Ontario Birds

[Ontbirds] Snowy owl at landsdowne and st.clair Toronto

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:23:16 -0600

Posting for Amanada Speer

Seen a snowy owl at st Clair and landsdowne in Toronto in a back alley
way perched on a building then he flew to the top of a house nearby
around 3:00 pm feb 3 2012

Mark Cranford
ONTBIRDS Coordinator
Mississauga, Ont.
(email address filtered)
905 279 9576

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[Ontbirds] Hamilton Naturalists Club Birding Report, Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:01:20 -0600

On Friday, February 03, 2012 this is the HNC birding report:

Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Brant
Cackling Goose
American Wigeon
King Eider
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Thayer's Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl
Long-eared Owl
Northern Shrike
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Hermit Thrush
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Purple Finch
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin

This week has more of

[Ontbirds] Purple Finches in Gowganda..Temiskaming Dist. North

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:33:48 -0600

Hi,
I finally have Purple Finches. They joined the hundreds of Common Redpolls
and the Pine and Evening Grosbeaks. (Lucky that the Nyger is on sale!!!!)
I note very few Black Capped Chickadees this winter and even the Hairy and
Downy Woodpecker numbers are down . Blue Jays are decreasing in

[Ontbirds] Snowy Owl-Vineland

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:26:19 -0600

Still seen today out on the breakwall north of the Beacon Harbourside Best Western Inn on the north service road of the QEW between Victoria Ave.( Reg. 24 ) Vineland and Jordan Road exits. Enjoy!

Nancy Smith RR#1 Vineland, ON
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ONTBIRDS is

[Ontbirds] Cooper's Hawk, Ottawa

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:25:14 -0600

The Cooper's Hawk seen recently in Britannia Woods was still present yesterday. We first saw it flying straight toward us down Cassels Street and about 20 feet off the deck. We later saw it in the woods. It was an adult female....see picture at link.

[Ontbirds] Fish Crows in Fort Erie

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:35:34 -0600

My brother Doug and I observed three Fish Crows between noon and 12:30pm today in the area around the intersection of Highland Ave. and Crooks St. in Fort Erie.

Gord Payne
London, ON

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[Ontbirds] Greater White-fronted Goose @ Presqu'ile.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:41:41 -0600

A Greater White-fronted Goose was seen by five people this morning at
Presqu'ile Provincial Park. It was swimming around the west side of
Salt Point and could be seen easily from the government dock.

To reach Presqu'ile Provincial Park, follow the signs from Brighton.
Locations within the Park are shown

[Ontbirds] Kingston Area Birds for the Period Jan 27 to Feb 2, 2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:33:20 -0600

No major rarities to report but 2 RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS in the past
week were surprising. Winter finch numbers remain low except for a
small and brief apparent movement of COMMON REDPOLLS. BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS are again being seen for the first time since early January.

City of Kingston
Two TUNDRA SWANS, 12 AMERICAN ROBINS and 10

[Ontbirds] Toronto Islands - W-W Crossbills and R-N Ducks

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:57:14 -0600

Good Morning

Yesterday Margaret Liubavicius, Ian Cannell and I headed for the Toronto Islands to se if any of the reported crossbills had made it into the Toronto area and indeed some have.

Following are some of the birds we found, some possible spring arrivals and some obviously northern visitors.

4 nice male

[Ontbirds] Ottawa/Gatineau - 2 Feb 2012 - recent reports

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:06:26 -0600

Ontario/Quebec
Ottawa/Gatineau
2 February 2012

Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club (OFNC)
Phone number: 613-860-9000
For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star)
To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one)
Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region)
E. Ontario,W. Quebec
Compiler & transcriber: Bob Cermak (email address filtered) or (email address filtered)

The adult male VARIED THRUSH was last reported on January 27th

[Ontbirds] Algonquin Park Birding Report: 2 February 2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:30:29 -0600

The largest snowfall of the winter on the weekend and fairly
comfortable temperatures this week made great conditions for
exploring winter in Algonquin. Most visiting birders were
rewarded with a variety of finches, but Spruce Grouse and
Black-backed Woodpecker eluded those who reported their
finds.

Noteworthy sighting:

Bohemian Waxwing: Five were perched in trees at the Visitor
Centre

[Ontbirds] Presqu'ile Birding Report for Week Ending February 2, 2012.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:40:53 -0600

The continued mild conditions have made for comfortable and productive
birding at Presqu'ile Provincial Park for most of the past week. In
particular there are more waterfowl, and a greater variety, than one can
usually expect at this time of year.

The two TRUMPETER SWANS that were near the government

[Ontbirds] VESPER SPARROW, Beachville, Feb. 2nd

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:10:17 -0600

Ontbirders and Ontbirdettes,

The VESPER SPARROW recently reported by James Holdsworth, just east of Beachville, was present today.

