Ontbirders, There were 32 N. Pintail [mostly pairs] at Pittock Lake this morning, along with about 3000 Mallard. This is the earliest county spring record of NOPI by nearly three weeks. Elsewhere in the county, numbers of White-winged Crossbills have been increasing, with flocks of up to 40 birds now seen most days, in the Beachville area mostly. Also near Beachville, both a Vesper Sparrow and Fox Sparrow look set to successfully overwinter. At Salford Dump, Jan 20, there were over 5000 Herring Gulls, an astounding number for the date. With them were good numbers of Glaucous and Iceland, a single 1st cycle Thayer's and one adult basic Lesser Black-back. The gulls are hard to see here, as the dump does not tolerate birders so I would expect much higher numbers of all species with a bit better views. The recent addition of a non-freezing deep-water pit in Ingersoll has allowed much greater numbers of gulls to overwinter locally. If in the Salford area, it is always worth looking out for Gray Partridge as there was a good population in the 90's and early 00's. I haven't had much time to look for them recently but they should still be around. Local hunters always described them as ''everywhere'', even though it took me decades to find my 1st. Other parts of the county, such as the east and south-east, also have populations of this species, with the Old Stage Road and Patullo Road being very reliable in the past.
Cheers, James Holdsworth, Biological Consulting Services 14 Marian St, RR#1 Woodstock, On, N4S-7V6 [519]537-2027 226-228-0093 [cell] [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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/
