On Friday, December 11th, 2009 this is the HNC Birding Report: Brant Cackling Goose Tundra Swan Ring-necked Duck King Eider Ruffed Grouse Wild Turkey Common Loon Horned Grebe Black-crowned Night Heron Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Killdeer Bonaparte's Gull Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Flicker Northern Shrike Tufted Titmouse Eastern Bluebird Yellow-rumped Warbler Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird
It's been a rather quiet week here in Hamilton but a drastic change in the weather and the infiltration of cold has made some birds surface that are probably wondering why they stayed so late. Notables on Monday and Tuesday near Hwy 20 and Grassie Road, before the weather hit include a dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk at Abington, Killdeer (3) running around the road at Kimbo, and Red-winged Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird at Fulton. Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers were seen here and in the area of 10th and 11th Road East in Saltfleet. Down in the south end of the study area on Irish Line just west of River Road (opposite 782 Irish Line), a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker makes a lovely addition to the winter list. Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Tufted Titmice and Eastern Bluebird were also seen in this area. A Common Loon did a flyover here too. Just north of Hagersville off Hwy 6 south, several fields had Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers flying over them. Out on the lake, strong east winds on Wednesday had great promise but only a few Bonaparte's Gulls were present. Today a female King Eider was seen just off the rocks on the east side of Fifty Point Conservation Area. A Cackling Goose was seen at the on the east side of Fifty Point in a large flock of Canada Geese earlier in the week. Also seen here were three Horned Grebes. In the odds and sods this week a Northern Shrike was seen Auburn Road, east off Trafalgar Road, just south of the 401. Tundra Swans were still present in Cootes Paradise last Sunday. Bald Eagles (2 adults) were seen over the high level bridge/York Road last weekend. The two Brant were still present on the lawn down at Spencer Smith Park last weekend but have not been reported since. A Ring-necked Duck was present off Harbourfront Park a couple of days ago. Ruffed Grouse seem to be having a good year with reports from two feeders in Flamborough this week. A Black-crowned Night Heron was seen at the Desjardins Canal on Monday and Yellow-rumped Warblers seem to still be present in the Dundas Marsh area. That's the news for this week. Christmas Counts are coming up so please keep us advised of your sightings. Happy Winter Listing, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline _______________________________________________ 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/
