BARROW'S GOLDENEYE SANDHILL CRANE * WILSONS SNIPE TURKEY VULTURE Great Blue Heron King Eider Red throated Loon Red-necked Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Ruddy Duck Redhead Ring-necked Duck Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Common Goldeneye Bufflehead Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Rough-legged Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Gray Partridge Wild Turkey American Coot Glaucous Gull Iceland Gull Long-eared Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Shrike Common Raven Red Winged Blackbird Brown headed Cowbird Horned Lark Brown Creeper Tufted Titmouse Winter Wren American Robin Eastern Bluebird Brown Thrasher White-crowned Sparrow Pine Siskin Common Redpoll Lapland Longspur
Good Evening and welcome to the Hamilton Naturalist Club Hotline! A reminder that this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count from Feb 13-16. Participation is important for the studies Cornell and Bird Studies Canada are doing. Lets get motivated to participate and maybe someone will turn up something good for me to report. The website to report to is www.birdsource.org/gbbc. This week was a little quieter with one of the most significant finds being a WILSON'S SNIPE which was flushed from along the creek at Taquanyah Conservation Area. Also seen here was a wintering Great Blue Heron. On this outing there were six turkey in the Empire's Corner area. Seven Wild Turkeys were seen Saturday evening along King Road, Burlington, at the top of the escarpment where the road bends to the south when driving west from Burlington. They were in the farm field on the west side of the road back a few hundred feet along a ravine. A flock of 22 Turkey have been present for a week on RR2 5 km North of Canborough. The SANDHILL CRANE, although not in this area, was seen today by myself in a field just outside of Brantford on the northwest corner of Rest Acres road directly across from the highway exit below the orchard. This bird has been seen for the past couple of weeks in the same area. A Northern Shrike was perched there today as well. The needle in a haystack search for Gray Partridge today was fruitless however Gray Partridge have been seen earlier this week on Robinson Road which borders the Brantford airport. Another significant sighting this week was the report of two TURKEY VULTURES, one at the Valley Inn/Woodland Cemetery and one at the 403 and Fiddlers Green Rd. Since none have been reported in this area all winter it is a wonder whether these birds could maybe have come from slightly south of here as a sign of spring. Perhaps we should ditch the groundhog this year with his six more weeks of winter and let the vultures decide because I could use some spring! Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown Headed Cowbirds were reported at Sierra Lane in Stoney Creek today. A Red-shouldered Hawk was spotted in Clarkson by a lucky Go Train passenger! Quite a few Rough legs were reported this week throughout the area. Ducks are plentiful in the area as usual. The best find this week a BARROW'S GOLDENEYE seen off of Fruitland Road last Sunday. One observer looking for the Barrow's found a Red-throated Loon in the same area. The first year King Eiders continue to be seen off of Sayers Park. Ten species of duck were seen behind the Travelodge including all three scoters, Ring-necked Duck and Redhead. A Red-necked Grebe was seen at the Grand River just below the Caledonia Hwy #6 Bridge. There are lots of gulls to scan in the lake and bay area on the ice as both Iceland and Glaucous Gulls were reported again this week. Long-eared Owls seem to be plentiful this season as three were spotted at the Burlington Beach Canal and two at Valley Inn where at the east end of the boardwalk where the trail breaks into a Y. A Common Raven was reported this week at Concession 4 East of Brock Road. One or two of these birds have been seen throughout the winter in this general location. Northshore trails of the RBG have been good this week for Red-bellied, Pileated and Hairy Woodpecker, American Robins, Tufted Titmouse and Brown Creeper. A significant sighting from this location this week was the discovery of a White-crowned Sparrow just west of the Nature Centre at the arboretum. The brown thrashers continues to be seen at the intersection of Captain Cootes and McDonnell trails as well as west of Raspberry house. The Brown Thrasher at the Valley Inn seems to be a permanent fixture as well. On Mackenzie Road south of Caledonia between 2nd and 3rd Lines there were two Lapland Longspurs in a flock of Horned Larks. Feeder birds this week include a few reports of visiting Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins. That's it for this week folks, keep emailing your sightings to me! This hotline will be updated next Thursday unless a rarity turns up at which time it will be immediately posted. Good Birding Cheryl Edgecombe Hamilton Naturalists' Club > Tel: (905) 381-0329 > www.hamiltonnature.org "Cheryl Edgecombe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
