, meanwhile, were situated about 60 km south at LaSalle Park Marina along Lake Ontario.
Despite the frigid temperatures in the last week, Toronto participants were treated to a busy display of action as many varieties of waterfowl — an umbrella term for ducks, geese or other large aquatic birds — quacked and floated their way around the harbour.
Elisabeth Shapiro and May Matchim, two of the bird club’s co-leads, were available to provide tips and offer unique viewing opportunities for locals who signed up for the experience.
They were both impressed by the numbers and varieties of ducks they witnessed today.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Shapiro said. “I wasn’t sure with the deep freeze this week if it would be totally frozen over or not, so I’m really pleased. We have lots of birds close to shore, so there are great opportunities to see them up close.”
Many of the usual suspects like mallards, northern shovelers, buffleheads, canvasbacks and greater scaups gathered in bunches along the shoreline.
Other ducks spotted in Toronto on Sunday included the green-winged teal, northern pintail, redhead and ring-necked varieties.
Two species of swan also made their presence in the harbour well known, including the trumpeter swan (black bill) and the mute swan (orange bill).
Shapiro, who has been volunteering with the Feminist Bird Club since 2021, told TorontoToday it’s successful days like today that remind her why she joined the organization in the first place.
“I love connecting people with nature,” she said. “It’s really wonderful to see this in the local community, and getting people engaged is a lot of fun.”
The Feminist Bird Club — which started in New York in 2016 — has expanded to more than 25 chapters globally.
Since 2019, the Toronto chapter has been hosting events and fundraisers throughout the city and Hamilton. The group focuses on providing a safe opportunity for women and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities to access the outdoors.
“We’re inclusive to all gender expressions and are very queer positive,” said Jessica Brousseau, a bird club co-lead. “We collaborate with different organizations that focus on folks with intersectional identities, and we also do a lot of collective learning.”
“You don’t have to come to the events knowing everything,” she added. “We’re here to learn, too. Everyone is invited to participate in what feels comfortable to them.”
Last year, Duck Off birdwatchers in Hamilton were victorious in spotting more species than their counterparts in Toronto.
While Hamilton is known to have more diverse duck species than Toronto, and thus favoured to go back-to-back this year, Brousseau explained a repeat wasn’t guaranteed.
“Hamilton is really close to Toronto, but there’s a big variation in terms of the amount of waterfowl they’ll see,” she explained. “But it really depends on the day and the weather, and it’s a great chance to have a little friendly competition.”
Within Sunday’s intense two hours of birdwatching, the Toronto group counted 23 species of waterfowl and 26 varieties of birds in total. Hamilton, meanwhile, spotted nine species of waterfowl and 22 types of birds.
While Toronto earned the win this time around, experienced participants like Rene MacDonald and newbies like Christina Dinh were just happy to have the chance to experience the duck hotspot up close — an area they describe as a hidden gem.
“People in the city sometimes forget that there’s nature here,” Dinh said. “There were a lot of birds out here today, and we’re not that far from downtown. It’s really cool.”
“When I tell people I’ve seen over 190 species this year, they’re like: ‘What are you talking about? There’s no birds here.’ It’s something a lot of people don’t think about. I’m always trying to expand my life list,” MacDonald added.
Shapiro noted that if Torontonians keep their eyes peeled, they could easily see anywhere between 50 and 100 or more distinct species of birds in the area throughout the year.
