Hike Leaders - Margaret Anderton and Arlene Richards
Participants: Fred Jazvac, Margaret Anderton, James Turland, Alfred Raab, Arlene Richards, Doug Pedwell, Bruce Edmunds, Doug and BJ Martin, Jim and Karen Punnett, Joy Albrecht, Judy Wyatt, Christine McMaster, Marilyn Ohler, Bob and Anne Marie Taylor, Marshall Byle, Simon Turland, Kiah Jasper (20)
HI Everyone,
If you went by the weather prediction, no one should have showed up for this hike. Yet twenty of us, braved rain, dark skies, wind and cool temperatures to have an enjoyable day. The grumpy day didn’t encroach on the warmth of friends gathering together, happy to see each other, ready for another birding outing.
Arlene and Margaret were the leaders, representing half of the normal chick car. Carole was out west and Norma is recovering from surgery, but both were there, "in spirit and support,” quoting from Carole’s email. Norma, we send you our best wishes for a happy recovery. You two did leave the ship, or as you like to call yourselves, “The Chick Car” in good hands., Arlene and Margaret were well researched, followed the well-communcated plan and took us to see or hear 73 species of birds. Not bad, eh! In addition to that, they went overboard in providing us with top hospitality at Arlene’s house for lunch, with Peter back at home, setting things up for us. Thank you all for organizing a great day for us.
At the start of the day, I said to myself this is a good time to see some Rusty Blackbirds. They showed up on cue with a large migration of black birds. It was also the time to see spectacular Sandhill Crane flyovers, as they gather together before migrating southward.
Thank you to Bruce Edmunds for sharing this wonderful picture of an Orange-crowned Warbler seen today on our hike. What a beautiful photo, Bruce!
Places visited:
1) En Route
2) Elsinore Road
3) High Hill Road to Chesley Lake
4) Concession 5
5) Old School Road
6) A line to Fieldstone Road
7) Independent Pond
8) Horseshoe Bay
9) Liz’s House on Lake Huron
10) DU Pond
11) Brucedale Conservation Area
Birds seen:
• Canada Goose (CANG)
• Mute Swan (MUSW)
• Wood Duck (WODU)
• Gadwall (GADW)
• American Wigeon (AMWI)
• American Black Duck (ABDU)
• Mallard (MALL)
• Blue-winged Teal (BWTE)
• Northern Shoveler (NOSH)
• Northern Pintail (NOPI)
• Green-winged Teal (GWTE)
• Canvasback (CANV)
• Redhead (REDH)
• Ring-necked Duck (RNDU)
• Greater / Lesser Scaup
• Bufflehead (BUFF)
• Hooded Merganser (HOME)
• Common Merganser (COME)
• Ruffed Grouse (RUGR)
• Wild Turkey (WITU)
• Pied-billed Grebe (PBGR)
• Horned Grebe (HOGR)
• Double-crested Cormorant (DCCO)
• Great Blue Heron (GBHE)
• Bald Eagle (BAEA)
• Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA)
• Sandhill Crane (SACR)
• Killdeer (KILL)
• Dunlin (DUNL)
• Wison's Snipe (WISN)
• Ring-billed Gull (RBGU)
• Herring Gull (HEGU)
• Rock Pigeon (ROPI)
• Mourning Dove (MODO)
• Belted Kingfisher (BEKI)
• Downy Woodpecker (DOWO)
• Hairy Woodpecker (HAWO)
• Merlin (MERL)
• Eastern Phoebe (EAPH)
• Blue-headed Vireo (BHVI)
• Blue Jay (BLJA)
• American Crow (AMCR)
• Common Raven (CORA)
• Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH)
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU)
• White-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU)
• Brown Creeper (BRCR)
• Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI)
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet (RCKI)
• Eastern Bluebird (EABL)
• Hermit Thrush (HETH)
• American Robin (AMRO)
• Gray Catbird (GRCA)
• European Starling (EUST)
• American Pipit (AMPI)
• Orange-crowned Warbler (OCWA)
• Nashville Warbler (NAWA)
• Palm Warbler (PAWA)
• Yellow-rumped Warbler (YRWA)
• Chipping Sparrow (CHSP)
• Song Sparrow (SOSP)
• Lincoln's Sparrow (LISP)
• Swamp Sparrow (SWSP)
• White-throated Sparrow (WTSP)
• White-crowned Sparrow WCSP)
• Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU)
• Northern Cardinal (NOCA)
• Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL)
• Eastern Meadowlark (EAME)
• Rusty Blackbird (RUBL)
• Common Grackle (COGR)
• House Finch (HOFI)
• American Goldfinch (AMGO)
73 species seen