ROSS'S GOOSE KILLDEER
Tundra Swan Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Harlequin Duck Ruffed Grouse Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Merlin Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Snowy Owl Short-eared Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Shrike Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush White-crowned Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Pine Siskin Common Redpoll There weren't too much in the way of rarities these past couple of weeks. Two ROSS'S GEESE were photographed a week ago Friday in the Stoney Creek Area but not since. Wild and wacky weather this week brought in early spring migrants who have likely turned around and high tailed it out of here again. On Thursday during the warm spell a KILLDEER was seen up in Saltfleet and two groups of Northern Pintail were seen, one at LaSalle and another group on 8th Road East in Saltfleet. A Tundra Swan was seen from the beach canal toward the Burlington Lakeshore. Unusual this time of year but it's happened before. As is always the case here, the western end of Lake Ontario is good for a variety of ducks but over the past two weeks, the bay has been frozen and even the shores along the lake edge were starting to freeze. A nice find this past week was a female Harlequin Duck which was seen again today on the Hamilton side of the lift bridge on the lake side. Two Pied-billed Grebes were in the Red Hill Outlet last week along with a Green-winged Teal. Only one Pied-billed Grebe was seen today. A Horned Grebe was diving close to shore on Thursday near the ship canal on the Hamilton Side. A Red-necked Grebe was seen on the Winter Waterfowl Census but location is unknown at this time. One interesting note about the bay being frozen, along with both Glaucous and Iceland Gulls a total of 27 Bald Eagles were sitting on the ice this past week. In the odds and sods, an unusual sighting of a Ruffed Grouse came from North Burlington where one was photographed coming to a feeder. Three Great Blue Herons were seen looking fairly miserable in the Red Hill Creek Outlet off Eastport Drive. A lone Turkey Vulture seems to be hanging out at the 403 near Garden Ave. There seem to be a number of wintering Merlins around this year with reports from Oakville, Stoney Creek, Grimsby and one seen near the Steam Museum in Hamilton. Snowy Owl reports are still coming in with birds reported along the QEW Niagara corridor, at Tollgate Pond and Bronte Harbour. A Snowy Owl was seen today at an odd location on a chimney at Ottawa and Cannon. Up to 6 Short-eared Owls have been seen on 10th Road East between Ridge and Green Mountain Road, flying at dusk near the railway tracks. Four Eastern Bluebirds and a Northern Shrike were also birds seen in this area. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker continues along the trail at Spencer Creek which goes into the McMaster University property. A Hermit Thrush was seen at Merrick Orchard in the Dundas Valley on the 5th. A great find last week was a flock of 4 Eastern Meadowlarks on Onondaga Townline just south of Baptist Church road. A White-crowned Sparrow was also coming into the side of the road here. A group of 15 Pine Siskins visited a backyard in Dundas today. Nearby in the Dundas Valley, more Pine Siskins along with one Common Redpoll were seen. That's the news for this week, don't give up on birding! The weather is supposed to warm up this week. Cheryl Edgecombe HNC --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
