Thursday, February 6, 2014

Con Do Bir Ding Up Date



Fish! But clearly on a warm beach... 



I haven't realllly been keeping track of the condo-bird sightings for the past several weeks...

Some sightings -


1 day max King Eider count was 3 - back in mid January (2 females, 1 first winter male). I haven't seen any for 10-14 days, but I also haven't really looked...

4-5 Sightings of Bald Eagles is fairly high.

1 Mute Swan a few days ago

Numbers of gulls (esp Great Black-backed) have declined over the past 2 weeks

A large number of Canada Geese are often offshore, feeding in nearby fields - however I can only seem to find runty Canada Geese with no Cacklers

The most notable sighting was on February 3rd - FISH CROW! Not the best sighting ever, but i'll count it. My Hambirds posting details the sighting:

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Birders,

Mid-morning saw a group of 3-4 crows pass by my condo at 301 Frances Ave in Stoney Creek - up ~150ft in the air. Unfortunately I paid little attention to them as they flew eastwards (and closer to my building) - and it wasn't until they were remarkably close that I heard a distinctive double-note "alarm call" of a Fish Crow as they essentially disappeared from view. While I felt the observation was not satisfactory enough to submit a report with the Ontario Bird Records Committee, I am quite happy to pass the sighting along here and count the bird on my patch list!

Afterwards I also made note that I can't remember even seeing any crows from my place for the past ~2+ months, and couldn't help but wonder if the Fish Crow had drawn the attention of some local American Crows, who flew up high to investigate (they went over the top of my building).

Good Birding!
Brandon
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Beyond that, I can't really think of much... A major highlight during all the cold spells was the picturesque mornings with ice on Lake Ontario... Some views - 



Nearly solid ice! With snow accumulation on top


Amazingly cold NE wind! Sea-fog churning off the waves. 


Late afternoon ice flows.. 


Cold and clear morning 




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