53 birders attended today's outing. Generally warm, sunny conditions with no snow cover. This led to very few sparrows being found and no Short-eared Owls when the outing ended at 4.15 pm. But owl pellets were discovered so they are still around. Many raptors were seen throughout the day including over 30 Red-tailed Hawks, 8 Rough-legged Hawks, 4 Northern Harriers, 4 American Kestrels, a sub-adult Bald Eagle, Merlin, Cooper's Hawk, a Northern Shrike and a calling Eastern Screech Owl. Other finds included 5 Eastern Bluebirds, 2 Mockingbirds, House Finches, both nuthatches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, Carolina Wren, Robin, several Horned Larks, 6 Red-winged Blackbirds and 3 flocks of Brown-headed Cowbirds. After hearing 3 singing birds, we finally located a Tufted Titmouse at Ruthven vocalising from the top of a tree at the edge of the woods. At least 3 more were seen over the course of the day. Lake Erie was 90 % open water : numerous waterfowl including American Wigeon, Black Ducks, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneyes, Red-breasted and Common mergansers. A total of 43 species were found.Many thanks to co-leaders Barry Coombs and John Schmelefske for their birding expertise, spotting skills and good humour. Dave [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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
