[Ontbirds] Cackling Geese, Rusty Blackbirds & Rough-Legged Hawks - Richmond Hill
This morning en route to Richmond Hill from Newmarket, I observed a dark-phase Rough-legged Hawk hunting over the fields on the south side of the King-Vaughan Line, just west of Bathurst. There were at least 12 Rusty Blackbirds in a tree on the same side of the road, the only remainders of a of a much larger flock of blackbirds that rapidly dispersed when the aforementioned hawk came by. A few kms further southwest of this location, I observed a light-phase Rough-legged Hawk perched, then hunting near the roadside, about one km south of the KV Line on Dufferin Avenue. Returning from my morning hockey game in Richmond Hill at about 10:30 a.m., I stopped to check the pond at the NW corner of Elgin Mills and Leslie, where large flock of about 500 Canada Geese had congregated. Among them were at least 50 Cackling Geese. Richmond Hill is directly north of Toronto along Yonge Street, easily accessed from both Hwys. 400 and 404. The Major Mackenzie exit is best to take. The areas described above are north of Major Mackenzie on the roads indicated. Ron Fleming, Newmarket
[Ontbirds]HSR: SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark (31 Oct 2004) 64 Raptors
SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2004 --- SpeciesDay's CountMonth Total Season Total -- --- -- -- Black Vulture0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 25 50287 54617 Osprey 0 32249 Bald Eagle 0 39182 Northern Harrier 0 70353 Sharp-shinned Hawk 20 2280 6639 Cooper's Hawk2392605 Northern Goshawk 0 21 21 Red-shouldered Hawk 0605652 Broad-winged Hawk0 7 185382 Red-tailed Hawk 17 4593 5408 Rough-legged Hawk0 61 61 Golden Eagle 0 32 33 American Kestrel 0126 1005 Merlin 0 10 51 Peregrine Falcon 0 16 35 Unknown 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2 Total: 64 58571 255295 -- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jeff Schultz Observers:Calvin Brennan Weather: Mostly overcast conditions prevailed throughout the day today with moderate winds out of the west. Observations: The flight was very slow and sporadic as well as lacking in diversity. In contrast to the raptor flight, there was a considerable movement of waterfowl, mostly diving ducks over the lake, but included two Brant and a group of eighteen mostly blue morph Snow Geese. Report submitted by Calvin Brennan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.smrr.net/
[Ontbirds]FW: High Park Hawkwatch Oct.18 - 24
This is an official posting from the High Park Hawk Watch. Station: High Park, Toronto, Ontario View Period: October 25 to October 31, 2004 Station co-ordinator: Don Barnett Counters: D. Barnett, B. Carswell, H Currie, N. McHugh, D. Milsom & H. Shapiro The weather was even worse this week than last although this week's numbers are just a tiny bit more than last week. As an example of our luck, Tuesday was sunny and clear north of Bloor Street, where many raptors were seen in different parts of the City, but Hawk Hill was totally fogged in and no raptors counted, other than ONE Sharpie with his fog lights on!!! The only productive day was Thursday. Red-tailed Hawks were by far the most numerous bird of the week. Our totals for the past week and the year so far are: SpeciesOct.25 - 31 Year to Date Turkey Vulture131267. Osprey.-..17. Bald Eagle.-..26. Northern Harrier...-..20. Sharp-Shinned Hawk.41013. Cooper's Hawk..2..79. Northern Goshawk...2...3. Red-shouldered Hawk...27..49. Broad-winged Hawk..-1360. Red-tailed Hawk..251.885. Rough-legged Hawk..5...6. Golden Eagle...1...7. American Kestrel...1.139. Merlin.-..11. Peregrine Falcon...-..28. Other(Swainson's Hawk).-...-. Unidentified...4..60. Total3104970. High Park Site Description High Park is a 400 acre wooded park dominated by a Black Oak Savannah located just west of Downtown Toronto near Keele and Bloor. The park is operated by the City of Toronto Parks Department. The Count site (Hawk Hill) is located on a small hill at the north end of the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. It is located about 1.5km (1 mile) north of Lake Ontario, at an elevation of 110 metres above sea level and 38 metres above Lake Ontario. The site location is N 43 degrees 37 minutes 03.8 seconds, W 79 degrees 28 minutes 56.5 seconds. This station is at the highest point and near the centre of the park; a steep slope that descends to a large pond is immediately west of the station. Full time counts have been recorded here since 1993. The following are partners in our raptor migration monitoring in the Greater Toronto Region: City of Toronto Parks and Culture Department, Toronto Ornithological Club, and Local Naturalist's Clubs. More information including a summary of our past observations is available at: http://www.torontobirding.ca/~gtrw/ -- Howard Shapiro email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Ontbirds]Cattle Egret - Carleton Place
The Cattle Egret seen earlier today was seen again at about 2 pm and was still there with the cattle in the barnyard at 3 pm. Directions: From Ottawa take Highway 417 and then Highway 7 west. A few kms west of Carleton Place turn left on the Scotch Corners road. The egret was seen in the barnyard at 371 McCann Road which is left off the Scotch Corners Road about 2 kms from Highway 7. The lane is very muddy after yesterday's rain so boots are needed. Mike Jaques 18 Morris Street Carleton Place, ON, K7C 4M9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Ontbirds]adult CALIFORNIA GULL at Adam Beck, Niagara
