Tundra Swan Wood Duck American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal King Eider Harlequin Duck Black Scoter Ring-necked Pheasant Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Turkey Vulture Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk (including western sub-species) Merlin Killdeer Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Snowy Owl Northern Shrike Common Raven Hermit Thrush Snow Bunting White-crowned Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird
Well this week is more hopeful with the list containing actual migrants! The weather has been absolutely haywire this week with migrants arriving on a warm Tuesday, regretting it and possibly reversing the migration on Wednesday and then coming back today when temperatures seemed a bit mellower today than the sub zero temps of Thursday. It has truly been an unusual winter. There are no rarities to speak of but good solid migrants include Tundra Swans at Bronte Harbour, a Blue-winged Teal seen at Fifty Point Conservation Area on Tuesday, (possibly a record early date), Common Loon over Beamer Memorial Conservation Area, Horned Grebe at the Burlington Ship Canal and off Sioux Lookout in Burlington, Double-crested Cormorants arriving past Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Killdeer, seen and heard over Bronte Harbour, west Hamilton, over Sam Lawrence Park in Hamilton, at the Burlington ship canal and up on the mountain in Saltfleet and last but not least, the sounds and sights of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles a most welcome harbinger of spring this year. One of the hotspots this week and over the past couple is Bronte Harbour. Here this week along with the above mentioned Tundra Swans were up to four King Eiders, a Merlin, Iceland and Glaucous Gull and a continuing Snowy Owl. Close by at Great Lakes and Burloak another long staying Snowy Owl continues to hang in. Another good spot for migrants and regular residents this time of year are the fields up in Saltfleet up on the mountain south of Stoney Creek. Here this week, a Snowy Owl was seen near the intersection of Mud St. and Tapleytown Rd. Northern Shrike was seen on Powerline Road between Tapleytown and 5th Road East. Three Ring-necked Pheasants were seen in a field on the east side of 10th Road East between Ridge Road and the railway tracks. The Common Ravens appear to be nesting at the same location this year with a viewable nest in the Quarry off 10th Road East near Green Mountain Road. Horned Larks and Snow Buntings are moving about in numbers up here and White-crowned Sparrows were noted along the road at the bottom of the escarpment running west from Fifty Road. Of course Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles were in on Tuesday with large numbers moving in soon to all areas up here. Up at the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch this week, numbers were tallied with mixed results. Tuesday saw a day of by far the most raptors this season going through. The majority were Red-tailed Hawks followed closely by Turkey Vultures. Even three Red-shouldered Hawks were brave enough to move. Over Sam Lawrence Park in Hamilton a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Merlin were considered migrants there Tuesday. Today Turkey Vultures were seen over Hwy 6 and the 403, Main Street East and the 403 and birds over Hendrie Valley and Olympic Drive yesterday. Earlier in the week, one was seen over Eastgate Square in Hamilton and three were seen over Sam Lawrence Park in Hamilton. There should be a good push of these next warm day. To round out the raptors and of interest an adult (dark-rufous morph) "Western" Red-tailed Hawk - (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) was seen at the intersection of 4th Line and Hwy 6, just south of Caledonia. In the odds and sods this week, American Wigeon (4) and Wood Ducks (3) were seen in the Desjardins Canal today. A male and female Harlequin Duck were relocated at Gairloch Gardens in Oakville last Sunday. A young male King Eider and a Glaucous Gull were seen from Frances Road mid-week. A female Black Scoter was seen from Green Road. Two Red-throated Loons were seen on the bay side of the Burlington Ship Canal last weekend. Red-necked Grebes are turning up at the ship canal and along the Grand River, hard to tell this time of year whether these are migrants or just displaced birds. Another Snowy Owl was seen from the 403 and 407 junction on Monday. A Common Raven was seen by yours truly flying east to west along the Burlington Lakeshore last Sunday being harassed by crows, another one photographed at Sam Lawrence Park. Another Common Raven was noted near the 403 and the Linc. yesterday. This is a species that is surely expanding their range in Southern Ontario. A Hermit Thrush has been an intermittent guest at a feeder at Spruce and Appleby Line through the winter but took refuge in the same yard on Wednesday of this week. Brown-headed Cowbirds also took refuge at feeders in Ancaster and in East Hamilton on Wednesday. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the corner has been turned. I may receive several or several hundred hate mails now but despite the temperatures dipping a bit next week, I feel hopeful that we are in an upswing as far as temperatures and migration are concerned. Keep your feeders stocked, it's an important time for birds to find food when its needed. Please keep me informed of your sightings! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC --- 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. 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