The Wood Duck

The Wood Duck, our HNC journal, is available to HNC members, and comes out nine times a year. Each 'Duck' contains 24 pages of illustrated articles ranging from bird records, to dragonfly counts, to environmental issues, to South American adventures. (View recent article.)

The Wood Duck is now available on-line (immediately below). If you would rather read the Wood Duck online and no longer wish to receive a mailed copy, e-mail our Membership Director and ask to have your mailed Wood Duck discontinued.

Download The Wood Duck - May 2008

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Archived issues of The Wood Duck can be found at the bottom of this page.

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A Recent Wood Duck Article

Bald Eagle (Photo: Tom Thomas)

Nesting Bald Eagles Return to the Hamilton Area

by Glenn Barrett, from the May 2008 issue of The Wood Duck

Hamilton Naturalists’ Club (HNC) members have recently made the exciting discovery of a nesting pair of Bald Eagles near Caledonia –the first nest in the Hamilton area in over 50 years. HNC members Jim Heslop and Bob Stamp initially discovered this year’s nest in February, during a bird watching trip near Caledonia. A return visit by Jim on April 9 during a rainstorm found one of the two adults sitting on the nest, likely incubating eggs.

According to the Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Areas (by Robert Curry and HNC) there is only one previous nest of the Bald Eagle in the Hamilton area. Between 1940 and 1952 there was an eagle nest at Spottiswood Lake south of Cambridge. While many Club members have noticed (and enjoyed watching) increasing numbers of adult and immature eagles overwintering in our area, Bald Eagles are not believed to have nested here for the last 56 years.

Jim Heslop: “Our initial sighting of the birds in February was exhilarating as we watched one eagle fly past us and join its mate on the nest. To go back in April and still find both birds attending the nest is a clear indication that this may be the year that the Hamilton Study Area sees a return of Bald Eagles to the breeding bird list”.

Bald Eagles are a protected species-at-risk in Ontario. They are designated as Special Concern in northern Ontario, but Endangered by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) in the portion of Ontario south of the French-Mattawa Rivers.

The Southern Ontario Bald Eagle working group, with representatives from MNR, Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada) and Bird Studies Canada, has been monitoring eagle nests in the lower Great Lakes basin for many years. In 2007, there were 38 known active Bald Eagle nests in the area, from which at least 47 young were produced – a substantial improvement over the three active territories found in 1980.

Pud Hunter is an MNR biologist who has been involved in the monitoring of Bald Eagles in southern Ontario. He sees the return of nesting Bald Eagles to southern Ontario as a positive indication of environmental remediation. “It is wonderful news for all the inhabitants of southern Ontario to see the population numbers of a top-level predator such as the Bald Eagle increase. Gradually Bald Eagles are returning to nest in areas where they were traditionally found before their numbers were greatly diminished due to the effects of manmade chemicals and pesticides such as DDT.”

Robert Curry had the following comments on learning of the presence of this Bald Eagle nest: “The finding of a nest of Bald Eagle in the Hamilton area is indeed an exciting event. It brings their story full circle from the near extirpation of this species in Ontario through recovery programs to now a nest in our area. With the banning of DDT this magnificent bird has made a remarkable recovery in southern Ontario.“

In the 1980s the HNC made important contributions towards the conservation of Bald Eagles in Ontario. As part of the recovery plan for this species the HNC, led by the late Bruce Duncan, raised and released four young Bald Eagles from an artificial nest site near Cayuga in 1986 and 1987. Naturalists’ Club volunteers continue to this day the practice of assisting bird species-at-risk by monitoring the Peregrine Falcon nest in downtown Hamilton each year (the nest currently has four eggs expected to hatch in early-May). Watch the falcons online at: http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/ and please contact Audrey Gamble if you are interested in volunteering on this project (john.merriman@sympatico.ca).

Two chapters in the Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Areas book chronicle the local Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon recovery programs. Birds of Hamilton is available for purchase at monthly Club and Bird Study Group meetings and can also be shipped to purchasers who mail in order forms available on the book’s website (www.hamiltonnature.org/publications/birdsofhamilton.htm). Many local bookstores are also selling Birds of Hamilton, and a full list of stores is posted on our website. All proceeds from the sale of this publication will support HNC conservation and education projects.

Here’s hoping that the summer of 2008 sees the return of wild hatched Bald Eagle chicks flying in the skies over Caledonia and Hamilton. As the population of Bald Eagles continues to expand in southern Ontario Hamilton naturalists can begin to speculate on where they will nest next!

Archived Issues of The Wood Duck

April 2008 (PDF - 7,292KB)
March 2008 (PDF - 8,154KB)
February 2008 (PDF - 10,520KB)
January 2008 (PDF - 14,851KB)