This morning at about 9:45 a.m. I relocated a Black Vulture in the Dundas Valley in the City of Hamilton that was originally reported by Ryk Naves on Nov 22. I had the bird roosting in a large hemlock tree at address 820 Sulphur Springs Rd. This is where the road drops into the Sulphur Creek valley at the historic sulphur springs well, and the bird was on the west side of the road in a tree at the top of the hill behind the small pond here. It was pretty distant and fairly well hidden in the tree, but I had good scope views.
Later at about 11:35 a.m., Cheryl Edgecombe and I had great views of the bird sitting in a field at 878 Sulphur Springs Rd., which is essentially behind the hill where it was earlier roosting. I understand that one of the local residents has seen a vulture hanging around this area for 4 or 5 days now, so it will hopefully stick around for a bit and may use the same roost. One caution is that this road is very narrow with numerous hills and curves, so be careful where you pull over and do not impede local traffic. The area at Sulphur Creek where I first viewed it is posted no parking or stopping, and this is enforced here. The closest public parking would be at the Hamilton Conservation Authority lot (fee required) at the Hermitage Gatehouse at the intersection of Sulphur Springs Rd and Mineral Springs Rd. From there you could walk the Main Loop Trail down to Sulphur Springs (about 500 m). Directions: From Hamilton, take Hwy 403 westbound to the Mohawk Rd. exit (same exit as for the Lincoln Alexander Parkway), then follow Mohawk Rd west into Ancaster (it actually becomes Rousseaux St.) to its end at Wilson St. Turn left and look for the stop lights at Sulphur Springs Rd. Turn right here and follow it into the Dundas Valley. The road will come to a T intersection, turn right here and the road continues as Sulphur Spring Rd. At the bottom of the big hill is the parking lot for the Hermitage Gatehouse on the right. Just past here is the intersection with Mineral Springs Rd, but Sulphur Springs Rd continues if you turn right. At the bottom of this next big hill is the old springs where I had it originally roosting. If you continue on up the hill and just past the blind curve, the field where it was later seen is just on your left. If you are coming from Dundas, take Governors Rd west out of town to Sulphur Springs Rd, turn left and follow it about one km to these sites described above. Rob Dobos Dundas, Ont. [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/
