On Friday, January 6th, 2012 this is the HNC Birding Report: BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER WILSON'S WARBLER ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK BOBOLINK
Snow Goose Cackling Goose Tundra Swan Wood Duck American Wigeon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle North Harrier Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk Killdeer Snowy Owl Short-eared Owl Northern Shrike Common Raven Yellow-rumped Warbler Fox Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird Common Grackle White-winged Crossbill Pine Siskin Happy New Year! As you can see by the top of the list, this year has already been kind to birders in the area with the continuation of some of the goodies from 2011 but also a couple of new entries. The centre of the universe continues to be Bayfront Park where many birders were out scouring to get some of these specialties on January first for the new year list. The range of these specialty birds is great, patience and time are necessary for birders to see all of them and some of them have not been reported in the last couple of days, hopefully not a result of the extreme cold temperatures that we experienced on Tuesday. The BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was last reported on Monday along the Bayfront Trail. On Sunday, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was turned up on the trail near the marina, it was also reported on Monday and is likely still around. The BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER has moved significantly and has not been seen since January 3rd. The last location of viewing was on the other side of the Desjardins canal on a rough trail accessed at the top of Valley Inn Road. This bird has gone rogue and will be difficult to find given the range. The WILSON'S WARBLER seems to be the most co-operative of the group of late being seen yesterday and following birders from the 1600 m mark down to the 400 m mark and then refound on the trail near the marina. This is a huge area but the bird seems to be doing okay. Other birds seen down at this location include a Snow Goose seen briefly near Westdale high on Monday but not since, Common Loon (at least 3 seen New Years Day), Black-crowned Night Heron, Northern Goshawk on the trail up on the other side of the Desjardins Canal and Yellow-rumped Warbler (a few scattered sightings from all along the waterfront trail). There was a report of a suspicious crow (possible Fish Crow) with photos taken but birders could not locate after a search the next day. Good to keep eyes and ears open with a small invasion in New York at present. Our new star of the week is a female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD found on Concession 1 in Puslinch approx 1.5 km west of Hwy 6 on Monday. The bird was first photographed last Sunday and has been seen daily including today. A pair of Common Ravens were seen flying over this area and today were seen over Highway 6 just south of 97. Another great winter bird which surfaced last week was a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK in downtown Burlington. Photos were forwarded for identification purposes last Friday but the bird has not been seen since. Finally another great find for the winter, the BOBOLINK continues to thrive up on 10th Road East along the south berm of the creek which transects the road midway between Ridge and Green Mountain Road on the east side of the road. It was flying about and calling today. At least two Eastern Meadowlarks were seen in the field south of the berm this week. Raptors are numerous up here with Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Harrier and a Turkey Vulture seen in the area on Saturday. This evening I had the pleasure of watching 16 Northern Harriers in display over a field west of the quarry on the west side of the road, viewed from where you access the Bobolink. At about 5:20 p.m. a single Short-eared Owl flew out of the same field. In the odds and sods, a Cackling Goose was seen over Smithville early in the week. A Wood Duck was seen in the Desjardins Canal along with a Pied-billed Grebe last weekend. American Wigeon were seen at Lakeside Park in Mississauga. A lone Killdeer was seen flying over Spencer Smith park on Wednesday. A Red-shouldered Hawk was seen being chased by a murder of crows at Rock Chapel near Valley Road on Wednesday. A Bald Eagle (probably two) are still on guard at Cootes Paradise. A Turkey Vulture was seen on Hwy 52 today north of the 403. Four Tundra Swans were in a field on the west side of the road before Highway 5 on 52. A Snowy Owl has been seen consistently since Monday at Tollgate Ponds up until today. A Fox Sparrow is coming into the feeders at the maintenance yard at the Dundas Valley Conservation Area on Mineral Springs Road. Next door at the main admin office, a White-winged Crossbill made a brief appearance. Northern Shrikes were reported today from Brock Road and Concession 4 West and from Cootes and Olympic Drive in Dundas. A White-crowned Sparrow has been visiting a feeder in Hidden Valley. A flock of Rusty Blackbirds with a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in, found on the Christmas Count were still being seen early in the week just east of Brock Road near Concession 5 West. A Common Grackle is coming into a feeder in Aberfoyle along with a lone Pine Siskin. A large group of Pine Siskins were seen earlier in the week on 11th Concession East the week before last, close to 100 birds which is more than has been present lately. That's the news this week. People are continuing to email and ask about the status of all the great birds in the area so if you happen to see any, send me a note so I can pass the word along. Have a great week! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