This afternoon there was an adult CALIFORNIA GULL at Adam Beck Generating Station on the Niagara River. It spent most of its time perched on the rocks near the water on the left hand side of the U.S side -- a scope is recommended. A first-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and a first-winter THAYER'S GULL were also observed in the same location (the latter on the rocks, the former in the air over the river). One first-winter LITTLE GULL was noted from the Queenston boat ramp. At least 8 (possibly more) WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS were noted at Grimsby Sewage Lagoons. * To reach Grimsby, exit off the QEW onto Fifty Road. Follow the signs to Fifty Point CA, continue south to a small brick building on the left. Follow the path behind the building toward the lake to the lagoons. To reach Queenston, exit off the QEW onto 405, then take the Stanley Ave detour and follow the signs through the roundabout towards Queenston. The boat ramp turn is off Front St. To reach Adam Beck, return to the roundabout and get on Niagara Parkway towards the city of Niagara Falls. The Adam Beck parking area in on the left just past the Floral Clock. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Oct 31 18:59:41 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: ontbirds@hwcn.org Received: from helios.kos.net (unknown [64.201.45.11]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 30A9E48E22 for ; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 18:59:41 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 16029 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2004 00:09:23 - Received: from unknown (HELO D3ZD7M31) (64.201.46.154) by 64.201.45.11 with SMTP; 1 Nov 2004 00:09:23 - Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontbirds" Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 19:09:08 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Subject: [Ontbirds] Quinte Area Bird Report for week ending Sunday, October 31, 2004 X-BeenThere: ontbirds@hwcn.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 23:59:41 - Clear DayWEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for the week of Monday, October 25 to Sunday, October 31, 2004 A rather busy stream of birds highlighted the past week of activity in Prince Edward County, the spotlight being on the BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER which first appeared at Sandbanks Provincial Park on October 23rd, and was seen by several observers the following two days, and again on October 27th. At the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, owling has picked up a bit again and volunteers there banded 151 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS during the last week plus two BARRED OWLS. Numbers of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS offshore have dropped to just a handful now but the scaup and scoters are still showing well. LONG-TAILED DUCKS are starting to increase and up to 150 have been seen in a day. Another duck seen in good numbers has been RED-BREASTED MERGANSER with up to 50 seen daily. Seventeen ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were seen during the week with 9 on the 28th including 6 in the air together. Three GOLDEN EAGLES have been seen this week, all of them hatch year birds. An AMERICAN WOODCOCK was seen on the 27th. HAIRY WOODPECKERS are showing up more regularly with up to 5 in a day being seen. Also being seen nearly daily is a NORTHERN SHRIKE, but at least two birds are involved. With the winds dying down at the beginning of the week we had a large movement of birds on the 26th, (Tuesday) when 385 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS were trapped with an estimated total of 800 present. Also present that day were 120 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 32 BROWN CREEPERS, 12 WINTER WRENS and 12 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, the first AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS arrived that day as well and FOX SPARROWS increased to 12, The following day most of the previous days birds had gone but FOX SPARROWS had increased again to 15. A few PINE SISKINS are starting to appear at the niger feeder but have only reached a maximum of 8. And finally, a rare bird for the Point on the 28th was a COMMON RAVEN that was seen and heard calling and circling over the area. Migration Monitoring for the fall ended today (Sunday) and we had a very successful fall with a record number of over 7000 birds banded. Owling will continue for a few more days weather permitting, but the passerine nets will be taken down tomorrow. GOLDEN EAGLES in Prince Edward County this past week have exceeded sightings of the more commonly expected bald eagle. In addition to the three seen at Prince Edward Point during the week, other reports included two at Sandbanks Provincial Park on October 27th, a juvenile at Point Petre on October 28th, and an individual on County Road 1, two kilometres ea
[Ontbirds]Another Pacific Loon on Lake Ontario
On October 22, I had good views of a Pacific Loon with Common Loons off Wicklow Beach east of Cobourg. Like the other Pacific Loons being reported it was a moulting adult, still retaining some features of breeding plumage. I didn't put the sighting on Ontbirds at the time because after about 10 minutes the bird flew off eastward and was lost to view. A report has been submitted to the OBRC. If accepted it will be, rather surprisingly, the first documented record for Northumberland. Margaret Bain Cobourg [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Ontbirds]Ottawa - Sandhill Cranes, etc.
