Sorry to be so slow replying to Ron Allensen's inquiry about Sandhill Cranes at Port Burwell, I've been off my email for a few days. In answer to Ron's question, the Long Point CBC recorded 106 Sandhills on 18 Dec. This tied our previous high count from 2003 and will undoubtedly be the Canadian high. Sandhill Cranes have been lingering/wintering in increasing numbers here at Long Point for about 10 years now. Numbers this fall built to a high of about 150 birds. They usually remain in diminishing numbers until absolute freeze-up sometime in mid to late January and in warmer years some have remained throughout the winter. They feed mainly on waste corn in the fields around Port Royal which is just north of the Big Creek Marsh NWA. This year the flock dwindled to 25 birds which flew by our office on the 17th and though I haven't been out to look for them since, last week's very cold temperatures and heavy snow most likely forced them to move south. I'm sure Ron's sighting involved the bulk of birds that had remained here at Long Point to this point this winter. Depending on the weather, I would expect to see cranes returning in early March. Ron Ridout From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue Jan 25 15:03:03 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from smtp100.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com (smtp100.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com [206.190.36.78]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 7C92563483 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:03:03 -0500 (EST) Received: from unknown (HELO ?24.112.18.37?) ([EMAIL PROTECTED]@24.112.18.37 with login) by smtp100.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com with SMTP; 25 Jan 2005 20:03:28 -0000 Received: from 127.0.0.1 (AVG SMTP 7.0.300 [265.7.4]); Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:05:45 -0500 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Doug Lockrey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ontbirds" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:05:45 -0500 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1409 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1409 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Subject: [Ontbirds]3 Owl species, Shrike, Swamp sparrow--Hall's Rd.-Jan.25 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 20:03:04 -0000
Today's morning sun and "warmth" brought people and birds to Hall's Rd. I thank the many who keep their distance from the owls. The reddish BARRED OWL returned to his "usual" perching area-- very much in the open in either spruce or deciduous trees a short distance down the north pathway. I counted 5 GREAT GRAY OWLS, along with 1 GREAT HORNED OWL. These birds could be anywhere along the roadway. An adult N.Shrike, a male N.Harrier, Red-tailed and a Rough-legged Hawk were also noted. In the vicinity of the north pathway's platform were many Am.Trees Sparrows, along with Juncos, 2 Swamp Sparrows and 2 Song Sparrows, Am. Goldfinches and 2 Am.Robins. We are indebted to Karl and Del for supplying the feed at strategic spots. Doug Lockrey, Whitby -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.7.4 - Release Date: 25/01/2005
