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Nov-Dec

December 1999 Sightings in the Windsor Area

Thursday, December 29: There is still time to sign up for the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, January 1, 2000. Call the nature centre for details. For more information on bird counts visit cbcsites.htm.

Sunday, December 26:The Rockwood, Michigan Christmas Bird Count includes a sliver of Ontario along the Detroit River south of Amherstburg. Seven people covered this area today and found 51 species by mid day. Highlights included:

Great Blue Heron 1
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 1
Bald Eagle 3 ad., 1 immat.
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 16
Carolina Wren 1
Winter Wren 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8

PARTICIPANTS: Paul Desjardins, Randy Horvath, Rene Kielbasa, Betty Learmouth, Paul Pratt, Linda Tucker and Dean Ware.

Thursday, December 23: The NorthShore bird count took place on December 23rd 1999 and included the eastern portion of Windsor to Belle River. 62 species were recorded by 14 people who took part in the count. The weather was clear but very cold with the average temperature being 15 F. Highlights of the count were as follows:

12 Great Blue Herons (Peche Island)
2 adult Bald Eagles (Peche Island)
2 red foxes (Peche Island)
1 Ring-necked Duck (Peche Island)
2 American Wigeon (Peche Island)
2 Gadwall (Peche Island)
1 Long-eared Owl (Little River)
1 Kingfisher (Little River)
6 American Robins (Little River)
1 Rough-legged Hawk (Little River)
2 Hairy Woodpeckers (Drag Strip Bush)
2 Tufted Titmice (Drag Strip Bush)
12 White-breasted Nuthatches (Drag Strip Bush)

Wednesday, December 22: Volunteers are needed for the annual mid-winter waterfowl survey, January 3-7, 2000. This is a flyway wide survey which has been undertaken for a number of years. The goal is to cover the entire shoreline of the Essex, Kent, Lambton area within the survey period (the weekends before and after the official survey period are acceptable, if required). Allen Woodliffe is coordinating the survey for this region. He can be reached at allen.woodliffe@mnr.gov.on.ca

Tuesday, December 21: The first round of Christmas Bird Counts have been completed. The Cedar Creek count was held on Saturday and covered the central southern portion of Essex County including Kingsville, Harrow, McGregor and Essex. Sunny weather and light winds helped the thirty-five participants tally 88 species including some unusual species such as Sanderling and White-winged Crossbill. The complete results are available at "cedar99.htm".

Call the nature centre for information on upcoming Christmas Bird Counts. Everyone is welcome to participate.
Tecumseh/Belle River, Thursday, Dec 23 (NEW COUNT)
Amherstburg (Rockwood, MI), Sunday December 26
Detroit River, Saturday, January 1, 2000
St. Clair National Wildlife Area, January 3, 2000

Saturday, December 11: The Long-eared Owl at the Little River Corridor Park in East Windsor continues to roost under a grape vine tangle. The site is marked by a yellow ribbon south of the two benches at the foot of the toboggan hill (Betty Learmouth).

In a quiet corner near the Little River water treatment plant, two gray-phase Eastern Screech-Owls roosting in a fir tree were located at 4:00 p.m. today by Randy Horvath who shared his sighting with five other persons.

Tuesday, December 07: The City of Windsor announced a new program to acquire an additional 56 hectares of the Spring Garden Natural Area. The City will spend up to $2.2 million over the next five years to purchase the largest remaining natural area in Windsor. Matching funds will be raised by an undisclosed organization.

Recent sightings include Northern Shrike and Long-eared Owl at Little River (Gary & Dorothy Balkwill, Dec 7), another Northern Shrike along Hwy 3 at Essex Rd. 19 (Allen Chartier, Dec 7), Townsend's Solitaire at Point Pelee (Dave Milsom, Dec 2) and Snowy Owl at Manning Road between E.C. Rowe and Tecumseh Roads (Glenn Gervais, Dec 2).

Wednesday, December 01: The offficial season for the Holiday Beach Migration Observatory ended yesterday. Betty Learmouth provided the unofficial totals for this fall (and 1990-1998 average).

Turkey Vulture - 16957 (15709)
Osprey - 72 (118)
Bald Eagle - 61 (45)
Northern Harrier - 1100 (1032)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 13474 (13214)
Cooper's Hawk - 464 (743)
Northern Goshawk - 22 (44)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 458 (1085)
Broad-winged Hawk - 59442 (53250)
Red-tailed Hawk - 4886 (7854)
Rough-legged Hawk - 83 (146)
Golden Eagle - 130 (76)
American Kestrel - 2659 (3752)
Merlin - 83 (74)
Peregrine Falcon - 54 (53)
Unidentified raptors - 156
Other raptor, Short-eared Owl - 1
Total - 100114 (97362)