Hello Ontbirders Once again, 22 Sandhill Cranes were seen west of Milton Road. We were unable to see these elusive birds until they flew out of a field in a southerly direction. They came up in groups of 12, 2, 4 and 4. They flew low for a short distance, then disappeared into a field near the tree line, possibly into an irrigation ditch. Nearby, 7 Gray Partridge were seen running along the edge of a corn field along McFadden Road. Directions (in part) courtesy of Neily World: http://members.rogers.com/larry.neily/birdguide.htm Milton Road: >From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 96 (Boundary Road). Proceed 2.0 km NNW on Boundary Road to Russell Road (Regional 26). Turn right or ESE onto Russell and drive 3.5 km to Milton Road (Regional 31). Turn left or NNW on Milton. Historically, the cranes can be anywhere in the fields north of the bridge over Bear Brook. (about 2.0 km from Russell Road). However, today, all the cranes were seen flying on the west side of Milton Rd., from a vantage point approximately 1.5 km north of the bridge. McFadden Road: >From Milton Road, go east on Perrault Road. Perrault elbows to the left onto Trim Road. Almost immediately after the elbow, turn right on McFadden Road. The partridge were seen on the south side, after the "dog leg bend in the road.
[Ontbirds]Ottawa: Red-thr.Loons & migrants
Hi Everyone A little quieter on the river this weekend. No large concentrations of scoters but still 2 Red-throated Loons, 1 yesterday, Oct.30th off Andrew Haydon Park and 1 today, Oct.31st off the Shirley's Bay Parking Lot. Also at Shirley's Bay were 15 Snow Bunting, 14 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Ruddy Duck. and an immature Bald Eagle west of Innis Point. The ponds near Moodie Drive and Trail Road area were again loaded with waterfowl mainly Canada Geese, Mallards, 100+ Snow Geese and 350+ Ring-necked Ducks over the last few days. Yesterday, 1 Northern Shrike and 11 Ruddy Ducks were observed. The cornfields along Barnsdale Road are being harvested and there were numbers of Horned Lark (50+), American Pipit (15+) and a few Bunting yesterday afternoon. good birding Bruce Di Labio Birding Website Courses and Field Trips http://www3.sympatico.ca/bruce.dilabio/ Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario,K0A 1L0 (613)839-4395 Home (613)715-2571 Cell Directions:Shirley's Bay: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to the Moodie Drive exit. Go north to Carling Ave. Turn left at Carling and follow Carling to Rifle Road Turn right (north) onto Rifle Rd. Follow road to boat launch and park. Walk the road going west until you pass the DND gate. A trail on your right heads into the woods and leads to the dyke. PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE RANGE CONTROL OFFICE BEFORE ENTERING THE DYKE AREA-- Call (613) 991-5740 and ask whether it is possible to visit the dyke for birding. Dick Bell Park is located along Carling Ave. just west of Andrew Haydon Park. Trail Road Area: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to Moodie Dr. and follow Moodie south approx 10 km. to Trail Road. Turn left on Trail Road. The landfill site is on your left. The landfill site is closed to birders, but birds can easily be viewed from Trail Road . Find the highest vantage point and set up your scope. The ponds are along Moodie Drive just south of Trail Road. These ponds are on private property but can be viewed from the road. If your require any additional information please email me privately.
