Sightins for Thursday January 27th

Île des Soeurs, woods & southern tip: 2 Gadwall, 1 Harlequin (adult male), Common Goldeneye (hundreds), Common Merganser (few), 1 Cooper's Hawk (adult), 2 Herring Gull, 2 Black-backed Gulls , 1 Eastern Screech Owl, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 10 American Crows, 1 Raven, 10 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper 1, 15 Tree Sparrows, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 2 White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos 4, 3 Northern Cardinals, 2 American Goldfinch, 50 House Sparrows

boisé et pointe sud: 2 Canards chipeaux, 1 Arlequin plongeur (mâle adulte), Garrots à œil d'or (centaines), Grand Harles (quelques-uns), 1 Épervier de Cooper (adulte), 2 Goélands argentés, 2 Goélands marins, 1 Petit-duc maculé, 2 Pics mineurs, 1 Pic flamboyant, 1 Grand Pic, 10 Corneilles d'Amérique, 1 Grand Corbeau, 10 Mésanges à tête noire, 2 Sittelles à poitrine blanche, 1 Grimpereau brun, 15 Bruants hudsoniens, 1 Bruant des marais, 2 Bruants à gorge blanche, 4 Juncos ardoisés, 3 Cardinaux rouges, 2 Chardonnerets jaunes, 50 Moineaux domestiques - Pierre Bannon
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Mabel and I were lucky enough to sight a Snowy Owl (Harfang des neiges) off Chemin Ste. Julie, near St. Clet, this afternoon. It was sitting on the top of a distant tree about a km to the south. Look for Garage St. Denis on Ste. Julie. On Ste. Marie we had a mixed flock of about 70 Lapland Longspurs (Plectrophane lapon (Bruant lapon) and Snow Buntings (Plectrophane des neiges (Bruants des neiges). For once, the vast majority of the birds were longspurs, not buntings. They were apparently feeding on spilled grain behind silos at 3073 Chemin Ste. Marie, just east of Montee Bertrand. Unfortunately, you can't view them on the ground, but periodically the birds flush and perch on a nearby Manitoba Maple tree, as well as on the roof of the barn, giving excellent scope views. It's likely these birds are regular visitors there. We also saw other flocks of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks (Alouette hausse-col)  in the area.

On the way back, at dusk, we spotted a Barred Owl (Chouette rayéeon Fief), sitting on a dead snag and silhouetted against the fading sunset - Cheers, Bob.