Ben Vaughan and I tried for the bird and got it almost instantly. It was hanging out in some fairly tall Sumac plants with American Tree Sparrows, directly across Queen Street, from the small

[Ontbirds] Algonquin Active

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:13:03 -0600

Today Margaret Bain, Paul Riss and myself birded Algonquin Park. The visitor
Centre was slow except for 40-50 Evening Grosbeaks, many Blue Jays, a pair of
Hairy woodpeckers and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.
The Spruce Bog Trail had several sizeable flocks of White-winged Crossbills, 1
Red Crossbill (female), 6 Gray Jays, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker,

[Ontbirds] White-winged Crossbills

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:42:01 -0600

White-winged Crossbills continued to move through my property today. After the early morning appearance of four birds (see previous post), about 75 more passed through in 5 different flocks between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. and then again between 2:00 - 2:15 p.m. None seemed to be feeding, but many

[Ontbirds] redpolls and crossbills - Scugog Twp.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:51:22 -0600

The somewhat localized movement of redpolls and crossbills continued today as several small flocks of Common Redpolls (max 40 birds in one flock), one Pine Siskin and 4 White-winged Crossbills flew over between 7:30 and 8:15 a.m. - all were heading from west to east but none stopped to feed

[Ontbirds] Ontario winter bird list update #5

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:09:21 -0600

Ontbirders,

My last winter list update was at the end of December detailed the 207 bird species that had been recorded in Ontario this winter. In the past month an additional 9 species were added, and 1 removed, to bring the total to 215 species. This is easily the highest total

[Ontbirds] Swans, Whitby Harbour

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:40:49 -0600

Jan 29 2012 1400hrs

Whitby Harbour

Directions: From the Brock St. exit of the 401 continue south 2km to the parking lot.

WITNESSED:

At the Brock St. bridge 0.5km north of the harbour, an older gentleman and his young grand-daughter feeding Mallards and several Trumpeter swans near the road, before almost backing over our

[Ontbirds] California Gull, Fish Crows at Niagara. King Eider at Port Weller.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:39:14 -0600

Dave Beadle, Paul Prior and I saw the adult King Eider today at noon in its usual spot in the canal at Port Weller.

At the Sir Adam Beck overlook, an adult California Gull showed well(found by Dave). Also seen here were no fewer than 7 Iceland Gulls, 2 adult Lesser

[Ontbirds] Ottawa-Gatineau - Eardely escarpment birds (25 - 29 January)

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:13:14 -0600

Hi Ontbirds people,

Since 25 January there have been many great reports by people who have visited the Eardley-Masham Rd. and environs on the Quebec side of the Ottawa-Gatineau area (American Three-toed Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Gray Jay, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Common Redpoll, Purple Finch, etc.)

Although it can be a

[Ontbirds] G. Ross Lord Park

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:31:16 -0600

This park is generally alive with birds, this winter saw virtually no activity until today. 40-50 American Robins mingling with as many Starlings. 1 Northern Mockingbird foraging the shrubs and bushes for berries, many Cardinals along with black-capped chickadees. I am sure the trails and forests would

[Ontbirds] Carolina Wren, Cooper's Hawk, Ottawa

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:30:36 -0600

We heard and then saw the Carolina Wren previously reported by others in Britannia Woods this afternoon. Thanks to Gillian Mastromatteo for an accurate description of the area where she found it recently. We also saw a large Cooper's Hawk (likely a female) at the east end of

[Ontbirds] Lesser Black-backed Gull near Casselman

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:58:24 -0600

Several hundred gulls continue at the Lafleche Road dump east of Casselman, among them today was an adult winter plumage Lesser Black-backed Gull, along with several Glaucous and Kumlien's.
Lafleche Rd landfill is located at the dead end of Lafleche Road. From the 417 take road 138 south, turning right on

[Ontbirds] Fort Erie fish crows

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:33:10 -0600

Hi

Five fish crows were observed between approximately 2 pm and 2:30 in the vicinity of 333 Bowen in Fort Erie yesterday (Saturday) by several groups. Also several groups observed the Black-headed Gull and Kittiwake from the parkway close to the end of Bowen.

Directions below from Geoff Carpentier email.

Fort Erie:

[Ontbirds] Withrow Park: test message

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:25:27 -0600

With the approval of Mark Cranford, and apologies to the approximately 2800
subscribers to this mailing list, this is a test sent from my custom iPhone
app for Ontbirds.