[Ontbirds]..Pacific Loon at Point Pelee
With the strong west winds, there was a lot of action today on the east side of the Tip of Point Pelee. The most interesting bird was a Pacific Look that flew by from north to south, at relatively close range. It was extremely obvious due to the fact that it appeared to be in essentially full breeding plumage. Other observers were Randy Horvath, Robert Horvath and Adam Pinch (Marianne Reid had left 15 minutes earlier). This is only Point Pelee's 5th record, and 2nd in fall. Alan Wormington, Leamington Speed up your surfing with Juno SpeedBand. Now includes pop-up blocker! Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com/surf to sign up today! From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Oct 31 15:45:19 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: ontbirds@hwcn.org Received: from tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts20.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.74]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9C86A47F1C for ; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 15:45:19 -0500 (EST) Received: from dianaoffice ([64.231.173.86]) by tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net (InterMail vM.5.01.06.10 201-253-122-130-110-20040306) with SMTP id <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for ; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 15:55:02 -0500 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Mike Williamson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ontbirds" Subject: Revised: [Ontbirds]Iroquois Shoreline Raptor Watch Oct.31/04 Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 15:54:51 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-BeenThere: ontbirds@hwcn.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 20:45:20 - October count for Bald Eagle`s revised . Iroquois Shoreline Raptor Watch Whitby, Ont. , Canada. Hello; This report includes our October totals & our year to date totals . October Season Turkey Vulture =1,046 = 1,296 Osprey = 3 = 6 Bald Eagle = 0 = 8 Northern Harrier=5 = 13 Sharp Shin = 140 = 204 Coopers Hawk =18= 27 N Goshawk = 2 = 2 Red Shoulder = 44= 52 Broad Wing = 0 = 457 Red Tail = 318 = 355 Rough Legged = 6 = 6 Golden Eagle = 23= 23 A Kestrel= 3 =15 Merlin = 3 = 6 Peragrine=0 = 2 Total Birds = 1,611 Hrs. =37 Total Birds = 2,472 Hrs. 62.5 2 month Avg. per hr. = 39.6 Report submitted by Mike Williamson ISRW info can be found on the T.O.C. web site. Click on Greater Toronto Raptor Watch !
[Ontbirds] GODWIT along with wonderful Rough-leggeds at Cranberry--Oct.31
At 1203 several observers noted a "big bird" perched low on the east side of the Cranberry Marsh wetlands--after a a minute or two it flew down, allowing the viewers to detect the reddishness of a Hudsonian Godwit. Passerines over the past 3 days--both Kinglets, Redstart, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox Sp., Am.Tree Sp., Catbird, et al This past week (Oct.25-31) has been superb for excellent views of Rough-legged Hawks. Below is a list of the sightings for Oct.31. with totals for Oct.25-31 to its right, AND in brackets the total since Aug.14. Turkey Vulture652(1141) Osprey -- (86) Bald Eagle- 1(38) N.Harrier28(102) Sharp-shinned49(889) Cooper's28(87) N.Goshawk15(13) Red-shouldered-1(18) Broad-winged--(895) Red-tailed1152(525) Rough-legged1899(111) Golden Eagle--(7) Am.Kestrel--(446) Merlin--(40) Peregrine-2(31) Unidentified-3(140) TOTAL44240(4578) Doug Lockrey, coordinator CMRW
[Ontbirds]Iroquois Shoreline Raptor Watch Oct.31/04
Iroquois Shoreline Raptor Watch Whitby, Ont. , Canada. Hello; This report includes our October totals & our year to date totals . October Season Turkey Vulture =1,046 = 1,296 Osprey = 3 = 6 Bald Eagle = 8 = 8 Northern Harrier=5 = 13 Sharp Shin = 140 = 204 Coopers Hawk =18= 27 N Goshawk = 2 = 2 Red Shoulder = 44= 52 Broad Wing = 0 = 457 Red Tail = 318 = 355 Rough Legged = 6 = 6 Golden Eagle = 23= 23 A Kestrel= 3 =15 Merlin = 3 = 6 Peragrine=0 = 2 Total Birds = 1,611 Hrs. =37 Total Birds = 2,472 Hrs. 62.5 2 month Avg. per hr. = 39.6 Report submitted by Mike Williamson ISRW info can be found on the T.O.C. web site. Click on Greater Toronto Raptor Watch !
