On Thursday, December 8th, 2005, this is the HNC Birding Report: NORTHERN GANNET BARROW'S GOLDENEYE OSPREY SANDHILL CRANE CHIPPING SPARROW WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Black-crowned Night-Heron Tundra Swan Northern Pintail American Widgeon Common Goldeneye Long-tailed Duck Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Hooded Merganser Bald Eagle Rough-legged Hawk Sharp-shinned Hawk Merlin Wild Turkey Eastern Screech Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Hermit Thrush American Pipit American Tree Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Purple Finch Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Our fist full week of winter listing has brought people out of the woodwork and into the cold. The list above lists some more common birds but perhaps some of these more challenging to find in the cold winter listing period. Some excellent winter birds have been seen in the week. There are rumours of more than one NORTHERN GANNET and one of these seems to be hanging out in the Port Credit Area. Two sightings this week are from he same area of Port Credit Harbour and Saddington Park. Another great bird seen in the week was a late OSPREY seen on Sunday in the Shell Park area. Also seen here were Rough-legged Hawk, Belted Kingfisher and Carolina Wren. The BARROW'S GOLDENEYE has been seen at the end of Gray's Road as of last weekend. Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, Surf and White-winged Scoter have also been fixtures down here. Also seen last Friday was a flock of SANDHILL CRANES over the Guelph Line and Fairview area. Up in Flamborough a group of Wild Turkeys is wreaking havoc on a feeder near Westover Road and 8th concession. At the same feeder sporadic viewings of Purple Finch and Pine Siskin have been noted over the last two weeks. Down at Pier 4 at Bayfront Park in Hamilton, a Pied-billed Grebe and Black-crowned Night Heron is still lurking about in addition to Red-necked Grebe, American Wigeon, Bald Eagle and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Other sightings of Black-crowned Night Heron have come from the Desjardins Canal. A large number of Hooded Mergansers are present in the canal and at nearby Dundas Hydro Ponds. An American Pipit has been seen at the Dundas marsh a couple of times this week. In the same vicinity a Hermit Thrush was seen behind the Olympic Arena in Dundas. Another Hermit Thrush was reported from the South Shore Trails behind McMaster University. An interesting place to visit for me this week was the road which runs north from Harvester Road just east of Guelph Line across from the Holiday Inn. Here, there are a number of weedy fields. On Tuesday of this week, I tromped through the fields and had the largest flock of American Tree Sparrows I have seen this fall as well as large numbers of American Goldfinch and Dark-eyed Juncos. In these flocks I managed to scare up a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. In the far corner of the HSA, Red-bellied Woodpeckers are visiting a feeder near Cayuga and a Tufted Titmouse is chowing down at a feeder near Irish Line and River Road. Hopefully the pair will be back at the feeders at the RBG as well this winter. In the odds & sods department a eight Horned Grebes were seen off of Woodland Cemetery, a Tundra Swan was viewed at LaSalle Park on Dec 2, several Northern Pintails are present in the Red Hill Creek outlet where it crosses under Eastport Drive, a couple of Merlins are present near Dundurn Park in Hamilton, an Eastern Screech Owl flew across Rebecca Street in Oakville near St. Dominics Church, a CHIPPING SPARROW is present at the feeders at the Dundas Valley C.A. trail centre as of last Saturday and a Fox Sparrow is at the feeders at the Valley Inn. That's the scoop for the week. Christmas Bird Counts are fast approaching, please report your sightings as these birds could stick around for those all important CBC's. Have a good week! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline
