At 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 6th 2005 this is the HNC birding report: GREAT GRAY OWL BOREAL OWL LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL VIRGINIA RAIL
Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup King Eider Harlequin Duck White-winged Scoter Bald Eagle Northern Goshawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon Ring-necked Pheasant Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Great Horned Owl Eastern Screech Owl Belted Kingfisher Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Shrike Winter Wren, Carolina Wren Hermit Thrush White-throated Sparrow Lapland Longspur Red-winged Blackbird Common Redpoll Happy New Year! Another great year of birds ahead of us.... This week's bird of the week was the GREAT GRAY OWL reported to me by the Bruce Trail Hiking Club last Sunday and then relocated on Monday. Unfortunately the bird has not been seen since Monday. Other birds reported in the area of the owl were Northern Shrike, Pileated Woodpecker and a probable Hermit Thrush. A BOREAL OWL was reported from the Port Credit area gnawing on a rodent late one night at a bird feeder. The bird was not seen after that night. On the Fisherville CBC a VIRGINIA RAIL was flushed from the headwaters of Taquanyah Marsh. A New Years Day jaunt yielded many good birds around Hamilton. On the ice off of Woodland Cemetery were Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. Woodland itself had Belted Kingfisher, Winter Wren, Carolina Wren and a flyover of Lapland Longspur. At the Valley Inn a Great Blue Heron was reported in the week. At LaSalle Marina, a first basic LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen on the easternmost rock islands. Other birds seen here were Common Loon, Red-necked Grebe, White-winged Scoter, Redhead, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Canvasback, an adult Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher and an Eastern Screech Owl. Behind the Dundas arena a Northern Flicker, Red-winged Blackbird and a few White-throated Sparrows are overwintering. A Pied-billed Grebe was found at the Desjardins Canal on New Years Day as well. At the nearby RBG Centre a Merlin was seen this morning in the oh so beautiful weather. Moving westward again an immature Bald Eagle on a flypast at Canada Centre for Inland Waters and a Peregrine Falcon was spotted near the QEW at Lakeshore Road. A King Eider was present New Year's Day at Spencer Smith Park. Shell Park had a few goodies mixed in it. A Great Horned Owl continues to be seen on the north end of the pipeline. Red-bellied Woodpecker and Flicker are also here. Another adult Bald Eagle was seen at the end of Burloak Drive in this area. Down at Bronte Harbour Harlequin Ducks have made a winter home being seen on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Odds & sods include feeder reports include Common Redpolls in Flamborough ,a female Ring-necked Pheasant on Mowhawk Road in Ancaster and a Northern Goshawk near Raspberry House at the RBG Arboretum. That's the news of the week. Until next week...... Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe
