With 28 people and 12 cars in tow and mild but somewhat windy weather,
we left the Hagersville Tim Hortons at 11:15 A.M. yesterday (Sat., Feb.
12) on Hwy. 6 heading north.
Highlights of the trip :
5 Rough-legged Hawks (one dark morph)
2 Northern Harriers
14 Red-tailed Hawks
2 American Kestrels
1 each of Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks
3 Bald Eagles (1 Adult,1 2nd year and 4th year)
1 Northern Shrike
3 Short-eared Owls
Eastern Bluebirds
Tufted Titmouse
Rusty Blackbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
White-throated Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Snow Buntings
Common Redpoll
Species count for the day: 38, no ducks on Lake Erie, as it is frozen
over out further than one can see!
Our 'raptor" count was 32, a little less than last year but exciting,
nonetheless.
Our first bird, a Rough-legged Hawk, was a dark morph on first line rd.
north and east of Hagersville/hwy 6. We then went to the Snow Bunting
banding station further east on 1st line in a triangle field bounded by
1st line, MacKenzie Rd, and regional road 9 (just north of Hwy 3). Bird
bander Nancy gave a little talk to the group, showing us a Snow Bunting
and a Lapland Longspur (great timing).
From there we went on to Ruthven park on hwy 54 between hwy 6 and 3,
just west of Cayuga. There, we saw Tufted Titmouse, Common Redpoll,
White-throated Sparrow, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and our youngest boy on the
trip (Zakhar Husak, 10) spotted a N. Shrike.
After Coffee break in Cayuga, we proceeded on to Rodger's feeders on s.
River rd. just past Irish line where we had the Rusty Blackbird,
Carolina Wren, Flicker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Interestingly, the
Tree Sparrows were behaving much like Brown Creepers, clinging to the
bark of a tree sideways and upside down. Another White-throated Sparrow
was there as well. By now, we had all the usual suspects such as
Goldfinches Horned Larks, and Juncos so we moved on to Fisherville.
From regional rd. 20 (Indian Line, which extends southeast out of
Hagersville, we went onto 6th concession road north of Fisherville and
crossing road 12 to enter the Raptor Reserve area. Before we even got to
the actual preserve field, there were 3 Short-eared Owls roosting in
evergreens on farm property and one was sitting on a porch railing of a
house on the north side of the road. It was immediately spooked by the
traffic and flew to a pile of brush, giving us great looks at how these
birds fly and their terrific wingspan. We had nice closeup views of our
second Kestrel of the day there.
We went around the block to the north and toured 7th concession and had
spectacular views of 9 Red-tailed hawks vying for one's large "kill" as
it "mantled" (covered its food with its wings as if to hide it). Two
Harriers made brief appearances here and we had a great look at a light
morph Rough-legged Hawk which flew right over us an landed on a roadside
tree.
After refreshments at the Fisherville Tavern (great pie), those who
still had energy went with us to the Nanticoke Generating Station. We
took Sandusk Road south to the lakeshore and went east 100 yards and
found 3 Bald Eagles roosting together in a tree.
We high-tailed it to Selkirk Prov. Pk. for dusk and hiked out to the
marsh bridge and got really quiet. It was ideal conditions to see and
hear at least one species of owl: no wind, not too cold, clear skies,
and a waxing moon overhead. However, we were to be disappointed. Not one
owl of any species called or even appeared at dusk. Brief movement
behind one tree and a lovely chorus of Coyotes was all we got. But
that's the way it goes sometimes. All in all, a very nice day and we met
some great new naturalist friends.
Thanks for all who helped, including Dave Milsom for scouting directions
to a very productive feeder location.
For more comprehensive directions to any of these locations, feel free
to call or email us.
Ken and Angie Williams
905 547 8580
williamsmu...@execulink.com
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Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca
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