At 5:30 this afternoon an adult Sandhill Crane was feeding in the
flooded area on the far east side of the Satellite Golf Centre, which
is at the corner of Mud Street and Upper Centennial Parkway in the
Stoney Creek area of Hamilton.
Directions:
From Toronto take the QEW over the Burlington Skyway Bridge toward
Niagara Falls, exit at Centennial Parkway (Hwy 20) and drive up the
escarpment. Turn left (east) at Mud Street, park in the Tim
Horton's/Wendy's lot.
From the west (London, Woodstock) take Hwy. 403 to Hamilton, exit to
the Lincoln Alexander Parkway (The Linc), follow the Linc to the very
end, which will put you on Mud Street. Continue on Mud Street to
Centennial Parkway (Hwy. 20) and drive up the escarpment. Turn left
(east) at Mud Street, park in the Tim Horton's / Wendy's lot.
--
Mike Street
Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Quinte Area Bird Report for week ending March 15, 2007
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WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, March 15, 2007
All it took was a few days of warm weather. Both COMMON GRACKLES and
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are back in full force, with the first arrivals taking
place about the first of the week. The harbinger of spring, the KILLDEER
made its first appearance in Prince Edward County on March 10th, and
individuals have shown up elsewhere in the county and Trenton areas. It's
quite unnecessary to provide AMERICAN ROBIN sightings as these familiar
signs of spring are absolutely everywhere right now. A GREAT BLUE HERON was
seen flying over the Bay of Quinte on Green Point Road yesterday, and the
first EASTERN MEADOWLARK of the spring showed up this afternoon, at Edward
Drive west of Consecon, and another was seen this afternoon near Blue Heron
Lane, east of Waupoos.
With the warmer weather, popular waterfowl viewing areas are starting to
open up. The famous Kaiser Crossroad Cornfields east of Cape Vesey had only
CANADA GEESE on the 10th, but only four days later the population had
increased to include a number of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS , MALLARDS and a pair
of NORTHERN PINTAILS. This afternoon, the site produced even more birds with
80 TUNDRA SWANS present, over 1,000 CANADA GEESE, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARDS,
AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS and about 50 NORTHERN PINTAILS. The latter species is
apt to increase to close to 500 once the conditions there become more
inviting.
Also showing some promise this week was the Glendon Green Boat Launch at Log
Cabin Point in East Lake. This end of the Outlet River can feature an
amazing variety of waterfowl once the ice gives way to warming temperatures.
All three species of swans were present from Sunday through Tuesday. An
interesting discovery about two TRUMPETER SWANS there - wing tag numbers 952
and 861, appeared to be birds from the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre at Midland.
Meanwhile, many of the 26 TRUMPETER SWANS that were released at Big Island
and Huff's Island in June of last year, have given up their Canadian
citizenship, and have turned up in New York waters. Six of them were seen
north of Utica, and one was hit by a car at the Irondequoit wetland near
Rochester. Not exactly what we had in mind when we thought about
establishing a breeding population of TRUMPETER SWANS in Prince Edward
County. Other waterfowl species in East Lake were COMMON GOLDENEYES, COMMON
MERGANSERS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, MALLARDS, AMERICAN BLACKS, CANADA GEESE and 2
HOODED MERGANSERS. A HORNED GREBE was seen in the Outlet River. This
afternoon, there were hundreds of GREATER SCAUP, REDHEADS and at least one
CANVASBACK, and one GREEN-WINGED TEAL. The entrance to the boat launch is
located exactly 1.2 km east of the four-way stop near the main Sandbanks
Park entrance, or .9 km from the Outlet Bridge if heading west along County
Road 18.
The amount of water at Wellington Harbour just keeps expanding with
correspondingly higher numbers of waterfowl occupying the space. The usuals
can be found here comprising at least a dozen species, and yesterday, there
were 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 20 REDHEADS, 15 RING-NECKED DUCKS, and 3
AMERICAN COOTS in with the numbers. The best viewing is from the government
wharf, located at the east end of the village beside the LCBO and the
Sandbanks Bar and Grill.
