At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 30th, 2004 this is the HNC birding report:
GREAT GRAY OWL LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL GRAY CATBIRD RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET AMERICAN PIPIT SAVANNAH SPARROW VESPER SPARROW Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Great Blue Heron Snow Goose King Eider Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Rough-legged Hawk Ring-necked Pheasant Wild Turkey Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Eastern Screech Owl Long-eared Owl Belted Kingfisher Common Raven Brown Creeper Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting In the final week of the year, we have had some truly amazing birds in the area. As well as birds found on our bird count on the 26th, there have been more recent sightings which have been even more grand. Owls are the big story of this week. Yesterday a GREAT GRAY OWL was seen all day at Rattray Marsh at the bottom of Bexhill Drive in Mississauga. This was a truly amazing sight as it was sitting right next to the boardwalk at the extreme west end of the marsh. This morning the bird was in the same area as yesterday but flew at about 8:30 p.m. to another location which has yet to be found but may be still in the marsh. There were many birders out there today looking. Yesterday, when we were there we were careful not to make excessive noise and the bird which sat about 17 feet away from the boardwalk where we were was actively looking around as if it was hunting. When the first reports of Great Gray's for the GTA came out, I went out looking around and turned up a SHORT-EARED OWL actively hunting the field beside the Petro Canada Plant. The bird was seen from Great Lakes Blvd just north of Rebecca. Also two Long-eared Owls were turned up on the Hamilton CBC. I will start east and work west, then cover the north and south. Birds seen while searching for the GGOW in Rattray Marsh were Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and Brown Creeper. On the way home a Great Blue Heron was seen flying down the lakeshore. An attempt to locate the Pine Warbler at Rhododendron Gardens on the 27th was futile. At Bronte Harbour a blue-phase Snow Goose was seen here on Christmas morning. The Bay/LaSalle Park area was also productive on the CBC with a LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL being seen at LaSalle Park which was relocated the next day on the easternmost rock islands. Also here and on the bay were Glaucous and Iceland Gulls. A 1st winter King Eider was seen at LaSalle on Monday along with about 20 Red-necked Grebes which is a significant number for this time of year. A Common Loon was present off of Willow Point. Bald Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk and Northern Harrier were among raptors seen in this CBC area. Heading Niagara Way now, a single AMERICAN PIPIT was seen at Tollgate Ponds and a adult male King Eider was seen off of Gray's Road. Up on the mountain on 1st Road West and Green Mountain Road, I had 20 Wild Turkey and 2 male Ring-necked Pheasants on my CBC territory. A Northern Harrier was also seen in this area on the count. Moving toward the Valley Inn, this was also another good area this week with a GRAY CATBIRD being seen in the same general area as one has been found the past two winters on the boardwalk and a VESPER SPARROW reported feeding along the path just up from the parking lot at the bend where the lookout is. In Dundas, there has been two reports of Peregrine Falcons have been stalking feeders. A Belted Kingfisher is still being seen at the Desjardins Canal. Brantford Airport was also hopping with Snow Buntings, Horned Larks and a single SAVANNAH SPARROW being seen at the intersection at Pottruff Road and Robinson Road. In the southern end of the Hamilton Area along Mackenzie Road between 1st and 2nd line Horned Larks were flying off the road and a group of 50 Snow Buntings were also there. Around the chicken farm on 4th west of Mackenzie Road there were 40 Red-tailed Hawks along with a number of Rough-legged Hawks. Lastly north in Flamborough 3 Common Ravens were seen east of Brock Road and north of Hwy 5. Snow Buntings were also spotted in the fields on Centre Road near Carlisle. That's all for this week. It's been a big week, keep the reports coming. Wishing you a safe, prosperous and birdy 2005! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