Please disregard, or feel free to fill my Inbox by replying! :-)

Cheers,

Ivor

Location <http://maps.google.com/?qC.675209,-79.349750(Location)>
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial

[Ontbirds] Northern Pintail, Rouge Valley

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:26:56 -0600

In keeping with the recent sightings of northward migrating waterfowl, 2 Northern Pintail (a male and a female) were seen late this afternoon on Staines Pond, visible from Morningside Avenue just south of Staines Road. Thanks to Al Wormington's excellent post for alerting us to the timing and circumstances that

[Ontbirds] Bohemian Waxwings, red crossbills et al: Eardley-Masham Road (Western Quebec near Ottawa)

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:58:35 -0600

This morning on the Eardley-Masham Road that traverses the Gatineau Park,
three of us observed 14 red crossbills (5 males, 9 females) in 2 different
groups, 9 pine siskins, 1 ruffed grouse (that sat quietly in a tree while
we observed it), and --the highlight-- a flock of about 25 Bohemian
waxwings seen feasting

[Ontbirds] Hoary Redpoll part of big flight of redpolls in Scugog Twp today

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:16:23 -0600

This morning, I watched the biggest influx of redpolls in my area this winter. My property is surrounded by extensive mixed forests with lots of cedars, hemlock, larch and spruce. Starting at about 7a.m. redpolls moved through my yard from north to south. At first it was only one or

[Ontbirds] Hamilton Naturalists Club Birding Report - Friday, January 27th, 2012

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:29:30 -0600

On Friday, January 27, 2012 this is the HNC Birding Report:

CHIPPING SPARROW

Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Brant
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Northern Pintail
Ring-necked Duck
King Eider
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Black-crowned Night Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk (western)
Rough-legged Hawk
Thayer's Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl
Long-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned

[Ontbirds] 'migrant' waterfowl and other recent Oxford birds

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:39:38 -0600

Ontbirders,

There were 32 N. Pintail [mostly pairs] at Pittock Lake this morning, along with about 3000 Mallard. This is the earliest county spring record of NOPI by nearly three weeks.

Elsewhere in the county, numbers of White-winged Crossbills have been increasing, with flocks of up to 40 birds now seen most days, in the Beachville

[Ontbirds] Western Red Tail, Oshawa, new location

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:43 -0600

At 2:50 this afternoon I saw, I believe,the same Western Redtail that was at Harmony Rd and the 401 earlier this month. It is now at the Stevenson Rd/401 interchange in Oshawa. This it about 5 km west of where it was seen earlier.
I saw it on the South West

[Ontbirds] Ottawa/Gatineau - 26 Jan 2012 - recent reports

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:42:42 -0600

Ontario/Quebec
Ottawa/Gatineau
26 January 2012

Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club (OFNC)
Phone number: 613-860-9000
For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star)
To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one)
Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region)
E. Ontario,W. Quebec
Compiler & transcriber: Bob Cermak (email address filtered) or (email address filtered)

The adult male VARIED THRUSH continues at the feeders on Calypso

[Ontbirds] Ottawa East (St. Isidore area) - Gray Partridge, Lapland Longspur, Thayer's Gull

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:14:37 -0600

I apologize for the late report. Yesterday afternoon between 1-4pm I birded the St. Rose / St. Isidore area east of Ottawa. Along Concession 20 there was a juvenile SNOWY OWL near the power station. Ten GRAY PARTRIDGES were feeding under a spruce along Concession 19 near

[Ontbirds] Kingston Area Birds for the Period Jan 20 to Jan 26, 2012

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:08:33 -0600

No rarities to report this week. Raptors, waterfowl and warm weather
species comprise the bulk of the reports below. For the first time
this year NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS are being noted but only in remote
parts of the Frontenac Arch north of the city. Winter finch numbers
remain low. Weve finally exceeded 100 species

[Ontbirds] 7 Species of Gulls in Kitchener/Waterloo

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:35:11 -0600

7 species of gull today at the fountain in the boardwalk shopping plaza immediately west of the traffic circle at Ira Needles Blvd and University Ave. Gulls feeding in the dump behind the plaza come to rest at the fountain and drink/bathe. Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 estimated 2nd year

[Ontbirds] Algonquin Park Birding Report: 26 January 2012

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:18:20 -0600

Mild temperatures and some rain followed by additional snowfall
occurred this week. Good conditions prevail for winter birding, skiing
and walking the trails. Moose at several locations and a wolf at km 37
were seen along Highway 60 this week. A Red Fox was eating black
sunflower seed at the Visitor Centre yesterday. There

[Ontbirds] Presqu'ile Birding Report for Week Ending January 26, 2012.

