A flock of pine grosbeaks was in Trenton, Ontario, on December 19, 1995 (at the park opposite the air base on the lakeside). At least 10 birds were present.
On December 31, 1995, 3 evening grosbeaks were at a feeder located on a farm near Port Hope Ontario.
Also, there was a very large flock visiting a feeder at a cottage on Dummer Lake (1/2 hour north of Peterborough, Ontario) earlier this winter. The flock visited every day until the first large snowfall, and they haven't been seen since.
Mike Sullivan (mnds@idirect.com)
An immature red-headed woodpecker was reported visiting a feeder near Wellington on December 25.
A yellow-bellied sapsucker has been visiting a feeder in Picton since Dec. 27
70 Bohemian waxwings at Massassauga Point, south of Belleville on December 30.
Terry Sprague
tsprague@telos.ca
Our annual bird count revealed the most populous bird in my area is the black capped chickadee with a large increase in snow buntings and common redpolls.
Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks are regulars at my feeders and for the first time ever, I have a northern cardinal. She arrived at the feeders in the Fall and has remained. Northern cardinals were at one time considered a rare sighting here and now considered unusual. There was no mention of them in the bird count. Nuthatches, american goldfinches, downy and hairy woodpeckers and of course the starlings are also regulars at the feeders.
I expect the numbers to increase with the cold weather and with the amount of snow cover.
jelliott@ViaNet.on.ca (Joyce Elliott)
The Prince Edward Point Christmas Bird Count, in Prince Edward County, was held Dec. 16th. Following is a list of some of the significant sightings: Oldsquaw, 37000!; White-winged Scoter, 10180; Barrow's Goldeneye, 1; Bald Eagle, 2;Eastern Bluebird, 6; Yellow-rumped Warbler, 7; Lapland Longspur, 3; Bohemian Waxwing, 48. Complete list will be posted once results have been tabulated by the Kingston Field Naturalists.
Elsewhere in Prince Edward County, a mature Bald Eagle was seen on Dec. 17th, near Waupoos, on the eastern side of the county.
Terry Sprague, Picton
(thelper@telos.ca)
Below is a summary of what our two Raptor watches accomplished during the period of September 1 to December 2.
Cranberry Marsh, Whitby, Durham Region and High Park, Toronto had an interesting season. Their season totals were CMRW = 5,965 and HPRW was 10,087. CMRW's coverage was 80 days, 388 hrs while HPRW's was 39 days, 239 hours.
The species that increased at CMRW were Bald Eagle's 27 at this past season versus a six season's average of (16). For Northern Goshawk's it was 49 Vs (29), Rough - legged Hawk 119 Vs (82), Golden Eagle 21 Vs (12), and Merlin 50 Vs (28). HPRW had 1,993 Sharp-shinned Hawks versus a two season average of (1867), Cooper's Hawk 82 Vs (66), Northern Goshawk 22 Vs (16), Red-shouldered Hawk 301 Vs (231), Red-tailed Hawk 2,898 Vs (2774), Rough-legged Hawk 22 Vs (16), Golden Eagle 22 Vs (18), Merlin 29 Vs (22), and Peregrine Falcon 5 (3).
There were Twenty-nine other locations reporting sightings ranging from Lake Ontario to Nobleton in York Region . This encompassed a North to South line of approximately 22.5 Km or 13.5 miles. Total Hawks seen were 1481 away from the main sites. Highlights included nine Northern Harrier males's seen in one hour. Which is highly unusual in our region. We had one juvenile light morph Swainson's Hawk at CMRW on September 11, at HPRW on September 23 they had one Swainson's as well. Golden Eagle 32 were seen on October 29. This number includes 10 from CMRW and 10 from HPRW. By the way HPRW had four Golden Eagles, before The CMRW had their first one. Which is unsusual since CMRW is the first site that hawks would normally come to.
In November there was a Krider's Red-tail seen at the Leslie Street Spit. On December 2, Just south of our HPRW site, a Dark morph Gyrfalcon was observed by Bob Yukich a seasoned birder and experienced Hawk watcher.
That wraps up a truly exciting season that also saw the creation of our new Raptor Organization. Our postal address is The Greater Toronto Raptor Watch, P.O. Box 14555, 75 Bayly Street West, Ajax, Ontario, Canada, L1S 7L4. We are accepting Memberships at $ 15.00. This include a Annual report, and other benefits to be announced later. Please Join !!!
John Barker
37 Elmsthorpe Ave.,
Toronto, On, M5P 2L5
Email: jbarker@interlog.com
Home Phone: (416) 483-8118
Work Phone: (416) 808-7950