Amherst Island birding
Dear Fellow Birders, Seabrooke Leckie and myself did a trip out to Amherst Island today and saw almost essentially what Bruce saw on the weekend. We had a pure white Snowy Owl on South Shore Rd a couple hundred yards west of the east start of the road on the north side in a lone tree in a field. We also had a single light phase Rough-legged Hawk on the eastern side of the island, and Red-tailed scattered throughout. Snow Buntings were very abundant all along the south side, and Horned Larks mostly on the north side. In the KFN property we heard and saw a Great Horned Owl near where the dead Long-eared Owl was found, possibly the killer? Directions: Amherst Island is located 16 km. west of Kingston. Exit off the 401 at exit 593 and drive south on County Road 4 to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 300 m. until you see the sign to the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $5.00 round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. The K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island. The Owl Woods is at the midway point of the seasonal road located 3.4 km. east from the general store. The road is closed due to snow drifting so you have to make the 1km or so walk in. Mike Boyd Guelph, Ontario Mike Boyd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
HSR: Beamer Conservation Area (01 Mar 2004) Raptor counts (total=7)
Beamer Conservation Area, Grimsby, ON Grimsby, Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 01, 2004 --- SpeciesDay's CountMonth Total Season Total -- --- -- -- Black Vulture0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1 Cooper's Hawk1 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 4 4 5 Rough-legged Hawk0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown UA 0 0 0 Unknown UB 0 0 0 Unknown UF 0 0 0 Unknown UE 0 0 0 Unknown UR 0 0 0 Total: 7 7 8 -- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Mike Street Observers: Weather: Today's warm but cloudy weather reached a high of +6 degrees C. Winds from the South started the day, changing to North and ending the day with stormy weather from the SW winds. Observations: Red-tails dominated with a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-Shouldered Hawk making their first official appearances. Two Pine Siskins flew by around 2:15 in the afternoon. Also, our info signs and counters wind break were installed for the season start. Report submitted by Bill Brown ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Beamer Conservation Area, Grimsby, ON information may be found at: http://www.hwcn.org/link/niaghawk/index.html Beamer Conservation Area is located on top of the Niagara Escarpment above the town of Grimsby, Ontario. The site is 1km south of the south shore of Lake Ontario, 20km east of Hamilton, 40km west of Niagara Falls. To get to Beamer CA, take the QEW to Exit 72, follow Christie St./Mountain St. to the top of the escarpment, turn right on Ridge Road West, and go 1.6km to Quarry Rd. Turn right on Quarry Rd. and drive 100m to the conservation area. Parking is normally available inside the park. If parking at the entrance or on the roads, do NOT leave valuables in your car. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
Presqu'ile Waterfowl 29 Feb.04
Hello Ontbirders The numbers of waterfowl continue to increase at Presqu'ile. Yesterday, Feb.29, I observed 15 species including 120 Mute swan, 15,100 Greater Scaup, 4 Lesser Scaup, 1 Ring-necked Duck, 350 Canvasback, 1,100 Redhead, 900 Long-tailed Duck, 155 Bufflehead, 440 Common Goldeneye, 2 Hooded Merganser, and 148 Common Merganser. Most of these birds were in Presqu'ile Bay. There were a few 1000 Ring-billed Gulls on Gull Island and an adult Bald Eagle on High Bluff Island. good birding Bruce Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario,K0A 1L0 (613)839-4395 Home (613)715-2571 Cell http://www3.sympatico.ca/bruce.dilabio/ Directions: Presqu'ile is best reached by exiting Hwy 401 at Hwy 30 (the Brighton exit) and follow #30 south through Brighton. Watch for and follow the Provincial Park signs once in town. Bruce Di Labio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
Amherst Island birding
Hello Ontbirders On Feb.28 & 29 , birded Amherst Island and found only 1 owl , a Snowy at the east point, KFN property. On both days only a few hawks were observed Rough-legged and Red-tailed. Snow Bunting were easy to find with a number of flocks (100-200) along the Southshore Road. The island was still ice bound with no open water except for the ferry channel. One Golden-crowned Kinglet was seen in the " Owl Woods" and a dead Long-eared Owl was found near the KFN property. good birding Bruce Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario,K0A 1L0 (613)839-4395 Home (613)715-2571 Cell http://www3.sympatico.ca/bruce.dilabio/ Directions: Amherst Island is located 16 km. west of Kingston. Exit off the 401 at exit 593 and drive south on County Road 4 to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 300 m. until you see the sign to the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $5.00 round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. The K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island. The Owl Woods is at the midway point of the seasonal road located 3.4 km. east from the general store. The road is closed due to snow drifting so you have to make the 1km or so walk in. Bruce Di Labio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
Thayer's Gull and Killdeer at Wheatley
Wheatley Harbour has been good for gulls the past couple of weekends. Yesterday I found a second winter Thayer's Gull hobnobbing with the Ring-billeds and Herrings in the marina. Dean Ware has been finding Icelands, and the first winter Lesser Black-backed I found a while ago is probably still there. Once the Bonaparte's return, it should be really fun and interesting. En route to the Harbour, I also spotted 2 Killdeer flying over a field along Kent Road 1 just north of Muddy Creek. I was surprised not to find more in the Hillman Marsh/Pelee area. However, numbers and variety of ducks have greatly increased. Look for them in the flooded fields south of Hillman Marsh in addition to the marsh proper. Wheatley Harbour can be reached by taking Kent Road 1 south from the heart of Wheatley to the lake. --Randy Horvath, Windsor<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca "Randy Horvath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
Feb.27,Selkirk Provincial Park / Fisherville Raptor Preserve
Two Birders from Hamilton: Selkirk Provincial Park: "This is the third trip here looking for a Saw-whet Owl, "I dont think i can look at another Pine tree" Friday was a slow day, all the regulars were missing, Great Horned Owls, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers only the small regular birds were present. The drive to the park was better than the park it's self, 20 plus Red Tails, 2 Rough-legged and one Northern Harrier. Fisherville Raptor Preserve: Today was a good day at the owl fields considering the amount of snow cover still remaining in the fields, We covered only one quarter of our normal route and disrupted 60 plus Short-eared Owls (the highest count todate in one visit is 109). Seeing the Short-eared Owls in the Owl Field on 6th. Concession is hit and miss as the birds move from field to field throughout the area. During the spring migration numerous Red-winged Black Birds and Eastern Meadowlarks also come through these fields. On Route: we stopped to check the two Osprey nests along the Grand River(corner of reg.road 54 and Stoney Creek rd. on the hydro poles) " no activity but we'll be watching" "Happy Trails" _ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca "fred lusignea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
