Saturday, December 27: The Amherstburg portion of the Rockwood CBC recorded 50 species today. Highlights included 22 Northern Fickers, 5 Carolina Wrens and 9 Eastern Bluebirds. Click here for complete results.
Monday, December 22: Highlights for the Point Pelee CBC (94 species) included Orange-crowned Warbler, Lesser Black-backed Gull and both crossbills. New record highs for the count included American Tree Sparrow (1900), Hooded Merganser (19) and Eastern Phoebe (3).
Sunday, December 21: The Blenheim/Rondeau CBC set a new record today with 114 species. Highlights included Osprey, Sora, Virginia Rail, Purple Sandpiper and two Eastern Phoebes. Record high counts were established for 17 species, including 12 ducks, Bald Eagle (12) and Common Redpoll (815).
Winter begans today at 3:07 p.m. EST, when the Sun stands directly over the Tropic of Capricorn in the South Pacific Ocean. Today's midday Sun is lowest of the year, and days are shortest. For more information on celestial events visit Skywatcher's Diary.
Saturday, December 20: Highlights for the Cedar Creek CBC included Double-crested Cormorant, Virginia Rail, Merlin and Green-winged Teal. New record highs were reported for Great Blue Heron (50), Red-bellied Woodpecker (19), White-breasted Nuthatch (106), Winter Wren (16) and Dark-eyed Junco (1065). The 93 species recorded was the second highest total for this CBC. Click here for complete results.
Friday, December 19: Highlights for the Pelee Island Christmas Bird Count (part of Ohio's Erie Islands CBC) included Mountain Bluebird, Tree Swallow and Ontario's first winter Willet.
Monday, December 15: Yesterday a Golden Eagle and two Bald Eagles were seen by Fred Urie and Jim McCoy at Holiday Beach, along with over 20 Great Blue Herons. Short-eared Owls have been reported at the Windsor airport by Phil Roberts. The best time to look for Short-eared Owls is at 5:00 pm from the north side of the airport at the end of Jefferson or Pillette. The Selasphorus hummingbird in Tecumseh was still present on December 13th.
Local Christmas Bird Counts start this coming weekend. Check the upcoming events page to find out more.
Friday, December 12: In winter Opossums are often seen visiting bird feeders at night or occasionally during the daytime. Opossums moved into our area around 1990 and have become quite common, even in urban areas.
Alan Wormington found an Eastern Phoebe today and Common Yellowthroat yesterday at Point Pelee.
Friday, December 5: The Northern Hawk-Owl has not been seen. Three or four Short-eared Owls were present at the same airport at 5:00 pm. yesterday and a Snowy Owl and two Lesser Black-backed Gulls have been present around the pier area at nearby Erieau.
Thursday, December 4: The Northern Hawk-Owl was seen briefly at noon south of the airport and again at 3:20 pm. along County Rd. 10 but poor weather caused most birders to miss the bird.
Wednesday, December 3: A Northern Hawk-Owl was discovered yesterday afternoon by Irene Woods at the northwest corner of the Chatham municipal airport. The airport is located about 3 km. south of Charring Cross on County Road 10. The owl was found along the gravel road which borders the north side of the airstrip. The bird was still present this afternoon.
Tuesday, December 2: December is the start of the winter season when many birders keep a "winter" list of species seen between December 1st and the end of February. Early December is a good time to find lingering species that will be difficult to locate later in the season. Some good birds seen during the last few days include Selasphorus hummingbird (today in Tecumseh, C. Fraser), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Nov 28, Pelee, Michael Carlson), Blue-headed Vireo (Nov 30, Holiday Beach, F. Urie) and King Eider (Nov 29, Marentette Beach near Pelee, Glenn Gervais).
November 1997
Click here for November sightings.
