After dozens to a few hundred birds appeared in recent days, the flood gates opened today and thousands of birds made their way east along the St. Lawrence from Iroquois through Lancaster. This is a couple of weeks later than last year due to the late winter. Thousands of Canadas moved through as well. Some Snows put down briefly in fields while others continued east. I am not aware of any points of concentration at this time. Birds will retreat to the short areas of open water at night and venture into corn fields during the day. The shipping channel was recently opened and with continued weather above freezing this week, ice will begin to move in the days ahead. There is no open water in the United Counties of SD&G (aside from portions of the St. Lawrence) and snow cover is solid, although there is much standing corn.
In the short term, areas near Iroquois, both on the river and in fields to the east along the 401, will have birds. Some flocks will venture a number of kilometres further north during the day and return at night. This weekend could be interesting at various points further east. The Long Sault Parkway is not accessible at this time although a small area of open water is present at Long Sault. Brian Morin Cornwall _______________________________________________ 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
