On Thursday, January 28th, 2007, this is the HNC Birding Report: CACKLING GOOSE HARLEQUIN DUCK BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE COMMON RAVEN AMERICAN PIPIT
Green-winged Teal Northern Pintail Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Wild Turkey Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Northern Goshawk Peregrine Falcon Merlin American Coot Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Eastern Screech-Owl Lon-eared Owl Short-eared Owl Red--bellied Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Shrike Eastern Bluebird Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Eastern Towhee White-crowned Sparrow Snow Bunting Rusty Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Many interesting finds here in the HSA this week with the onset of winter conditions. A good place to be looking is out on the Hamilton Harbour this week with reports of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE flying around the harbour near the end of Discovery Road. A female HARLEQUIN DUCK was also reported on this same day (Wednesday) near the Hamilton Harbour Commission. Many other species are out on the bay with particularly high numbers of Ring-necked Ducks staying around and also American Coots. Around the other side at LaSalle Park, a CACKLING GOOSE made an appearance and was photographed on the beachfront at LaSalle yesterday. Also reported there were the Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher, AMERICAN PIPIT on the rocks underneath the little bridge, and a couple of Green-winged Teal. Bald Eagles continue to be reported from the bay area with a few of different age classes being reported. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was seen flying past Canada Centre for Inland Waters this week and on Tuesday, a flock of Snow Buntings flew past the Centre. On the bay itself reports are coming in of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls this week. Another noteworthy spot before the ice storm hit was 10th Road East up in Grimsby. This spot, traditionally good for Short-eared Owls, has not disappointed this year with nine being reported on Wednesday. Also present were Ring-necked Pheasant, Northern Harrier, Northern Shrike and EASTERN MEADOWLARK. On roads in this area Rusty Blackbirds were seen on 8th Road East, a flock of 4-500 Brown-headed Cowbirds was seen on Green Mountain Road between 6th and 8th Road East. Wild Turkeys were reported in this vicinity as well. The CACKLING GEESE which were reported from the Quarry Pond on Green Mountain Road between 10th & 11th Road East may still be in the vicinity but the pond is currently frozen over. One was last reported on Sunday. A trip into Bronte Creek Provincial Park last weekend yielded four Long-eared Owls near Parking Lot A. No Northern Saw-whets were found despite a good search. Other birds seen in the park were Northern Shrike, Brown Thrasher, Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpecker. There are many birds to report in the odds and ends this week. The Gray Catbird was photographed this week at the boardwalk at the Valley Inn. This same bird has over wintered here for a few years now. Behind the Olympic arena, a Belted Kingfisher and four Great Blue Herons were reported. There seem to be quite a few Great Blues around. Perhaps they will move south now that the ponds are freezing up. Northern Pintail and Great Blue Heron were seen at Shoreacres in Burlington. An immature Black-crowned Night-Heron is still hanging around VanWagners Ponds across from Hutches Restaurant. A Merlin was seen on Hwy 403 in Ancaster. A COMMON RAVEN was seen flying over near the town of Arkell on Wednesday. An Eastern Screech Owl buzzed the van on Wednesday just south of 14th Sideroad on School Bell Line. A White-crowned Sparrow is visiting a feeder at Upper James & Rymal Road. Brown-headed cowbirds were reported at a feeder near Rock Chapel. Three Eastern Bluebirds were reported from a yard on Shaver Rd in Ancaster. Another Long-eared Owl made a nice addition to the yard list on Mountain Brow Blvd on the East Mountain so check your trees! With the colder weather moving in, its time to stock and check your feeders again. Something interesting could turn up. Thanks for all your reports this week. Good Birding Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
