Hike Leaders, Lynne Richardson, Shirley Harrison.
Participants: Fred Jazvac, Judy Duncan, Margaret Anderton, Carole Lupton, Norma Nanni, Arlene Richards, Norah Toth, Jim Punnett, Bill Klein, Marilyn Ohler, Bob and Anne Marie Taylor, Lynne Richardson, Shirley Harrison, Linda Neilson-Jones, Kiah Jasper, John Dickson, Barb Palmer, Jen Bedford and Kathy. (20).
Lynne, after having surgery a week ago, recruited Shirley to help carry the burden of leading the hike today. Thank you both for being a great team, taking us on a well scouted and organized trip. Lynne hid her discomfort well. She did; however, not do her traditional cart wheels that normally happen when she leads a hike. Seriously, Lynne, you were a real trooper today. Thank you!
The hike centred on waterfowl habitat and any land birds we could find while looking for ducks. In the best birds of the day department, the BBC’s first Northern Shrike of the fall stood out. Finding 3 species of scoter on any hike has the ability to put smiles on a birder’s face. The 3 Greater Yellowlegs who are late migrating were a surprise, and so was a late fly by of a Double-crested Cormorant.
The weather forecast predicted a dire day, snow, strong winds and cold. We got a reprieve with glorious sunshine in the morning, which was much enjoyed, the clouds did come in the afternoon and brought clouds and brisk winds. The temperature ranged between 2 to 4 C. A warm 4 in the morning turned into a cool 4 in the afternoon.
Lynne’s bird list is below.
BBC - Thornbury Collingwood Outing – November 6, 2019
Areas visited:
Thornbury:
1. Thornbury Mill Pond
2. Thornbury Sewage lagoon
3. Clendenan Dam Conservation Area
Collingwood:
1. Hen & Chickens Boardwalk – White’s Bay Trail
2. Collingwood Harbour – grain elevators
3. Collinwood Water Treatment Plant / Boat Launch
4. Collingwood Arboretum
5. Collingwood Harbour – Bear Estate Marina
Bird List
1. Canada Goose
2. Domestic goose sp. (Domestic type) x Canada Goose (hybrid)
3. Trumpeter Swan (a first for the Thornbury November outing)
4. Wood Duck
5. Gadwall
6. American Black Duck
7. Redhead
8. Mallard
9. Redhead
10. Ring-necked Duck
11. Greater Scaup
12. Lesser Scaup
13. Surf Scoter
14. White-winged Scoter
15. Black Scoter
16. Long-tailed Duck
17. Bufflehead
18. Common Goldeneye
19. Hooded Merganser
20. Common Merganser
21. Red-breasted Merganser
22. Pied-billed Grebe
23. Horned Grebe
24. Rock Pigeon
25. American Coot
26. Sandhill Crane
27. Greater Yellowlegs
28. Red-tailed Hawk
29. Ring-billed Gull
30. Herring Gull
31. Common Loon
32. Double-crested Cormorant
33. Great Blue Heron
34. Bald Eagle
35. Rough-winged Hawk
36. Downy Woodpecker
37. Northern Shrike
38. Blue Jay
39. American Crow
40. Common Raven
41. Black-capped Chickadee
42. Brown Creeper
43. American Robin
44. House Sparrow
45. European Starling
46. American Goldfinch
47. Snow Bunting
48. Song Sparrow