[Ontbirds]HSR: Cranberry Marsh (31 Oct 2004) 44 Raptors
Cranberry Marsh Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2004 --- SpeciesDay's CountMonth Total Season Total -- --- -- -- Black Vulture0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6757 1141 Osprey 0 8116 Bald Eagle 0 4 38 Northern Harrier 2 30101 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4269890 Cooper's Hawk2 29 87 Northern Goshawk 1 13 13 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 15 18 Broad-winged Hawk0 5895 Red-tailed Hawk 11315525 Rough-legged Hawk 18111111 Golden Eagle 0 7 7 American Kestrel 0 64446 Merlin 0 9 40 Peregrine Falcon 0 17 30 Unknown 0 47120 Total: 44 1700 4578 -- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Jerry Walsh Observers:Derek & Jennifer Lyon, John Floegl, John Stirrat, Keith Sharp Visitors: at any one time we had up to 20 observers Weather: strong west winds; rising BP; 13C; 60-90% cloud cover; TUV=0-100 ft./min. Observations: most raptors exhibited difficulty flying into the west winds, creating problems for the counters as the birds kept circling back and around; 6 TV, 2 N.Harrier, 4 SS, 2 CH, 1 N.Goashawk,11 Red-tailed and 18 Rough-legged 1 Hudsonian GODWIT WAS SEEN PERCHED JUST ABOVE THE EAST-SIDE WETLAND AT 1205; Tree Sp., Fox Sp. Report submitted by John Douglas Lockrey ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Cranberry Marsh information may be found at: http://www.gtrw.ca
[Ontbirds] Kingston Field Naturalists' Regional Sightings for the week ending Oct. 31, '04
Page number and Grid Coordinates as per MapArt Publishing "Ontario Road Atlas" 2002 Edition: [Page 36, Quadrants E54 & 55] We use the above road guide, recommended to visitors. Available, at most book stores or Service Centres on the 401 Hwy. RARE BIRD ALERT Ed Taugher of Wolfe I. reported a GLOSSY IBIS in the marsh by Sand Bay (2nd Line) Oct. 30. WOLFE ISLAND [Pge 36, Quad't E56, 57 & 58] I birded the west end of Wolfe I. on Oct. 24. Highlights were: at Button Bay, a flock of ~80 SNOW GEESE, 4 HUDSONIAN GODWITS, 200 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, a RUDDY DUCK and in the outer bay a raft of 1,000+ GREATER SCAUP with at least 1 CANVASBACK and 2 REDHEAD. At Reeds Bay 13 TUNDRA SWANS, 2 GR. YELLOWLEGS, 35 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and 1 MERLIN. 3 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS were on the wires on the 5th Line 100 m. North of Stevenson Rd. 2 SNOW BUNTINGS were on the Baseline Rd. East of Hwy 95. On Oct. 31 I looked for the GLOSSY IBIS at the marsh by Sand Bay. Lots of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS but no IBIS. 12 TUNDRA SWANS at Reeds Bay and 18 TUNDRA SWANS at Button Bay. There was 1 N. SHRIKE in a bush near the junction of Hwy 96 and the entry to the Simcoe I. Ferry. OTHER SIGHTINGS At Cartwright Point: 2 TUFTED TITMOUSE at feeders on Oct. 28, 29 & 30 at 14 The Point Road. DIRECTIONS: 1.) From Kingston take Ontario St. (Hwy 2) east over the Cataraqui River Causeway past Fort Henry. 2.) Continue east past Hwy 15 and the next traffic light at the MacDonalds and turn right (south) off Hwy 2 at the next and last traffic lights at the Vimy Gates and turn right (west) again after only 8 m. onto Caen Crescent. Turn left (south) at the next road (Canal du Nord) and continue south past Lundy's Lane to Casino Court. 3.) Follow Casino Court down the hill and on up the narrow paved road called "The Point Rd." 4.) Turn right off The Point Rd. at #14 onto the lane leading west to the Sachs house. Park on the paved pad by the garage or on the grassy sides of the lane. For help call (547-6210). Coming from 401 Hwy go south on Hwy. 15 (exit 623) and turn left (east) at Hwy. 2. Follow same directions as from the second sentence above marked: 2.) Tom Howson reported a flock of 20 PINE SISKINS at his feeders at Chelsea Rd. Kingston. Gerald Paul reported: "This morning (Oct. 30) while birding Squaw Point I observed a WOOD THRUSH in a denuded tree, a rather late sighting. Also seen were: 25 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 40 AM. ROBINS, 3 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, WINTER WREN, RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. Bob Sachs, Kingston, ON
