Snow Goose Wood Duck American Wigeon Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup King Eider Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Wild Turkey Horned Grebe Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Bald Eagle Peregrine Falcon Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Snowy Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Fox Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Purple Finch
It's been a quiet start to the New Year. The weather has been HUGELY UNCOOPERATIVE as of late and birds have tucked in and/or moved on leaving birders scrambling to find spots which are even decent to look for birds due to icy conditions. Here's hoping the warmer temperatures will bring birds and birders out. There are a couple of hot spots around that are productive for birds. Behind Olympic Arena in Dundas, the feeders set out and the protection from the winds have encouraged birds to settle here. Birds seen there this week include Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox Sparrow and Red-winged Blackbird. The annual Lake Ontario Winter Waterfowl Count was last Sunday. Hamilton is known for winter ducks en masse and the numbers recorded on the count certain show that. High numbers for our area included 41248 Long-tailed Ducks, 19329 White-winged Scoters and 5976 Common Goldeneye. Other highlights include Wood Duck at Windermere Basin, four King Eiders. (two females off Millen Rd and a first year male off Green Rd and another female in the canal). Two of the King Eiders remained in the canal until mid-week. The Harbour was mostly frozen but any open water harboured Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser and Ruddy Duck. Birds seen on the lake side including the harbour included the masses of Long-tailed Ducks, good numbers of Common Goldeneye and all three Scoter species and a smattering of others listed above. Horned Grebes were seen off the ship canal plus another one off Glover Rd.. A non-waterfowl highlight was a high count of 18 Bald Eagles seen around the harbour. A few Glaucous Gulls were seen at various places on the count as well as a healthy showing of Great Black-backed Gulls. Snowy Owls were also noteworthy as there were 3 seen on the Harbour and 3 more along the west end of the lake. One Snowy Owl was being dive bombed on the Burlington Pier by a Peregrine Falcon. Another Snowy was seen at Arkendo in Mississauga. In the odds and sods this week, a Snow Goose was seen among a flock of Canada Geese at 40 mile creek in Grimsby. A pair of American Wigeon were seen at the Desjardins Canal in Dundas earlier in the week. Wild Turkeys were seen on 1st Road East on the mountain just north of Green Mountain Road. Great Blue Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons are still choosing to stay at the Red Hill Creek outlet and winter. More Snowy Owl reports come from Milton, at the Home Depot at Burloak and the QEW, at Bronte Harbour and at the Suncor Pier in Oakville. Eastern Bluebirds have been seen at a few locales, along Minerals Springs Road and Bell School Line & Derry Road in addition to those at Olympic arena. A Hermit Thrush was a back yard guest for a day in South Burlington. Yellow-rumped Warblers are still present at Sedgewick Park in Oakville. An Eastern Towhee was a one day wonder at a feeder near Governors Road and Binkley. A White-crowned Sparrow was seen at the ship canal on the duck count. Brown-headed Cowbirds were seen at the make shift feeder in the parking lot just east of the lift bridge. Purple Finches although few in number have been seen at feeders throughout the area. That's the news for this week. Hopefully birders out after the rain tomorrow and Sunday will turn up some birds that have been hiding from the bitter cold. Good birding! Cheryl Edgecombe --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
