Leaders: Fred Jazvac, Jean Iron, Ron Tozer, Norah Toth and James Turland
Participants: Fred Jazvac, Judy and JIm Duncan, Margaret Anderton, James Turland, Ralph Knowles, Carole Lupton, Norma Nanni, Gord and Norah Toth, Doug and BJ Martin, Jim Punnett, Mike Pickup, Vickie Cooper, Judy Wyatt, Cindy McGregor, Marilyn Ohler, Tony and Carol Kemp, Lionel Gould, Bob and Anne Marie-Taylor, Lynne Richardson, Marshall Byle, Anne Melady (26)
Our annual birding trip to Hamilton/Niagara was by all reports, from participants, a wonderful and enjoyable event. Thank you to our BBC Hike leaders, Norah, and James who filled in for myself and Judith. OFO’s Jean Iron and Ron Tozer led the gull part of our hike, and after many years, are retiring from this event. Congratulations to them for their outstanding contributions to the birders of Ontario.
Our first attraction to this annual winter trip was the reputation of the area. Between mid November and January, this may be the best spot in the world for viewing gulls. Nineteen different species have been recorded here. People from all over the world are attracted to this area in the winter months, so why not us. In the meantime the trip for the BBC has evolved from a down and back in one day outing (we were younger then), to a 3 day trip adding the search for sea ducks and other waterfowl in the Hamilton area.
The bird that elicited the most response and joy from our group were the Purple Sandpipers that showed so beautifully for us at 50 Point Conservation area. The photographers seized the moment and many outstanding pictures have been shown on Facebook. I’ll pass some around when I receive them. The other competition for top billing came from Harlequin Duck, Northern Mockingbird and Carolina Wren. We saw 27 species of waterfowl to round out a successful trip. Wow!
It wasn’t all about birds on this trip. We had a great “tid bit” potluck (creativity and great diversity shown here), a group supper at The Old Winery, and many moments of laughter, story telling and good companionship.
Once again thank you to our leaders who filled in at a wonderful competency level that we at the BBC enjoy time after time. Thank you to Margaret for keeping the three day bird list.
The weather was mostly cloudy and above freezing making travel less difficult.
Take care,
Fred
Areas Visited
1) Enroute
Day One
2) Desjardins Canal
3) Valley Inn Road (Grindstone Creek)
4) La Salle Park - Hamilton Harbour
5) Burlington Canal Lift Bridge Area
6) Toll Gate Ponds
7) Grey Side Road
Day Two
8) Sir Adam Beck Outlook
9) Whirlpool Rapids
10) Duffern Barge Area
11) Parkway to Fort Erie
12) Brock Monument and Niagara River Shore
Day Three
13) Brock Monument
14) Niagara College
15) 50 Point Conservation Area
Birds Seen:
• Canada Goose (CANG)
• Mute Swan (MUSW)
• Trumpeter Swan (TRUS)
• Tundra Swan (TUSW)
• Gadwall (GADW)
• American Black Duck (ABDU)
• Mallard (MALL)
• Northern Shoveler (NOSH)
• Northern Pintail (NOPI)
• Green-winged Teal (GWTE)
• Canvasback (CANV)
• Redhead (REDH)
• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU)
• Greater Scaup (GRSC)
• Lesser Scaup (LESC)
• Harlequin Duck (HADU)
• 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)
• Wild Turkey (WITU)
• Common Loon (COLO)
• Horned Grebe (HOGR)
• Double-crested Cormorant (DCCO)
• Turkey Vulture (TUVU)
• Bald Eagle (BAEA)
• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA)
• American Coot (AMCO)
• Purple Sandpiper (PUSA)
• Bonaparte's Gull (BOGU)
• Black-headed Gull (BHGU)
• Little Gull (LIGU)
• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)
• Herring Gull (HEGU)
• Thayer's Gull (THGU)
• Iceland Gull (ICGU)
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (LBBG)
• Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG)
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)
• Mourning Dove (MODO)
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO)
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (YBSA)
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO)
• Northern Flicker (NOFL)
• American Kestrel (AMKE)
• Peregrine Falcon (PEFA)
• Blue Jay (BLJA)
• American Crow (AMCR)
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH)
• Tufted Titmouse (TUTI)
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU)
• Carolina Wren (CARW)
• Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI)
• American Robin (AMRO)
• Northern Mockingbird (NOMO)
• European Starling (EUST)
• Cedar Waxwing (CEDW)
• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP)
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA)k (PIGR)
• American Goldfinch (AMGO)
• House Sparrow (HOSP)
Number of Species Seen - 66
Any errors or omissions, please contact sender.