Hello, and Riverwood + Erindale birds

[Reuven_M]

STILL no new year birds, I don't think I've ever gone through march without tree swallow, phoebe or flicker since I started birding seriously.
A pair of hooded mergansers were nice, but not much else except a singing mockingbird. In about 10 minutes I heard him imitate the following:
Ring-billed gull
Killdeer
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
American Robin
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Finch
AND House sparrow!

[Vince]

I'm not sure who's more talented, the Mockingbird for it's variety of imitations or your knowledge of the different birds.
Very impressive Reuven.

[Reuven_M]

Thanks Vince.
Finally a few migrants, though not as many as there should be, including 2 wood ducks and 5(!) kingfishers flying over. Also a flying heron that I only saw for a split second, but looked like a night-heron.
There is also a pair of cooper's hawks nesting in Erindale, haven't found the nest yet, but know the area its in.

[Reuven_M]

Where are the migrants? Still no migrants today that I haven't been seeing for the last couple weeks! However, the mockingbird imitated a phoebe this morning, so presumably one has been around...
The obvious highlight was finding a accipiter nest, and I'm 95% sure it's a sharp-shinned. One bird was breaking branches and adding them to the nest, and I watched for about half an hour, but still not confident on the id. If anyone wants to see, the nest is at the university here:
http://www.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_ ... 7&t=h&z=16
(On the green arrow)
In front of the paleomagnetism lab, there are three gnarly red pines, the nest is at the very top of the middle one.

[Reuven_M]

Finally some new migrants this afternoon, including about 15 golden-crowned kinglets and a fox sparrow

also a cottontail, a deer and a bizzare looking grey squirrel that was pale orange all over.

[Reuven_M]

Finally some decent migration, although the variety is still fairly low:
2 phoebe
4 creepers may have been migrants
~25 golden-crowned kinglet
2 white-throated sparrow
about 50 junco and 30 song sparrow, a significant portion of both must have been recent migrants.

[Reuven_M]

More migrants today:
1 winter wren
1 phoebe
1 flyover cormorant
5+ creepers
40+ g-c kinglets

Also a red-tail, the nesting pair of coopers at riverwood, and a pair of carolina wren

[Reuven_M]

Few migrants today, but it was nice to watch the pair of sharpies at the university building their nest

[Reuven_M]

This is better
Best this morning was a woodcock, shuffling away from me into some bushes. The first I've seen at Erindale
Other migrants included:
1 male wood duck
2 flyover cormorants
1 phoebe
1 flyover barn swallow
~20 g-c kinglet
1 white-throated sparrow

[Vince]

Would the Woodcock have been down in the swamp area?

[Reuven_M]

No, he was in some bushes at the university. The only reason  saw him was because I was the first person to take that path today, so he was feeding on it instead of in cover.

[Reuven_M]

Very good this morning in erindale:
2 wood duck (m/f)
5 cormorant flyovers
4 flickers (finally!)
~20 golden and 1 ruby-crowned kinglet
However, among birds, the real highlight was the sparrows:
5 tree, 1 chipping, ~30 song, 7 white-throated, ~20 junco, and best of all was the fox sparrows, I had 14 sighted or heard, and I have no doubt that there were many more that were less interested in my pishing. By far the most I've seen in a day.

Even better though was a very brief but close look at a coyote       . Only the second I've seen here.
Other mammals included 6 deer and a cottontail

Also my first dragonfly of the year

[Rob'in'To]

I saw my first butterfly of the year...  a Mourning Cloak

[Reuven_M]

nice, I'm surprised I haven't yet

[Bird Brain]

nice, I'm surprised I haven't yet

Hi Reuven.  I haven't seen any up here in Meadowvale yet this year either.  Bummer!