JOURNAL OF THE HAMILTON NATURALISTS’ CLUB Volume 67 Number 7 March, 2014 © photo Joanne Redwood Birders head out into a “winter wonderland” at Kerncliff Park, Burlington, to conduct the Hamilton Christmas Bird Count on Boxing Day, December 26, 2013. This was shortly after the amazing ice storm on December 22. The ice and snow seriously affected numbers recorded. See article on page 148 – photo Joanne Redwood. In This Issue: Member Profile – Alan Wormington 2013 Hamilton Christmas Bird Count War on Science Northern Lights This Spring? HSA Bird Records for Fall Season 2013 Eastern Whip-poor-will Status in Ontario Hoary Vervain in the Hamilton Study Area Good News About Rainbow Darters at Crook’s Hollow Table of Contents Hamilton Christmas Bird Count - 26 December, 2013 Tom Thomas 148 Member Profile – Alan Wormington Bill Lamond 150 The Ontario Whip-poor-will Project with Audrey Heagy Michael Rowlands 152 Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) in the Hamilton Study Area Bill Lamond 153 Dates To Remember – March & April 2014 Liz Rabishaw/Fran Hicks 156 Noteworthy Bird Records – September - November 2013 Rob Dobos 158 And Now For Some Good News – Rainbows Instead of a Dam Bruce Mackenzie 159 Bumblebee Watch has Launched! Please Visit BumbleBeeWatch.org ----- 160 Trivia For Nature Jen Baker 160 Member’s Outing to the Short Hills Nature Sanctuary Jen Baker 160 Astronomy Corner – We Could See Northern Lights this Spring Mario Carr 165 Book Review – Rejecting Science in Canada Don McLean 166 Land’s Inlet Nature Project: Growing the Nature Corridor Jen Baker 167 Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch Begins March 1st Gord McNulty 168 © photo Joanne Redwood Snowy Owl near Fifth Ave and Third Street, St Catharines This is certainly a good winter for Snowy Owls in the Hamilton area. They have been seen at several locations including: the Brantford Airport; Hamilton Harbour; Bronte Harbour; downtown Dundas; Burlington; Milton; Mud Street & First Road East; Fruitland Road & QEW; Peters Corners; Grimsby; and just outside the HSA: south of Burford and St Catharines where this bird was photographed. They come south only for food. Their arctic food source of lemmings is insufficient, so they instinctively move south to find food – to survive. Understandably when they travel that far, they often arrive in a starved condition and need to find food fast. Where they “set up shop” inland, they have found an area with lots of mice. When near water, they often feed on ducks. Usually it is the darker juveniles that come south (as shown above) as they are less experienced at finding food and may have difficulty competing for hunting territories with the adults within the breeding range. Enjoy them while they are here! - photo Joanne Redwood. Page 146 The Wood Duck - March, 2014 Volume 67 Number 7 March, 2014 CN ISSN 0049-7886 - Publications Mail Contract No. 40048074 http://www.hamiltonnature.org [email protected] Publications Committee: Anna Baranova, Christine Bishop, Rob Dobos, Kevin McLaughlin, Don McLean, Michael Fischer, Herman van Barneveld, Jean Stollard, Jim Stollard and John Struger. The Wood Duck is the official publication of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and produced by members of the Club. It is published nine times a year from September to May, inclusive. Deadline for receipt of material is the 5th of the month preceding publication date. As long as credit lines are included, articles may be reprinted without permission, unless otherwise specified. Opinions expressed in the Wood Duck are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. The Hamilton Naturalists’ Club promotes public interest in the study, conservation and appreciation of our natural heritage. Meetings are held monthly September to May inclusive and field events are scheduled throughout the year. Visitors are welcome. The HNC is a registered charity and all donations as well as membership fees are tax deductible. HNC BOARD 2013 - 2014 Executive Past President: Bill Lamond 519 756 9546 [email protected] President: Michael Fischer 905 526 0325 [email protected] Vice-President: Peter Scholtens 905 928 6415 [email protected] Secretary: Bronwen Tregunno 905 334 4013 [email protected] Treasurer: Chris Paton 905 538 6656 [email protected] Directors Bird Study Group: George Holland 905 945 3962 [email protected] Conservation & Education: Paul Smith 905 659 1482 [email protected] Field Events: Fran Hicks 905 528 6376 [email protected] Director-at-Large: Herman van Barneveld 289 426 5341 [email protected] Membership: Maggie Sims 905 331-1496 [email protected] Programs: Peter Scholtens 905 928 6415 [email protected] Publicity: Maggie Paton 905 538 6656 [email protected] Sanctuary: Warren Beacham 905 627 3343 [email protected] Volunteer: Doris Southwell 905 632 4358 [email protected] Wood Duck Editor: Bill Lamond 519 756 9546 [email protected] Coordinators Website Coordinator: Lindsay Barr 289 389 9074 [email protected] Social Coordinator: Catharine Flatt 905 628 2030 [email protected] Junior Naturalists: Brian Wylie 905 627 4601 [email protected] Mailing: Jean Stollard 905 634 3538 [email protected] Land Trust Program: Jen Baker 905 524 3339 [email protected] Report rare bird sightings to: Cheryl Edgecombe 905-637-5923 Send Noteworthy Bird Records to: Rob Dobos, 21 Sunrise Cres., Dundas, L9H 3S1 email: [email protected] MEMBERSHIP FEES – Please remit to The Membership Director, HNC PUBLICATIONS - To order contact Alf Senior Hamilton Naturalists’ Club P.O.Box 89052, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4R5 905 527 0905 or [email protected] Life Membership $ 750.