As with Brian Morin's observations, I have also seen a huge jump in Common Redpoll numbers at my feeders in Wasaga Beach today (address below).
I had a couple dozen arrive around January 6, then they all but disappeared, while the Goldfinches and Pine Siskins remained. This morning, about 20+ Common Redpolls showed up suddenly and are feeding among 30+ Pine Siskins and 40+ Goldfinches. There is also a Hoary Redpoll among the group. Also feeding regularly are Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Dark-eyed Juncos, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and Black-capped Chickadees. Last week, I had a dark phase Rough-legged Hawk hovering over-head just 3 doors down. Also of interest. on Monday, I was skiing at Blue Mountain, just west of Collingwood, and right on the off-ramp at the "Graduate" chair lift was a very cold butterfly. It had wings mostly folded and I only got a couple seconds glance at it, but I believe it was a Compton's Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis vau-album). With it being on the off-ramp, I could not stop to look at it more. The temperature was approximately -2C to 0C. Scott A. Martin; B.Sc., H.B.O.R., Forest Rec. Tech. Senior Ecologist / Principal WILD Canada Ecological Consulting #75 - 39th Street North Wasaga Beach, ON L9Z 2A3 Phn: 705-429-4936 Fax: 705-429-1435 [email protected] www.wildcanada.ca Please remember... Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed! (ancient Chinese proverb) Be Green! Read from the screen. Please consider the environment before printing this email. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 5.9 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 816 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
