At 6:00pm, Friday, January 17th, 2003, this is an update to the Hamilton Naturalists' Club Birding Hotline Report. The Hotline is normally revised on Thursday nights, unless an unusual bird turns up in the Hamilton area, as is the case with this report.
Call this a "weekend update" if you will. Here are a few birds seen today that you should be on the lookout for over the weekend. The first is the white phase GYRFALCON. A female white phase Gyr was seen near the lakeshore at Grimsby, heading towards the Hamilton area. This could be the same bird reported last week, and any sightings over the weekend would be appreciated. Add BROWN THRASHER and LINCOLN'S SPARROW to the list of overwintering birds in the Hendrie Valley. Last but not least, a EVENING GROSBEAK was spotted in the Red Hill Valley, south of King Street. Now for the rest of this week's report... The next meeting of the Bird Study Group will take place Monday, January 20th, at Shaklee Canada Inc., 952 Century Drive, Burlington. Coffee and snacks at 7pm, meeting starts at 7:30. Kerrith McKay will give a presentation about Common Eider research on South Hampton Island, Nunavut, and Rob Dobos will report on the Second Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. Now on to the birds... The white GYRFALCON found last Thursday in Flamborough has not been reported since. However, birders searching for the Gyr turned up some other interesting sightings. NORTHERN GOSHAWK, COOPER'S HAWK, MERLIN, WILD TURKEY, and RUFFED GROUSE were all seen on Westover Road between or near Safari Road and the 8th Concession in Flamborough. A few other local rarities persist in spite of the cold weather. The YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen as recently as Tuesday at LaSalle Marina, along with a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, while the EASTERN PHOEBE and GRAY CATBIRD were still in the Hendrie Valley. Other local reports include KING EIDER at Millen Road on the Stoney Creek lakeshore, WOOD DUCK, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL in the Desjardins Canal, GREAT HORNED OWLS at Albion Falls, PEREGRINE FALCON at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Hamilton, and WILSON'S SNIPE in Rockton. Quite a few BALD EAGLES were seen this past week - on the Oakville lakeshore, over the Royal Botanical Gardens on Plains Road, near the Speed River in Guelph, and on the Niagara River near Queenston. Last but not least, a COOPER'S HAWK, an AMERICAN ROBIN and several HOUSE FINCHES made an appearance in your reporter's yard. Out of town, a pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS were spotted feeding on Sumac at Taquanyah Conservation Area, the BLACK-HEADED GULL was still at Queenston, the HARLEQUIN DUCK was seen again at Fort Erie, and a ROSS'S GULL turned up in Irondequoit Bay in New York state. Until next week, be sure to let us know about your sightings, leave your name, telephone number, as well as the time and date of your call. Sightings can also be reported by e-mail. GOOD BIRDING! Keith Dieroff C/O Hamilton Naturalists' Club Birding Hotline Report Hamilton, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca Keith Dieroff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
