ROSS'S GOOSE GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Cackling Goose Canada Goose Northern Pintail Harlequin Duck King Eider Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Red-throated Loon Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Great Horned Owl Barred Owl Merlin Peregrine Falcon Horned Lark Tufted Titmouse Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Purple Finch Common Redpoll Pine Siskin Snow Bunting Chipping Sparrow Fox Sparrow
Bird activity has had a couple of spikes this week as an extreme change in temperature has brought in some migrants and nasty weather conditions have driven birds into feeders. At the top of the list geese are on the move with thousands of Canada Geese moving into the area particularly the fields in Flamborough and Saltfleet. Amongst the geese three GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were seen at Flamborough Downs last Monday. On Tuesday after the warmfront a flock of 34 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were found at a field at Tapleytown and Powerline Road in Saltfleet. Also present there were a few Cackling Geese. The main flock of White-fronts look like they have departed but several were seen at Confederation Park yesterday. Down the shoreline east of here at Forty Mile Creek a ROSS'S GOOSE made an appearance yesterday morning. Northern Pintails also arrived in small numbers. It will be interesting to see if these birds stay around or head south again. In the odds and sods this week, a King Eider is still being seen at the Suncor Pier. Yesterday a Harlequin Duck joined it. Iceland and Glaucous gulls were around especially when the bay was iced over. Out on the Hamilton Harbour 18 Red-throated Loons and 17 Bald Eagles were counted yesterday. While people were looking for the geese the adult and an immature Black-crowned Night Heron were seen at Confederation Park, likely the same two birds that have been present at the Red Hill Outlet. Turkey Vultures were up flying around when the weather was warmer, there is still a significant roost at Jerseyville. A Red-shouldered Hawk has been wintering in Glen Morris. On the Grey Doe trail at the Royal Botanical Gardens, a Barred Owl was seen a week ago. A search for it turned up a Great Horned Owl which seems to be on territory. An Eastern Bluebird was also seen at this location. A Merlin was seen around Bronte Harbour. A Snowy Owl has been seen on and off here throughout the winter. Out on Fallsview Road, a Peregrine Falcon seems to have been spending some time. This location has become quite active with Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and Common Redpolls being seen over the past couple of weeks. At the feeders at the maintenance yard of the Dundas Valley Conservation Area on Mineral Springs Road, Tufted Titmouse, up to 3 Fox Sparrows and Purple Finch have been visiting. Unfortunately most of the specialties at Sedgewick Park in Oakville have met their demise. A single Hermit Thrush remains there. As things move around in the weather conditions, a couple of Chipping Sparrows turned up at feeders in the area, one in Ancaster and another down in Caledonia. A small group of Common Redpolls were seen at LaSalle Park yesterday but trails remain icy there so please be careful. Lastly, Pine Siskin seem to be on the move with growing numbers of birds being seen at feeders. That's the news for this week, please continue to send along your sightings, things will change soon! Cheryl --- 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