On Saturday, Prince Edward Bay in the vicinity of the Kaiser Crossroad was
black with thousands of ducks in open leads. Representing the bulk of the
population were GREATER SCAUP at 6,500, and 1,100 COMMON GOLDENEYES. The
count of TUNDRA SWANS was over 100, and with them were about a half dozen
MUTE SWANS, CANADA GEESE, 100 REDHEADS, LONG-TAILED DUCKS, BUFFLEHEADS,
COMMON MERGANSERS, just to name a few. COMMON GOLDENEYE and LESSER SCAUP
were seen off Cape Vesey on Tuesday.
The Fox Pond near Tremur Lake, off Wooler Road, contained 15 HOODED
MERGANSERS yesterday with over half being drakes in top plumage. A somewhat
desperate COMMON GOLDENEYE was seen out on the Bay of Quinte off Grape
Island yesterday in a puddle formed above the ice surface. Less fortunate
was a RED-NECKED GREBE on Monday that turned up in a backyard patio on
Moneymore Road southeast of Tweed. Although cared for, the bird died a short
time later.
BALD EAGLES continue to turn up sporadically, mainly along the Prince Edward
Bay part of the county. A NORTHERN HARRIER continues to be seen along South
Big Island Road where it has been all winter, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was
seen on Wesley Acres Road on the 14th. RED-TAILED HAWKS near Milford and the
Prince Edward Point area and a COOPER'S HAWK at Belleville round out the
raptors for the week, along with a NORTHERN SHRIKE seen along Highway 49 on
Tuesday. Another was seen along nearby Fish Lake Road almost the same day,
perhaps the same bird.
PILEATED WOODPECKERS during the week were seen along Fry Road and another
along Glenora Road. One PILEATED WOODPECKER in a woods along Edward Drive
attracted the attention of a landowner there who first saw sawdust and
shavings around the base of the tree as he was driving by and thought
someone was cutting down his trees, and then on closer inspection, noted the
work on the tree directly above.Two RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, 4 HAIRY
WOODPECKERS and 6 DOWNY WOODPECKERS remain among the clientel at a feeder at
11787 Highway 33 east of Picton, despite patronage at most feeding stations
taking a plunge with the arrival of warmer weather. About 25 HOUSE FINCHES,
15 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, 25 BLUE JAYS and now, 35 COMMON GRACKLES, keep this
popular and dependable feeder humming. One feeder in Belleville still has 32
MOURNING DOVES among its regular guests, and a South Bay feeder had 40
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS arrive yesterday. The HARRIS'S SPARROW at 2800 County
Road was last seen March 7th. NORTHERN FLICKERS were seen at two locations
during the week - along Mitchells Crossroad, and also in the Prince Edward
Point area, both on Saturday. A YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER appeared briefly at
one South Bay feeder on Sunday, obviously a wintering individual. At Rock
Crossroad, east of Waupoos, on Saturday, 2 COMMON RAVENS were seen in an
aerial dispute with a number of COMMON CROWS.
One story from Kingston told of a person sitting at her computer when she
heard a thump at the window. Seeing a crow-sized form recover and fly off,
it wasn't long before the loud noise was repeated. The bird was a LONG-EARED
OWL and the attraction was a cage on top of the computer desk hutch that
contained a number of pet mice, which apparently caught the owl's attention
! The owl watched the mice from a post in the backyard allowing the owner,
Rebekha Jeffries, to step outside and snap the photo that appears with this
report in the online version on the NatureStuff website. Also featured in
this week's online version of the Quinte Area Bird Report is a photo by
David Bree of the two TRUMPETER SWANS in the Outlet River at East Lake.
This is a condensed version of the Quinte Area Bird Report, containing only
the significant sightings for Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. The
full version can be found on the NatureStuff website, under BIRDING from
the Main Menu.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