- Hamilton Nature Counts 2003 $ 75 Single Membership $ 45.- Checklist of the Birds of Ham./Wentworth $2.- Senior Single Membership $40.- Date Guide to Birds of Ham./Wentworth $1.- Student Single Membership (on-line-only free Naturally Hamilton - Guide to Green Spaces free access to Wood Duck; for those 25 or under) Checklist of Ontario Butterflies $1.50 Senior Joint Membership $45.- The Habitats of Hamilton and Halton Poster $4.- Family Membership $50.- A Monthly Guide to Nature and Conservation. $5.- Junior Naturalists - 1st child $80.- Hamilton Mammal Atlas $15.- Junior Naturalists - additional children $70.- Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Areas $45.- The Wood Duck - March, 2014 Page 147 Editor’s Note........ I always like getting feedback from readers. It helps to make a better Wood Duck. Please do not hesitate to tell me what can be done better. I welcome this. In discussion with Rob Dobos, the Noteworthy Bird Records editor, we have decided to publish the NBR four times yearly in the Wood Duck as opposed to the usual 8-9 times a year. There is a real advantage to this as it will create more space in the “Duck”; perhaps as much as three extra pages for other articles. Additionally, putting together the NBR is a very time consuming task and this will make it much easier for the NBR editor. The group- ing of the NBR will now be on a seasonal basis: the spring migration season (March - May), the summer (breeding) season (June - August), the fall migration season (September - November), and the winter season (December - Febru- ary). This matches how birds are reported in North American Birds. So, expect now to see the NBR every other month. Because of this, when the NBR do appear, they will be larger and will take up more space in each individual “Duck”. Thus variety will be a bit diminished in these NBR issues but the benefit of this new system I think is self-evident. In this issue there is lot of fine reading. The results of the Hamilton Christmas Bird Count are well detailed by Tom Thomas. Former HNC President Bruce Mackenzie gives us a “good news” story about the Rainbow Darter in Spencer Creek. Don McLean has written a fine book review of War on Science, detailing our current federal government’s attack on basic science – perhaps preaching to the converted to a large extent, but an issue that must be highlighted. Also, a member profile of Ontario’s top birder, Alan Wormington, and a botanical article on the little-known Hoary Vervain. Hamilton Christmas Bird Count - December 26, 2013 by Tom Thomas he 2013 Hamilton Christmas Bird Count was held on Boxing Weather always TDay, Thursday December 26th, and 92 enthusiastic birders plays a part in set off in great anticipation, either to count birds in the field, or any bird count, watch birds coming to their feeders. Some were out in the very and the 2013 early hours listening for owls. Count was o o affected by the Temperatures ranged from -4 C to -1 C, with only a slight breeze. CBC Compiler Tom Thomas scouting on 23rd December The day began with light snow falling, but by mid-morning the icy conditions 2013 for the Hamilton CBC - photo from cbc.ca/Hamilton. snow had trailed off, and the Sun peaked through. in the bay and local ponds. Sometimes this brings in more birds to feeders, and Most ponds were ice covered, and the western end of the harbour it certainly brought in Bald Eagles, much earlier than usual, as was frozen in a line from the Ship Canal to Stelco. Trails were icy they were seen in numbers sitting on the bay ice. and slick from the remnants of the ice storm on the weekend of December 21st and food sources such as Buckthorn, Multiflora We had record-high counts for the following species: Black- Rose hips, and even Staghorn Sumac were covered in a thick crowned Night-Heron with 11 - the old record was 10 in layer of ice. 1991; Bald Eagle, with 11 counted, beat the previous record of nine in 2008; the five Merlins observed eclipsed the old record Most comments from many of the participants were about of four in 2012; Lesser Black-backed Gull, with four, equaled the the remnants of the pre-Christmas ice storm, and the frozen record-count for this species; and Red-bellied Woodpecker at 83 conditions in general.