Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 21:44:46 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "George M. Jett" Subject: Re: FW: [BIRDCHAT] Winter Finch Forecast in Ontario MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gail Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gail Mackiernan" To: Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 12:23 PM Subject: [MDOSPREY] FW: [BIRDCHAT] Winter Finch Forecast in Ontario > Hi-- > > This sounds as if there is a good chance for winter finches in > Maryland later this year -- keep your eyes open and your feeders full! > > Gail Mackiernan > Silver Spring, MD > > ---------- > From: Jean Iron > Reply-To: Jean Iron > Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 08:26:41 -0400 > To: BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Subject: [BIRDCHAT] Winter Finch Forecast in Ontario > > Hello Birdchatters, > > Many people have asked for my annual prediction on winter finches. > This fall and winter I forecast a good flight of boreal winter finches > to the south because of the failure of most tree seed crops, except > White Spruce, over a large area of northern Ontario. I contacted > sources in central and northern Ontario who are knowledgeable about > tree seed crops. Based on their information and my own observations, > here are my predictions for seeing winter finches in traditional spots > such as Algonquin Park (one of the best places in the world to see > them) and at bird feeders in southern Ontario. I also comment on a few > other species, such as Red-breasted Nuthatch, which often move in > association with winter finches. > > TREE SEED CROPS: (1) Conifers: Except for an excellent crop on > spruces, most conifers have poor cone crops. There are local good cone > crops on White Pine around North Bay and in the Upper Ottawa Valley. > There is a good > crop of cones on White Cedar, but it usually is not a key species for > winter finches. Eastern Hemlock has retained cones from last year, > which may hold some seeds. (2) Hardwoods/Deciduous: The White Birch > seed crop is poor in most areas, but there are pockets with moderate > crops. A large outbreak of Birch Leaf Skeletonizer has reduced seed > quantity and quality over much of central Ontario and in northern > Ontario from Lake Nipigon to the Quebec border. Good crops of American > and Showy Mountain-ash berries are reported in northeastern Ontario, > but there are poor crops in some northern areas. > > PINE GROSBEAK: Movements of Pine Grosbeaks are keyed to mountain-ash > berries. They irrupt into southern Ontario when mountain-ash berries > are in > low supply in the boreal forest. Last year was an excellent year for > mountain-ash berries and Pine Grosbeaks stayed in the north. This year > the crop is good in some areas and poor in others so we can expect a > moderate flight of Pine Grosbeaks into Algonquin Park and probably > into southern Ontario. Watch for them on European Mountain-ash (rowan > berries) in southern Ontario, which has a moderate crop of berries if > the robins and starlings leave any. Pine Grosbeaks also feed on > ornamental crab apple seeds, which are commonly planted in urban > areas. At bird feeders, Pine Grosbeaks prefer sunflower seeds. > > PURPLE FINCH: Already a few have been seen migrating south through southern > Ontario in September. I expect that most will migrate out of Ontario > into the United States in October and November because tree seed crops > are generally poor across most of northern Ontario. Don't expect to > see Purple Finches in Algonquin Park this winter. A few may winter at > feeders in southern Ontario. Purple Finches have declined in recent > years. > > RED CROSSBILL: Two main forms occur in Ontario. One is adapted to > hemlock and the other to pines. The hemlock form (sitkensis) has a > small bill, even > smaller than White-winged Crossbill. Hemlock cone crops are poor this > year (some cones retained from last year) so sitkensis Red Crossbills > are not expected this winter. In most areas, White Pine and Red Pine > cone crops are > poor. However, there are pockets of good cone crops on White Pine > around North Bay and the Upper Ottawa Valley and in Simcoe County. Red > Pine also has some locally good crops. Watch for a few Red Crossbills > where there are > pine cones. > > WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: Currently there are no White-winged Crossbills > in Algonquin Park. However, this winter they should be widespread in > small numbers across the north and in Algonquin Park because of big > cone crops on > spruce. We also may see White-winged Crossbills in southern Ontario > attracted to the big cone crops on spruces. Many ornamental spruces in > Toronto are bending over with a heavy load of cones. > > COMMON and HOARY REDPOLLS: I expect a good flight of redpolls. In > winter redpolls are keyed to birch seeds. The White Birch seed crop is > poor in many northern areas. Watch for redpolls in weedy fields and at > bird feeders. They love nyger (niger) seeds in silo feeders. Flocks of > Common Redpolls always bring the chance of seeing Hoary Redpolls. > > PINE SISKIN: Expect to see many siskins migrating south out of Ontario > in October and November because most conifers, except spruce, have > poor cone crops. However, the excellent spruce cone crop should hold > some siskins in places such as Algonquin Park for the winter. > > EVENING GROSBEAK: Recently this species has become more of a mystery > bird. Once regular in winter at feeders in southern Ontario, its > numbers seem to be declining. I saw only one pair this July in > Haliburton County, where 10 > - 20 years ago I often saw them in summer. Because seed crops are generally > poor across the north, I expect a southward movement at the usual time > in late November and early December. A few should winter in Algonquin > Park and > visit feeders in southern Ontario. > > AMERICAN GOLDFINCH: Large numbers are currently migrating in southern > Ontario. This is another indication of poor seed crops in central and > northern Ontario. > > RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: They are migrating south now. I expect some to > stay north this winter because of heavy cone crops on spruce in > central and northern Ontario. In Algonquin Park, there is a strong > correlation in numbers (both high and low) between Red-breasted > Nuthatches and White-winged Crossbills. Pine Siskin numbers are > moderately correlated with > numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches. > > BOHEMIAN WAXWING: Like Pine Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings are keyed to > mountain-ash berries in the boreal forest. Because the mountain-ash > berry crop is poor in some areas, expect a small flight of Bohemians > into traditional areas such as Ottawa and Peterborough and probably > elsewhere. > > BLUE JAY: My sources tell me that there has been a widespread failure > of Red Oak acorns and acorns on other oaks in the northeast. The large numbers > of Blue Jays moving south in September along the shorelines of Lake Ontario > and Lake Erie indicate that acorn, beechnut and many other seed crops > are poor in Ontario. This is another indicator that a flight of winter > finches is coming. > > ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: For information on tree seed crops, I wish to thank > Dennis Barry in Durham Region and Haliburton County, Al Foley (MNR) in > Simcoe County, Peter Hynard (MNR) in Haliburton County, Fred Pinto > (MNR) in > Sudbury District, Taylor Scarr (MNR) in Sault Ste Marie, Ron Tozer in > Algonquin Park, Mike Turner (MNR) in Haliburton County, and Mike Walsh > (MNR) in Muskoka/Parry Sound. > > Happy winter finch watching, > > Ron Pittaway > > Minden and Toronto, Ontario > E-mail: jeaniron@sympatico.ca > > BirdChat Guidelines: http://www.ksu.edu/audubon/chatguidelines.html > Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdchat.html > Listowners: mailto:birdchat-request@listserv.arizona.edu > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================