V Nov 28-30

Trip Leaders: Day one - Fred, day two, Jean Iron, Ron Tozer, day three - Judith K

Participants: Fred, Judy and JIm, John, James, Ralph, Carole, Norma, Stewart, Nancy, Arlene, Norah and Gord, Judith K, Doug and BJ, Judy, Cindy, Marilyn, Joan, Tony and Carol, Bob and Anne Marie, Linda, Kirsten and Grace, Vivanne, Claude (29)

HI Everyone,

To start off, I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to the “Tid Bit Supper” We ate well and had some good conversations, smiled a lot and had a few laughs. I would also like to give a special thank you Joan, Marilyn, Carole and Norah who stepped forward to bring extra treats and goodies for the gull presentation at the Niagara Library. Also, a very special thank you goes tp Claire Nelson for arranging the excellent, very economical hotel prices for us. She also organized the gull workshop reception and treats that were available to us. Arlene, you also get a special thanks for taking on the trying job recording the sightings over three days. And finally of course, a thank you to the leaders who led the group over the 3 day weekend.

We found a great variety of birds on this outing including some excellent finds. The best bird of the weekend was found by 13 year old, Grace Dyer who located a rare male King Eider off 50 Point Conservation Area, and then proceeded to help re find it so that everyone in our group got to see the bird. It was a fair way out there, and Bob has some pictures that were sent out earlier for your viewing pleasure. At the canal we found a Northern Mockingbird, all 3 Scoters were seen on both Saturday and Sunday; Sedgwick Park seems to have the best variety of land birds we have seen in the two years we have taken this trip. We saw a Palm Warbler, a Hermit Thrush and Golden-crowned Kinglets, along with other birds, including an unexpected Green-wing Teal. Next year we are going to visit this small park on the Saturday, in order to do it justice; it is full of surprises. We will also make some other changes to better fill the the Sunday afternoon.

On the gull side of things, the warm fall that we enjoyed so much, seemed to reduce the number of birds that were available for viewing. In spite of that we are certainly excited about the great variety of different birds we did get to see.

The weather was above freezing on all of the days, and we had no rain. Kudos to the weather gods.

Take care,

Fred

Areas visited:

Day one -Hamilton Area - Des Jardins Canal, bay area, Canada Inland Waterway, toll gate ponds, Gray Side Road

Day two - Niagara River Area.

Day 3 - St Catharines, 50 Point Conservation Area and Sedgewick Park, near Bronte

• Canada Goose (CANG)

• Mute Swan (MUSW)

• Trumpeter Swan (TRUS)

• Tundra Swan (TUSW)

• Gadwall (GADW)

• American Wigeon (AMWI)

• American Black Duck (ABDU)

• Mallard (MALL)

• Northern Shoveler (NOSH)

• Green-winged Teal (GWTE)

• Canvasback (CANV)

• Redhead (REDH)

• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU)

• Greater Scaup (GRSC)

• Lesser Scaup (LESC)

• King Eider (KIEI)

• Harlequin Duck (HADU)

• Surf Scoter (SUSC)

• White-winged Scoter (WWSC)

• Black Scoter (BLSC)

• Long-tailed Duck (LTDU)

• Bufflehead (BUFF)

• Common Goldeneye (COGO)

• Hooded Merganser (HOME)

• Common Merganser (COME)

• Red-breasted Merganser (RBME)

• Ruddy Duck (RUDU)

• Common Loon (COLO)

• Horned Grebe (HOGR)

• Red-necked Grebe (RNGR)

• Double-crested Cormorant (DCCO)

• Black Vulture (BLVU)

• Bald Eagle (BAEA)

• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA)

• Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA)

• American Coot (AMCO)

• Bonaparte's Gull (BOGU)

• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)

• Herring Gull (HEGU)

• Iceland Gull (ICGU)

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (LBBG)

• Glaucous Gull (GLGU)

• Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG)

• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)

• Mourning Dove (MODO)

• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO)

• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO)

• Hairy Woodpecker (HAWO)

• Merlin (MERL)

• Peregrine Falcon (PEFA)

• Blue Jay (BLJA)

• American Crow (AMCR)

• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH)

• Tufted Titmouse (TUTI)

• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU)

• Brown Creeper (BRCR)

• Winter Wren (WIWR)

• Carolina Wren (CARW)

• Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI)

• Hermit Thrush (HETH)

* Eastern Bluebird

• American Robin (AMRO)

• Northern Mockingbird (NOMO)

• European Starling (EUST)

. Palm Warbler (PAWA)

• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP)

• White-throated Sparrow (WTSP)

• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)

• Northern Cardinal (NOCA)

• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL)

• House Finch (HOFI)

• American Goldfinch (AMGO)

• House Sparrow (HOSP)

74 species were seen. Any errors or omissions, please contact sender