ROSS'S GOOSE BARROW'S GOLDENEYE MARSH WREN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET GRAY CATBIRD RUSTY BLACKBIRD PINE WARBLER WILSON'S WARBLER Cackling Goose Northern Pintail King Eider Barrow's x Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser x Common Goldeneye Wild Turkey Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Red-throated Loon Common Loon Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Northern Harrier Rough-legged Hawk Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Shrike Tufted Titmouse Brown Creeper Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler This past week was sprinkled with some highlights as birders embarked on the Hamilton Christmas Bird Count on Boxing Day. Fair weather conditions and holiday time sent birders into the field and the list is not too shabby this week. As always we will start at the top. A ROSS'S GOOSE made a brief appearance at the Bronte Sports Field with a flock of Canada Geese on Christmas Eve day. There have been no reports since but geese are always in transition so it may pop up again somewhere along the lake. The female BARROWS GOLDENEYE along with the likely returning Barrows x Common Goldeneye were seen off Grays Road last Monday. A MARSH WREN was found on the East Mountain on count day in a small marsh at the southeast corner of Upper Mount Albion and Highland Rd. GRAY CATBIRDS were seen on count day in the Hendrie Valley (2) and one at the east entrance to Confederation Park. Not far away from Confederation a RUSTY BLACKBIRD was seen along Lake Street and then again later in the Stoney Creek Ravine. A PINE WARBLER was an unexpected surprise at Saddington Park last Saturday. The bird was seen Sunday and Monday but not reported since. Lastly, the long staying WILSON'S WARBLER is still present along with at least one RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET at Sedgewick Park in Oakville. Some of the highlights from the Christmas bird count include five Cackling Geese among 400+ Canadas at the quarry accessed from Tew Park in Greensville, Northern Pintail in Carroll's Bay below Woodland Cemetery, King Eider (female) at the Burlington Ship Canal on the bay side, Hooded Merganser x Common Goldeneye at the west end of Bayfront Trail, Pied-billed, Horned and Red-necked Grebe, Common Loon off LaSalle Marina, Iceland Gulls on the bay and at the Burlington Beachstrip (returning adult), Lesser Black-backed and Glaucous Gulls flying from the bay and another Lesser Black-backed over Windermere Basin, a Black-crowned Night Heron near Windermere Basin, Northern Flicker on Mazza Road in Flamborough, Pileated Woodpecker near the Rail Trail crossing on Binkley Rd. in the Dundas Valley, Tufted Titmouse near Martins Road in Ancaster, Chipping Sparrow and Yellow-rumped Warbler at Woodland Cemetery with another Chipping Sparrow at Willow Point and White-crowned Sparrow at Valley Inn. There will be more results to come. In the odds and sods this week Wild Turkeys were seen in the Dundas Valley. Another Northern Pintail was seen at Wilkes Dam in Brantford in the week. A Red-throated Loon was reported on ebird at the ship canal earlier in the week. An unfortunate report of a deceased Common Loon on the beachstrip near Joseph Brant Hospital was likely a wire strike. The Gates of Heaven Cemetery has been active with Northern Harrier, Northern Shrike and up to seventeen Eastern Bluebirds seen this week. A Rough-legged Hawk was seen last Saturday south of Sydenham Road between Rock Chapel and Harvest roads. Great Blue Heron was observed over the Dundas Hydro Ponds last Saturday. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has returned for a fourth winter to a feeder in Ancaster. Other goodies found at Sedgewick Park in Oakville include Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet and White-throated Sparrow. In Brantford a Tufted Titmouse, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Field Sparrow were good finds on Christmas Day along the fields and trails near the perched fen. Yellow-rumped warblers are turning up in two more locations this week, three along the Spencer Creek Trail in Dundas near McMaster and two more where the boardwalk begins off the west side 8th Rd Saltfleet/Stoney Creek west along Dofasco Trail. It will be a whole new listing year soon. Report your sightings here! All the best to everyone in the New Year. Cheryl Edgecombe HNC