Terrie Smith and I did a bit of a road trip today looking for some late February birds:
Harris' Sparrow showed nicely about 12:30 p.m. after a 1.5 hour wait. We did NOT see the previously reported Red-shouldered Hawk at Ellis and Cty Rd 32 Wellington King Eider was in the canal at Port Weller with hundreds of Common Mergansers, 1 Coot, 2 Ring-necked Ducks and 24 DC Cormorants + lots of other ducks and gulls 2 Short-eared Owls, 4 meadowlarks, 2 Northern Harriers and 4 White-crowned Sparrows were on the 10th Line E near Ridge Road in Saltfleet 7 (1 adult, 1 subadult and 5 juvenile) BCN Herons, 3 Green-winged Teal, and 3 Ruddy Ducks were at Redhill Creek - the Peregrine Falcon was on the hacking box at the Lift Bridge near the Burlington Skyway Directions: Harris's Sparrow - 6547 Ellis Road, in east Cambridge in Wellington County - take exit 286 (Townline Road) north from HWY 401. Take the first right (Ellis Road) and the house is on the right. King Eider - Exit the Queen Elizabeth Highway in St. Catharines at Niagara Street. Proceed north 5 km. to the T intersection at Lakeshore Road. Turn right here and drive east .9 km over the Lock 1 bridge of the Welland Canal to Seaway Haulage Road. Turn left, cross over Broadway Avenue and continue on Seaway Haulage Road (as it parallels the Welland Canal) to the barrier that stops all traffic. Park here (off to the side) and walk out the west side bicycle path (not the main gravel road). Once along side the canal, immediately start looking for the bird Saltfleet 10th Line East between Ridge Rd and Green Mountain Rd. - the meadowlarks were near the tracks - and were flushed by a passing Northern Harrier; the Short-eared Owls were on the grassy area beyond the quarry near the junction of Green Mountain Rd and the White-crowned Sparrows were at the feeder near the junction of 10th Line East and Ridge Rd. Geoff Carpentier www.avocetnatureservices.com _______________________________________________ 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/
