On Friday, January 30th, 2009 this is the HNC Birding Report:
American Wigeon Ring-necked Duck Pied-billed Grebe Wild Turkey Red-throated Loon Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Eastern Screech Owl Short-eared Owl Horned Lark Tufted Titmouse Brown Creeper Winter Wren Carolina Wren Eastern Bluebird Brown Thrasher Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing White-throated Sparrow Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Purple Finch White-winged Crossbill Common Redpoll Hoary Redpoll Pine Siskin Its been a fairly quiet week here in Hamilton. Winter marches on, more snow, more cold makes winter listing a little more tedious. However, a couple of new prospects have turned up this week giving reason to go and make the chase. Yesterday a Brown Thrasher was reported coming into a feeder in Mississauga. Today a very accommodating Brown Thrasher was showing well at the MacEwan Field Station just off Burnamthorpe west of Mavis near the Credit River in Mississauga, quite a nice bird next to the white snow. Another good winter bird which turned up in the week was an Eastern Towhee located in the Stoney Creek Ravine between Huckleberry Court and Barton along the creek. This protective ravine is a good place for wintering birds to seek shelter. Other birds seen here were Eastern Screech Owl, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren and Carolina Wren. The Red-shouldered Hawk was seen last Sunday in the ravine south of Queenston and Lake at the end of Galbraith in the ball fields there. Down at the RBG Arboretum off Old Guelph Road, a number of birds continue to be seen in the sheltered area at the bottom of the hill on the Northshore Trail. Last Saturday a single Bohemian Waxwing was seen along with Cedar Waxwings eating from the berries. Also seen in this area were White-throated Sparrow, Purple Finch, Common Redpoll and Pine Siskin. More Cedar Waxwings were seen at the top of Valley Inn Road and the Common Grackle also made an appearance there. A trip down to Haldimand last Sunday was fairly quiet. Two Snowy Owls were seen in the fields down here in the south part of the Hamilton Study Area and Short-eared Owls were reported from the Hagersville Area. Brown-headed Cowbirds were seen near Taquanyah Conservation area and at Nelles Corners. Perhaps the most fruitful area was the feeders at Ruthven Park. Here a Wild Turkey grazed at the feeder along with Tufted Titmouse, Common Redpoll and Pine Siskins. Winter finches continue to be reported throughout the area with Siskins and Redpolls invading feeders everywhere. There was a report of Hoary Redpoll from the Dundas area this week. White-winged Crossbills continue to be seen although reports have slowed down. There were some seen today at the corner of Walker's Line and the North Service Road. Out on the lake and in the bay, duck numbers and variety seem to be down this year. A pair of American Wigeon made an appearance on the ice at LaSalle this week. Two Red-throated Loons were seen at the Beach Canal on the lake side earlier in the week. Bald Eagles can be seen sitting on the ice in the bay. Iceland and Glaucous Gulls can also be seen out there. Up in Saltfleet a Snowy Owl continues to be seen around the 8th Road East and Mud Street Area. Also here, a large flock of Snow Buntings seem to gravitate to the large hay bales located at 8th Road East and Highland Road. Horned Larks seem to be on the increase on the roadsides up here. In the odds and sods, Eastern Bluebirds and Snow Buntings were seen at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Two Wild Turkey were seen at Van Wagners Ponds on Saturday, a rather odd place for these birds. Turkey Vultures are still being seen at the Waterdown Garden Supply property on Hwy 5 just west of Peter's Corners for those winter listing. The Peregrine Falcons are being seen more regularly around the lift bridge perhaps a sign that they will make this a nesting site again this year although with a different male bird present now. A Pied-billed Grebe and Ring-necked Ducks are present in the Desjardins Canal and another wintering Merlin was seen in Dundas. Birds are moving about constantly so please report your sightings. Thanks to those who have kept me informed of their feeder birds. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
