Rare Bird Attracts Attention at Hillman

In early May, expert birders reported that a male Mottled Duck spent more than a week enjoying the mudflats on the south side of the Hillman Marsh Shorebird Habitat. Keeping company with Black Ducks and Mallards, local experts noted that the sighting of this bird is a first for Ontario, if not all of Canada. Many birders from across North America flocked to the site to catch a glimpse of this rarity.

"It is easy to distinguish this species when the duck is beside a Black Duck," explains Dean Ware, local birding expert. "The Mottled have 'warmer' colouring of the body, head and buffy throat and a bright yellow bill that stands out with black at the base. It also has very narrow white bars on either side of the speculum which is blue-ish purple."

The Shorebird Habitat was created in 2003 to attract shorebirds, and features dykes and a pumping system that allows the habitat to be flooded in the winter and drained in the early spring to create the mudflats. This management technique controls unwanted vegetation and sustains food sources for waterfowl during the spring and fall. Adjacent lands have been reforested and tallgrass prairie habitat has been planted to provide a nesting area for waterfowl and a habitat for butterflies and songbirds.