At 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, December 2nd 2004 this is the HNC Birding Report:
GREAT EGRET SNOWY OWL SANDHILL CRANE Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron King Eider Harlequin Duck White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Surf Scoter Merlin Peregrine Falcon Sandhill Crane Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Great Horned Owl Belted Kingfisher Northern Shrike Winter Wren Marsh Wren Red-winged Blackbird As if we needed an excuse to get out and crawl around looking for birds, the onset of the Winter Bird listing season is upon us. People were out and about even today and yesterday in somewhat strange weather looking for those birds which may not stick around once they see what the Canadian winter is all about. A GREAT EGRET is still present at the Valley Inn. This bird has hung on for quite a while hanging out with the Great Blue Herons and the occasional Hooded Merganser. Also present here are Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck and a lone Belted Kingfisher. A Peregrine Falcon stood on the Osprey platform yesterday morning. The lake was productive again on the weekend. Balmy temperatures last Saturday made scanning the lake pleasant. An incredible number (about 50) of Red-throated Loons were present on the lake at various points such as L.P. Sayers Park and VanWagners Beach. There were a couple of Common Loons seen as well but they seem to have moved from the area. Both places hosted a King Eider on Saturday and Sunday with a female present at Sayers Park on Saturday and a 1st winter male seen on Sunday at the beach. Other birds seen along the lake were all three Scoter species and Bonapartes Gull. Red-winged Blackbirds were seen yesterday on the beach strip (for the winter listers). Close by at Tollgate Ponds a SNOWY OWL made an appearance on Sunday, probably the same individual seen the week before. The bird has not been located since. Shell Park reports include a pair of Great Horned Owls seen on the pipeline area and a resident Merlin lurking about. Nearby at Bronte Harbour a Harlequin Duck is still being seen off the bluff west of the Harbour. A great sighting this week came from Waterdown Park where one observer saw 28 Sandhill Cranes circling overhead, just passing through the area on their way south. Rattray Marsh was also productive this week with Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren and Winter Wren seen and a Wilson's Snipe was also flushed from the marsh as well. In the odds and sods department a Northern Shrike has been seen regularly at Kelson Road near Fifty Point C.A. and a Pied-billed Grebe was in the Desjardins Canal in Dundas earlier in the week. That's the news for the week. Report any unusual winter sightings from the weekend! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329