[Ontbirds]HSR: Holiday Beach (31 Oct 2004) 10 Raptors
Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Ontario, Canada Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2004 --- SpeciesDay's CountMonth Total Season Total -- --- -- -- Turkey Vulture 0 12682 13918 Osprey 0 14 83 Bald Eagle 0 15 45 Northern Harrier 0 61248 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 1651 5371 Cooper's Hawk4198283 Northern Goshawk 1 5 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 0148154 Broad-winged Hawk0 1 27843 Red-tailed Hawk 3974 1192 Rough-legged Hawk0 29 29 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 0148 1368 Merlin 0 25 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 5 15 Unknown 0 95133 Total: 10 16053 50747 -- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Bob Hall-Brooks Observers: Visitors: Despite the weather our friends from Tennessee took the bite out of the wind. Weather: Strong SW winds, cold, damp, no sun, temperature of 11 degrees Celsius all day. Observations: Only ten raptors seen today highlighted by a close immature Northern Goshawk. Swirls of Starlings overhead early in the morning reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", appropriate perhaps for Halloween. Predictions: The winds are supposed to turn tonight to the north. If the rain stays off, it could be good. Report submitted by Bob Hall-Brooks ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Holiday Beach Migration Observatory information may be found at: http://hbmo.org/ Holiday Beach Migration Observatory Information on southern Ontario's hawk migration and the Holiday Beach Conservation Area site -- Southwestern Ontario is largely an area of flat, featureless farmland. There are only two geographic features of note in the region. One is the proximity of the Great lakes, which influence bird migration in the area to a great extent, The second is the shape of the province, roughly funnel-shaped with the narrow end to the southwest. These features confine south-bound bird migrants, especially hawks, to specific flight corridors. Holiday Beach Conservation Area was formerly a Provincial Park, but is now administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA). It is strategically located at the extreme southwestern tip of southern Ontario. The park is on the eastern end of a large freshwater estuary known as Big Creek. (Specifically the site is 1.1 miles south of the junction Highway 20 (old 18) and Essex Road 50, Town of Amherstburg). The Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) (founded in 1986) is a non-profit, volunteer organization formed to promote the study and protection of migrating birds. Activities focus primarily on fall migration of raptors and other species. This site is in Essex County, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie near the Detroit River. In 1988, HBMO persuaded Detroit Edison to donate a 40 foot Hawk Tower which is now at the site. Southwestern Ontario has a funneling effect on migrating raptors due to the geography of the nearby lakes and the reluctance of most raptors to cross large bodies of water. Birds gain altitude over the flat farmland to the north and east, rising easily with the thermals that such areas provide in abundance. As the birds head south they meet Lake Erie and, reluctant to cross it , turn west. With appropriate wind and weather conditions, birds pile up along the lake shore and move west until they reach the narrow crossing at the Detroit River (or island hop within the river mouth).
