GREAT EGRET BLUE-HEADED VIREO CAVE SWALLOW MARSH WREN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER PALM WARBLER WILSON’S WARBLER
Redhead King Eider Harlequin Duck Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Red-throated Loon Turkey Vulture Merlin Bonaparte’s Gull Snowy Owl Northern Flicker Tufted Titmouse Brown Creeper Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee White-crowned Sparrow Purple Finch There is a lot to talk about in the Hamilton Study Area as we head into Christmas Count Season. Up at the top of the list, a good quality and quantity of winter birds are turning up in the count circles. Our GREAT EGRET has spent another week down at the Dundas Hydro Pond being seen at various places in the pond but generally remaining in the area. CAVE SWALLOWS were new but brief winter birds here on Tuesday with 6 being seen at Bronte Harbour. The birds flew around low for about 15 minutes and were last seen heading west. Sedgewick Park continues to have the winter goodies with BLUE-HEADED VIREO, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and PALM WARBLER being seen in the week. Down at the sewage treatment plant just north of Arkendo, another BLUE-HEADED VIREO and a WILSON’S WARBLER were seen today. It was thought that a WILSON’S WARBLER seen at Lakeside Park in Mississauga could be the same bird as Arkendo but based on field marks, it appears there are two. Finally a MARSH WREN was seen at the Dundas Hydro Pond in the same location as last year. The west end of the lake continues to provide some good duck species. Up to six King Eiders were seen today off Fruitland to Fifty Road. A large raft of Redhead are still out there and not reported lately a pair of Harlequin Ducks seem to be wintering in this stretch as well. All three Scoter Species can be found from Gray’s Road to Fifty Road. A Red-throated Loon was seen off Fruitland Road yesterday. In the odds and sods this week, a Turkey Vulture was seen over Dundas. The winter roost appears to be at Jerseyville again this year with up to 9 being seen here. There are a few Merlins on winter territory around the area including one near Nelson High School in Burlington and one at Bronte Harbour. A couple of Bonaparte’s Gulls were seen flying around the Dundas Hydro Pond last weekend on strong east winds. Snowy Owls seem to be moving in with a bird seen at close range at the Burlington Sewage Treatment Plant last Tuesday and one up in Saltfleet on 6th Road East a couple days ago. The Tufted Titmice continue to be reliable behind Olympic Arena. A couple of Northern Flickers are decent winter ticks here too. Other birds seen at Sedgewick Park include Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet and Winter Wren. An Eastern Towhee made a surprise winter visit at a feeder near Iroquois Heights C.A. in Ancaster. A Purple Finch made a visit to a feeder at Rock Chapel, not many of these birds around. White-crowned Sparrows are wintering on 10th Road East near Ridge Road where they have been reliable for the last few years . That’s the news for this week. Please make a note of any birds seen in the area and pass them on to me so that sightings can be passed onto the Christmas bird count co-coordinators. You never know what will turn up! All the best this holiday season. Good birding Cheryl Edgecombe "><br></span> _______________________________________________ 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
