H Apr 17

Hike Leaders: Kiah Jasper, Fred Jazvac, James Turland, and Marshall Byle.

Participants: Fred Jazvac, Bonnie Patterson-Collins, Margaret Anderton, James Turland, Ralph and Mary Anne Knowles, Carole Lupton, Norma Nanni, Stewart Nutt, Nancy White, Arlene Richards, Norah Toth, Alice and John Kain, Liz Addison, Bruce Edmunds, Doug and BJ Martin, Jim and Karen Punnett, Joy Albrecht, Mike Pickup, Judy Wyatt, Kerry Jarvis, Melitta Smole, Marilyn Ohler, Marilyn Beecroft, Stephan and Carrie Cumming, Marshall and Wanda Byle, Linda Neilson-Jones, Connie Plante, Jen Showalter, Abby and Brenda Collins (36)

Hi Everyone,

Our birding day centred around the very inviting Byle residence. A morning break was at Bonnie’s, who previously hosted this event for many years. Thank you, Bonnie and Wayne for your many years of looking after us, and still including us on this day’s quest for birds. We started our day at Marshall and Wanda’s for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. What a wonderful, warm, welcoming home to work from. Marshall and Wanda were incredibly, friendly hosts. They were well prepared and Wanda worked her magic of getting things done, while all the time being warm, friendly and very modest about her gargantuan efforts, in holding the breaks and meals together. Imagine, 36 people and keeping them fed and moving them on to their next adventure. A sincere thank you to Wanda. We felt like family, basking in the warmth, and generosity of spirit given by our welcoming hosts. Thank you!

Thank you, Marshall for your fun loving day that featured an offer to ride his zip line, and keeping us moving throughout the day with a smile on our faces.

Also thank you to the wonderful pot luck goodies, that everyone contributed. With all of these delicacies in view, most of us over ate, happening so naturally, that guilt and reason were swept aside.

We had great sparrow day, with 8 species, the star being the Vesper Sparrow that showed up on the J/1 Line. We had 16 species of waterfowl with a run on Horned Grebes in breeding colour. We had shrike sp., but if you bird statistically, then it was probably a Northern Shrike, but considering the views we had, the shrikes reported, you never know, it could be the rare Loggerhead Shrike, so wiser heads (one young wise head showing us the light) prevailed, we called it a sp.

Well a few days ago, gloom and doom was predicted weather wise, but it turned into a glorious spring outing. We had sun and temperatures that got as high as 20 C, with low winds. A good day for soaring raptors. In our evening quest for the American Woodcock, there was a gentle rain, so we left. At the time, the question came up, "Will an American Woodcock still do his courtship ritual song and dance in the rain?” The answer is yes. We heard one when we got home in Southampton, coming from an empty lot two doors over. Considering the poor habitat he is offering to a mate, he is going to have to do a lot of singing to convince one to join him.

Fred

Places Visited:

1) En route

2) Marshall and Wanda's

3) Tiverton, or Inverhuron Lagoons.

4) Baie Du Dore

5) Bonnie’s

6) Brucedale Conservation Area

7) J/1 Line

8) South end of Inverhuron Park

9) Bob and Anne-Marie’s

10) Lagoons again for the Woodcock.

Species Seen:

• Canada Goose (CANG)

• Mute Swan (MUSW)

• Wood Duck (WODU)

• Gadwall (GADW)

• American Wigeon (AMWI)

• American Black Duck (ABDU)

• Mallard (MALL)

• Green-winged Teal (GWTE)

• Redhead (REDH)

• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU)

• 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)

• Great Blue Heron (GBHE)

• Great Egret (GREG)

• Turkey Vulture (TUVU)

• Bald Eagle (BAEA)

• Northern Harrier (NOHA)

• Cooper's Hawk (COHA)

• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA)

• Killdeer (KILL)

• Wison's Snipe (WISN)

• Bonaparte's Gull (BOGU)

• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)

• Herring Gull (HEGU)

• Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG)

• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)

• Mourning Dove (MODO)

• Belted Kingfisher (BEKI)

• Red-bellied Woodpecker (RBWO)

• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (YBSA)

• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO)

• Hairy Woodpecker (HAWO)

• Northern Flicker (NOFL)

• Pileated Woodpecker (PIWO)

• American Kestrel (AMKE)

• Merlin (MERL)

• Eastern Phoebe (EAPH)

• Shrike sp.

• Blue Jay (BLJA)

• American Crow (AMCR)

• Horned Lark (HOLA)

• Tree Swallow (TRES)

• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH)

• Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU)

• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU)

• Brown Creeper (BRCR)

• Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI)

• Eastern Bluebird (EABL)

• Hermit Thrush (HETH)

• American Robin (AMRO)

• European Starling (EUST)

• American Tree Sparrow (ATSP)

• Chipping Sparrow (CHSP)

• Field Sparrow (FISP)

• Vesper Sparrow (VESP)

• Savannah Sparrow (SAVS)

• Fox Sparrow (FOSP)

• Song Sparrow (SOSP)

• Swamp Sparrow (SWSP)

• White-throated Sparrow (WTSP)

• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)

• Northern Cardinal (NOCA)

• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL)

• Eastern Meadowlark (EAME)

• Common Grackle (COGR)

• Brown-headed Cowbird (BHCO)

• House Finch (HOFI)

• Pine Siskin (PISI)

• American Goldfinch (AMGO)

76 Species of birds seen.