[Ontbirds]Laughing Gull - Hillman Marsh
The 1st year Laughing Gull was still at Hillman Marsh until about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 31st. The bird was originally 200 metres east of the barn and 5 metres off the edge of the trail. It drifted about 50 metres off the trail when another birder, Adam, approached, but he still got a good look through my scope. It then flew off to the north-east, so birders might want to try the Wheatley Harbour. Todd Pepper Leamington, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Oct 31 13:32:41 2004 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: ontbirds@hwcn.org Received: from mx03.cybersurf.com (mx03.cybersurf.com [209.197.145.106]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9A51348A4F for ; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:32:41 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.cyberus.ca ([209.197.145.21]) by mx03.cybersurf.com with esmtp (Exim 4.30) id 1COKep-0005l2-KW for ontbirds@hwcn.org; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:42:27 -0500 Received: from 209-195-116-133.c1.ac1.otton1.isp.cyberus.ca ([209.195.116.133] heloÞll)by mail.cyberus.ca with smtp (Exim 4.20) id 1COKem-0001Kp-Ul for ontbirds@hwcn.org; Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:42:25 -0500 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Mike Jaques" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "OntBirds" Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:41:44 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Subject: [Ontbirds]Cattle Egret - Carleton Place X-BeenThere: ontbirds@hwcn.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 18:32:42 - Hi, This morning a Cattle Egret was found on a local farm. It was first seen about 8.30 am by the farmer who didn't know what it was and phoned Georgina Doe who identified it at about 10.00 am. She called Joyce and me and we saw it at about 10.45 am. Unfortunately the bird flew off westward while we were there and we were unable to relocate it. Georgina was able to take one photo. The bird is a non-breeding adult but still has some orange on its head. We saw it on the ground among the cattle and also on the back of one of the cattle. We will post again if the bird returns. Directions: From Ottawa take Highway 417 and then Highway 7 west. A few kms west of Carleton Place turn left on the Scotch Corners road. The egret was seen between the barns at 371 McCann Road which is left off the Scotch Corners Road about 2 kms from Highway 7. The lane is very muddy after yesterday's rain so boots are needed. There are other cattle farms further along the Scotch Corners Road where the bird could be. Mike Jaques 18 Morris Street Carleton Place, ON, K7C 4M9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Ontbirds]Pacific Loon, Fifty Point Conservation Area, Grimsby
My son just called to report an ADULT PACIFIC LOON still partially in breeding plumage. It was seen 150 yards off shore, off of the large rock jetty, on the eastern side of the boat canal leading from the marina into the lake. Susan Holden for Brandon Holden Directions: QEW Niagara, exit at Fifty Road (between Fruitland Road and Casablanca Road Grimsby) towards the lake and follow the signs to Fifty Point Conservation Area.
[Ontbirds]Common Redpoll in Algonquin Park
Doug Tozer saw a single Common Redpoll with 35 Pine Siskins, feeding on White Birch seeds, at the old millsite at Lake Travers on the East Side of Algonquin Park, both yesterday and today (October 30 and 31). As noted in Ron Pittaway's finch forecast (ONTBIRDS, 13 October), concerning Common Redpolls, "small numbers should reach southern Ontario because the birch crop is not big enough to hold all redpolls in the north". Directions: Algonquin Park is three hours north of Toronto, via Highways 400, 11 and 60. Follow the signs, which start in Toronto on Highway 400. The East Side of Algonquin Park is accessible via the Barron Canyon Road (Grand Lake-Lake Travers road) from the Pembroke area. See an Ontario road map for specific route. Ron Tozer Naturalist, Algonquin Park (retired)
[Ontbirds]Saw Whet Owl sighted, captured, fed & released
Hello Fellow Birdetrs, I sighted a Saw Whet Owl trapped inside of a new house going up across the road from my place. I went to catch it with my butterfly net & flashlight first thing yesterday morning. Fortunately I had a live mouse which I caught in a mouse trap the night before in my house. It was dragging the mouse trap around the house. So I caught both trap & mouse and placed it inside of a cardboard box with the owl, made a perch and placed everything in my shed for the day so the owl could roost for the day. In the evening when I came to release the owl the mouse was gone except for the leg that was still caught in the trap. I became attached to my little friend but felt much better releasing it and watching it gracefully fly out of my hands into the darkness of the West. Jeanne took several photos so we do have the proof of a moment in our lives that we will never forget. Markus Lise Newcastle, On _ On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement
[Ontbirds]RED BELLIED WOODPECKER, SCARBOROUGH
My apologies for not including directions to this bird, found yesterday morning at Rouge Park, Scarborough, Ont., from the parking lot on Old Finch Ave. Directions from Toronto: Take highway 401 east to Meadowvale Rd. (Meadowvale is is about 1/3 of the way from the Don Valley Parkway to Pickering.) Go north on Meadowvale, past the Zoo to Old Finch Ave., and turn left (west) there. About 2 km. west is a traffic light and a Bailey Bridge. Immediately after the traffic light, turn left into the parking lot.
