Trip Leader: Fred
Participants: Fred, Bonnie, Judy and JIm, Margaret, James, Simon, Carole, Mike, Norma, Norah, Alice, Judith, Liz, Bruce, Doug and BJ, Bill, Beryl, Connie, John D.
Hi Everyone,
The Trumpeter swans were a hard find today. We found a flock, but because of their location, most of the birds seen were the ones flying. The new for us, this year birds, were gratifying in that their presence signified that spring was definitely here. Birds in that category that will be common as the spring warms up, were Turkey Vulture, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Killdeer, plus others. We could not locate the Red-headed Woodpecker so that was a disappointment.
We did find 37 species which surprised me since I thought the numbers were lower than that. But considering we had frozen water to contend with, limiting access to the sewage lagoons and the lake and with that losing many waterfowl species, we did alright on that cold and sunny day.
The highlights were finding the hidden swans, an immature Bald Eagle that displayed for us, some Ring-necked Ducks on a small patch of open water inside the park, and a Merlin eating his prey giving us close up views. He decided that he was going to eat without flying away with his catch. The other highlight was that two lifers were seen by a couple of our members.
The weather was cold with -6 C being the high with mostly sunny skies.
Thank you, Norah for getting us access to the visitor centre for lunch. The birds displayed beautifully for us from inside.
Places visited:
1) En route
2) Greenway Drive
3) The Pinery.
• Great Blue Heron (GBHE) - 1
• Wild Turkey (WITU) - 1,3
• Tundra Swan (TUSW)- 2
• Canada Goose -(CANG) - 1, 3
• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU) - 3
• Turkey Vulture (TUVU) -1
• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) -1, 3
• Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) - 1
• Bald Eagle (BAEA) -3
• Merlin (MERL) - 1
. Snowy Owl (SNOW) - 1
• American Kestrel (AMKE) -1
• Mourning Dove (MODO)
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)
• Killdeer (KILL) -1
• Herring Gull (HEGU) -1
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO) -3
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO) 1. 3
• Blue Jay (BLJA) -3
• Common Raven (CORA) -1
• American Crow (AMCR)
• American Robin (AMRO) 1, 3
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) -3
. Tufted Titmouse (TUTI) -3
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU) -3
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU) -3
• Snow Bunting (SNBU) -1
- Horned Lark
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU) -3
• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP) -3
• Song Sparrow (SOSP) - 1
• Purple Finch (PUFI) - 3
• American Goldfinch (AMGO) - 3
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA) - 3
• European Starling (EUST) - 1- 3
• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL) 1- 3
• Common Grackle (COGR) -1
Number of species seen - 37
Any errors or omissions, please contact sender