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:12:04 -0600

Surprising as it may seem at this early date, the spring bird migration
has begun at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Like other places in southern
Ontario, Presqu'ile has had an influx of ducks in the past few days,
quite apart from those that have been in the Park all winter,

[Ontbirds] Spring Ducks and WW Crossbills

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:55:57 -0600

Hi Ont Birders; The weather event Allan Wormington refers to in his e-mail
has also brought spring ducks to Kincardine. Surprised to find at the
harbor today 11 species of waterfowl including 4 Ringneck Ducks a pair of
Gadwall and a single Pintail. An A. Coot and Redhead have been trying to
over

[Ontbirds] U of Guelph Arboretum Owl Workshop

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:44:31 -0600

Hi, everyone,

This message has been approved by Mark Cranford. We still have some
openings left in our Owl Workshop for Friday, February 10, 2012. This is
an all-day workshop and includes an owl prowl in the early evening. It
will be a hoot! Please go to
http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/educationandevents/workshops.shtml for
more details

[Ontbirds] Northern Raven, Stouffville, 9th Line

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:56:35 -0600

At about 10:30 a.m. this morning I saw a Northern Raven alight in a field on
the west side of 9th Line, between two and three kilometers south of Main
Street, Stouffville.

Barry

Barry Kent MacKay
Markham, Ontario, Canada

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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization.
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[Ontbirds] more 'spring' waterfowl

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:07:56 -0600

To add to observations from both Alan and Margaret, yesterday Ross Snider and I had 15 Northern Pintail flying over Hwy 7, just outside of Brooklin, north of Oshawa.

Cheers,

James Holdsworth, Biological Consulting Services
14 Marian St,
RR#1 Woodstock, On, N4S-7V6
[519]537-2027
226-228-0093 [cell]
(email address filtered)
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the

[Ontbirds] spring migrants at Presq'ile

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:17:54 -0600

Ten pintails and a green-winged teal were very early spring migrants at Presqu'ile's Owen Point yesterday.

DIRECTIONS: Follow the signs from the 401 to Presqu'ile Provincial Park. The Owen Point trail access road is closed for the winter, so park at the gate (along the main entrance drive) and walk in

[Ontbirds] Niagara River and Port Weller - gulls, fish crows, cackling goose and an eider

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:56:35 -0600

After being alerted to their arrival by Andrew, Peter Hogenbirk and I heard and saw five Fish Crows (both flying and sitting in the trees) at Fort Erie. Pls note that the location was actually about 1/2 km north of the junction of Bowen Rd and the Niagara River Parkway

[Ontbirds] Spring ducks in Northumberland Jan24/25

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:51:52 -0600

Further to Alan's posting about the recent waterfowl influx at Point Pelee,
there was a sudden appearance of 12 Northern Pintails in Cobourg harbour on
January 24, rising to 16 today, January 25.
There were also 3 Northern Pintails in a flooded field west of Port Hope on
the 24th.
Margaret Bain.

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ONTBIRDS is presented by

[Ontbirds] Algonquin and area - winter finches, Boreal Chickadee, Bohemian Waxwings, etc

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:00:37 -0600

On the way up to Algonquin Park today, Jerry Ball, Drew Monkman and I saw
several large flocks of finches 'gritting' on Hwy 127 between Maynooth and
Whitney. The finches were Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls with a few
American Goldfinches. At one point there were half a dozen Evening Grosbeaks
in the trees.

[Ontbirds] Spring Ducks at Point Pelee

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:32:47 -0600

On rare occasions over the decades, there has been an interesting
phenomenon at Point Pelee where very early spring ducks appear here when
there is a surge of warm air associated with strong south winds.

There is now a continuum of such events (with gaps) from the earliest
(December 31) through January and into

[Ontbirds] Northern Goshawk/Cooper's Hawk

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:49:36 -0600

Juvenile spotted in tree above feeders in backyard. Have taken photo! Could be either one, with brown teardrops on breast.
Thornhill, Bathurst & Clark

Sent from my iPhone
Dr Perry Rubin
647-522-5205
(email address filtered)
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization.
Send bird reports to (email

[Ontbirds] Tommy Thompson Park Owl Viewing and Reporting Policy

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:25:50 -0600

Hi Folks,

A friend of mine visited Tommy Thompson Park (the Leslie Street Spit) last
weekend and was quite upset when she saw a group of people surrounding a
snowy owl, photographing it from a mere 3 feet away. One woman was even
trying to touch the poor bird! I am sure that you

[Ontbirds] Common Grackl. Toronto.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:32:56 -0600

At 12 noon today I saw a male Common Grackle on Leslie st just north of Unwin Ave along the old trane tracks. Craig

[Ontbirds] winter finches - Scugog Twp - crossbill, repoll and siskin

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:55:24 -0600

A little flurry in my yard this morning ... one Red Crossbill, 10 Common Redpolls and a Pine Siskin.

Also, in the area, flocks of Snow Buntings are suddenly appearing after being scarce all winter. Are the southwest Ontario birds on the move or are these newcomers from elsewhere?

It's interesting