ONTBIRDS is primarily for bird sightings, it is NOT the place for 'chat' or discussions. Any other messages should be cleared with the coordinator before they are sent to Ontbirds.
There are alternatives to Ontbirds that encourage discussion. http://outdoorontario.net/birds/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OntarioBirding/ A link to Ontbirds guidelines can be found at the bottom of every post sent by Ontbirds. If you have an questions don't hesitate to contact me. Mark Cranford Ontbirds Coordinator --- Mark Cranford ONTBIRDS Coordinator Mississauga, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] 905 279 9576 From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Feb 24 19:23:35 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from fep3.cogeco.net (smtp.cogeco.net [216.221.81.25]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3E31363C14 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:23:35 -0500 (EST) Received: from cogeco.ca (smtp.cogeco.net [216.221.81.25]) by fep3.cogeco.net (Postfix) with SMTP id D67E949F6 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:26:36 -0500 (EST) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] X-Mailer: Cogeco Webmail - complaints to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ( 67.41.22.225 - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) X-Originating-IP: 67.41.22.225 Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:26:36 -0500 Message-id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Ontbirds] Hamilton Naturalists Club Birding Report - Thursday, February 24th, 2005 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:23:35 -0000 At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 this is the HNC Birding Report: SNOWY OWL Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Northern Pintail Northern Shovelers King Eider Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Rough-legged Hawk Bald Eagle Ruffed Grouse Long-eared Owl Horned Lark Winter Wren Snow Bunting Common Redpoll This week has continued to be quiet with not many new birds reported however some good birds still about. Out on the lake last Saturday at L.P. Sayers Park 2 female and 1 male King Eider were seen along with all three scoters. Continuing in the duck section, a report from Windermere Basin included Northern Pintail, Ruddy Duck, Northern Shoveler and the gang of Double-crested Cormorants who were too lazy to leave for the winter. Owl news this week picked up a SNOWY OWL spotted last Friday on a TV antennae near 8th Road East north of Mud Street in Stoney Creek. The same bird was seen on the airstrip in this same vicinity last Saturday but the bird has been elusive and was being harassed by a Rough-legged Hawk and flew off. It has not been reported since. The Long-eared Owls continuing to be reported from Parking Lot A of Bronte Creek Provincial Park. A new bird for our list this week was the report of two Ruffed Grouse displaying at the side of the road on 8th concession E just east of Westover in Flamborough. Also in Flamborough a report of 30 redpolls still coming into a feeder there. Bald Eagles are still being seen in the area of the harbour and one seen in the Desjardins Canal area last Tuesday. The canal is still home to a Pied-billed Grebe and three Hooded Mergansers amongst the regular rif raf. Snow buntings seen on Centre Road just north of Parkside and reports of Horned Larks have provided hope that things are starting to move back up north. That's the news of the week, this will be the close of the winter listing season on Monday. Any sightings big or small should be sent along so that I can notify others if they are looking to beef up the winter list. Have a great week. Good Birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Feb 24 19:54:47 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from helios.kos.net (helios.kos.net [64.201.45.11]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 9803E646A8 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:54:47 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 2447 invoked from network); 25 Feb 2005 00:57:47 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO D3ZD7M31) (64.201.46.28) by helios.kos.net with SMTP; 25 Feb 2005 00:57:47 -0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontbirds" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:57:53 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Subject: [Ontbirds] Quinte Area Bird Report for week ending Thursday, February 24, 2005 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:54:47 -0000 WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for Thursday, February 24, 2005 With early morning temperatures this morning hovering at -15 degrees, it was a further reminder that it may be a while yet before the water softens up enough to provide many open areas in which to view congregating waterfowl. However, a quick check this afternoon of some of my favourite locations did offer a bit of promise. East Lake at the headwaters of the Outlet River contained 25 