Leader: Fred Jazvac
Participants: Fred Jazvac, Judy Duncan, Norma Nanni, Stewart Nutt, Arlene Richards, Norah Toth, Judith King, Doug and BJ Martin, Jim Punnett, Christine McMaster, Joan Godden (12)
It was a frigid and windy day, and those conditions seemed to dominate the birds with them doing their best to keep sheltered and warm. Many spots that were open water last week were frozen solid, including Baie Du Dore which ws going to be one of out hot spots for the day. Scott’s point was frozen as well with one small spot next to the dock open, but crowded with ducks, Canada Geese and a Mute Swan. You had to feel sorry for the birds as they seemed hemmed in, and you wondered how they were supposed to eat in such a small, crowded space. In the short distance was an immature Bald Eagle, eating someone, probably from the crowded pool. The temperatures ranged from -9 C- to -3 C. The wind was fierce and never stopped coming at us. Gusts were 70 K. Our first few stops seemed to be birding from the car; we got bolder and stepped into the elements, and the one thing that stuck out was, we were having fun.
The highlights of the day were the 300 Tundra Swans, we saw at the Grimstone Flats, in a field which I couldn’t understand why it was not frozen. In that mix were many Northern Pintail, etc. The Bald Eagles put on a good display for us sitting and flying in good numbers, ;particularly at Base Du Dore and Scott’sPoint. The Horned Larks dominated the open fields with a one time showing of Snow Buntings that took the attention away from the Horned Larks. The Rough-legged Hawks were in good numbers in the place Mike coined as the "owl fields". Snowy Owls were not in the previous numbers reported, but we did manage to see about 5 of them. By the end of the day we saw 39 species, not bad considering the weather conditions for the day.
Thank you, Pat and Barb for sharing your property with us. We did see a good number of passerines there that we would not have found in that kind weather without your help.
Thank you, Judy for keeping the list for us.
Fred
Places visited:
Enroute
Saugeen River Mouth
Chantry Island near Gerrie’s Fries
Pat and Barb’s
Baie Du Dore
Scott’s Point
Concessions of Elderslie, including the 10th.
Grimstone Flats off Grey - Bruce County Line
Species seen:
• Canada Goose (CANG)
• Mute Swan (MUSW)
• Tundra Swan (TUSW)
• Gadwall (GADW)
• American Wigeon (AMWI)
• American Black Duck (ABDU)
• Mallard (MALL)
• Northern Pintail (NOPI)
• Common Goldeneye (COGO)
• Common Merganser (COME)
• Wild Turkey (WITU)
• Bald Eagle (BAEA)
• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA)
• Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA)
• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)
• Herring Gull (HEGU)
• Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG)
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)
• Mourning Dove (MODO)
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO)
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO)
• Hairy Woodpecker (HAWO)
• American Crow (AMCR)
• Common Raven (CORA)
• Horned Lark (HOLA)
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH)
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU)
• American Robin (AMRO)
• European Starling (EUST)
• Snow Bunting (SNBU)
• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP)
• Song Sparrow (SOSP)
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA)
• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL)
• Common Grackle (COGR)
• Purple Finch (PUFI)
• American Goldfinch (AMGO)
• House Sparrow (HOSP)
39 species of birds seen