FISH CROW Wood Duck American Wigeon Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Red-necked Grebe Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon Killdeer Snowy Owl Great Horned Owl Short-eared Owl Northern Shrike Common Raven Eastern Bluebird Cedar Waxwing Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Eastern Towhee White-crowned Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Red-winged Blackbird
Quiet is the word here in the Hamilton Study Area. We are coming to the final couple of weeks for winter listing and it looks like we should extend the winter listing period as I don't think winter is leaving soon. The most unusual bird to visit the HSA was a FISH CROW, heard with its nasal call past Frances Road in Stoney Creek with a group of American Crows. Now is the time of year for crows to be on the move so it's worth a listen when a group fly by. With the harbour frozen, waterfowl have moved out to the lake or have been forced to find any open water available. The Desjardins Canal seems to be a hotspot for waterfowl still although a good bird seen here this week has now perished. A Red-necked Grebe was found a couple days ago on the canal, likely pushed out from frozen waters elsewhere. Unfortunately the bird was found later today deceased. Other birds seen here in the canal include Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring=necked Duck, Common and Red-breasted Merganser. The HNC Hawks and Owls trip was a success last weekend as 40 hardy birders ventured out for the annual event in the area known as Saltfleet. A Great Horned Owl was heard in the evening at Alway just north of Kemp Road. A Rough-legged Hawk at 5th Road East, the dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk which is absolutely stunning to see on 10th Road East. This bird has been seen roaming between 8th Road East and 11th Road East, Mud Street and Ridge Road. Northern Harrier was seen the weekend before at 10th Road East and at dusk Short-eared Owls are present here at the rail tracks with 3 birds being seen tonight. Snowy Owls were seen at 5th Road East and on a light standard at Fifty Road and the QEW. Perhaps the same Snowy Owl was seen at the QEW and Fruitland Road on February 3rd. Common Raven sightings seem to be somewhat reliable at the quarry on 10th Road East. A check of the nest in the quarry didn't yield any birds today but this is a good nesting site in the last couple of years for these birds. A Northern Shrike was seen on a couple of occasions over the past couple of weeks on 10th Road East but likely has a large territory. Another Northern Shrike was seen on 5th Road East last week. An Eastern Meadowlark was seen on 11th Road East between Ridge and Green Mountain Road. Tonight a tight group of 3 Red-winged Blackbirds, one male and two females was an unusual sighting for this time of year for this observer on 10th Road East between Ridge and Green Mountain. In the odds and sods, four Bald Eagles were seen on the ice in the Harbour today. Merlins were seen over East Hamilton, at Canada Centre for Inland Waters and over South Burlington at Walker's Line and New Street over the past week. A Rough-legged Hawk was also a good yard bird over East Hamilton. A Peregrine Falcon seems to be a resident at Bronte Harbour as one has been seen here on and off since the Christmas Bird Count. Other Snowy Owl sightings include a bird sitting atop the Home Depot at Burloak and the QEW in Burlington today, one at Peter's Corners, a young bird continuing at Bronte Harbour, another young bird at Windermere Basin and one at Taywood & Appleby Line. An interesting and hopeful report came this week of a Killdeer heard at Dundurn and Aberdeen in Hamilton. Last year at this time, one was seen on the ice at LaSalle Marina. Eastern Bluebirds were active at Conservation Halton near Britannia and Guelph Line. A sizable flock of Cedar Waxwings were seen near Binkley and Governors Road last week. An Eastern Towhee has made an extremely infrequent visit at feeders in that general area. Snow Buntings are starting to show up in numbers with a large flock of over 300 on Sydenham Road last weekend. Another small flock was seen at Windermere Basin and a large flock was seen with two Lapland Longspurs mixed in at Westbrook Rd. just south of Binbrook(Goodale) Rd. in Haldimand. Lastly, a total of 6 White-crowned Sparrows have been present at Windermere Basin with 2 adults being nicely photographed at the bridge on Eastport where the Red Hill Creek flows. That's the news for this week. The Great Back Yard Bird Count is this weekend so please forward your sightings here! Have a great weekend. Cheryl Edgecombe HNC. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