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, 11 COMMON GOLDENEYE and 1 HOODED MERGANSER. This area will improve dramatically once this area becomes a little more open. There is a boat launch located here just off County Road 18, exactly .9 km west of the Outlet River Bridge. The entrance is not plowed and a four wheel drive is recommended as the snow is quite deep and crusty at Sandbanks right now. Similar traction is needed to get to West Point where today there were 175 LONG-TAILED DUCKS in Lake Ontario. Athol Bay, beside County Road 12 offered 450 GREATER SCAUP, and there were 2 MUTE SWANS in the Outlet River near the County Road 18 bridge. No fewer than 40 MUTE SWANS were present at Wellington Harbour this afternoon who joined 10 other species of waterfowl including 1 TUNDRA SWAN, 20 MALLARDS, 25 BUFFLEHEADS, 5 COMMON MERGANSERS, 2 REDHEADS, 2 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, 14 GREATER SCAUP, 15 CANADA GEESE, 12 COMMON GOLDENEYES and 25 LONG-TAILED DUCKS. In the weeks to come this area bears watching as huge rafts of ducks will concentrate in here as the ice begins to disappear from West Lake. Good viewing can also be had right from inside the Harbour Restaurant which is closed Mondays, but open all other days from 11:00 a.m. to about 8:00 p.m. They even supply a pair of binoculars, if you have forgotten yours! And I can vouch for the meals! Prince Edward Bay is another area one might try for waterfowl. This week there were 500 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, along with lesser numbers of COMMON GOLDENEYE. On the north shore of the bay, there were 15 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, but overall, what any observer might see on any given day is a crap shoot as the conditions change every day, with ice moving back and forth. This past week, about 80% of the bay was covered by thin ice, the rest of it comprising large open leads. The GREAT GRAY OWL continues to be seen nearly every morning at 6:30 a.m. on Sprague Road, and early Tuesday morning, there were 2 hunting the open fields on the west side of the road. Other GREAT GRAY OWL reports during the week came from the south side of Croydon Road off County Road 41 north of Napanee, County Road 11 west of Selby, and County Road 41 north of the Claire River. Bird feeders continue to do well in the Quinte area. One feeder at 2800 County Road 1, northwest of Bloomfield has a total of 11 DOWNY WOODPECKERS and 2 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS as regular clientel. The RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and NORTHERN FLICKER continue to patronize a feeder on Glenora Road east of Picton, where there are still some 80 COMMON REDPOLLS. A Napanee feeder also has a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a PILEATED WOODPECKER is still a regular customer at a feeder on Trenton's Barry Road. PINE GROSBEAKS (6) are at a feeder near Eldorado, and another 6 were seen on Jones Road in the Tweed area. One feeder at 3792 County Road 8 (west of The Rock) had a maximum of 100 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES on February 12th, and 100 COMMON REDPOLLS the following day. AMERICAN ROBINS, numbering 40 in total, were also seen in the area. SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS appeared at feeders this week at Sprague Road and Rednersville, and there were four sightings of them elsewhere in the County too. There was one at a feeder on Vanderwater Road near Thomasburg, and a COOPER'S HAWK at a residence west of The Rock (east of Waupoos), and another in Bloomfield, 2 seen at Rednersville, and another in Trenton. A pair of RED-TAILED HAWKS are regulars on South Big Island Road, and there was a NORTHERN HARRIER seen at Sandbanks this week. BALD EAGLES were seen at The Rock (1 adult) on February 21st, and another during the week at Prince Edward Point (1 adult). SNOW BUNTINGS are still roaming about as a reminder that it is still winter. Scattered flocks during the week were seen at Big Island (20), and Highway 62 and Victoria Road (30). There was a solitary WILD TURKEY flushed from the foot of Welbanks Road near the Salmon Point junction, and 2 were observed in a field today at Sandbanks Provincial Park. And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to Fred Chandler, Eric Machell, David Okines, Susan Hollett, Peter Sporring, Beth McPherson, Helen Graham, Sergio de Sousa, Susan MacKay, Henri Gerand, Dwight Wages, Silvia Botnick, John Charlton, Donald McClure, and Nancy Fox for their contrinutions to this week's report. This report will be updated on Thursday, March 3rd. Bird sightings may be forwarded to [EMAIL PROTECTED] at any time before the Thursday 6:00 p.m. deadline. This report also appears on the NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net under BIRDING, where this week's featured photo is a raft of ducks in Prince Edward Bay off Cressy Lakeside Road, taken by Doris Lane of Prinyer's Cove. Terry Sprague Picton, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net
