At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday April 8th, 2004 this is the Hamilton Naturalists Club Birding Report
VARIED THRUSH YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET SAVANNAH SPARROW VESPER SPARROW Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Harlequin Duck Northern Shoveler Wood Duck Ring-necked Duck Green-winged Teal Northern Harrier Osprey Turkey Vulture Wild Turkey Ring necked Pheasant Wilson's Snipe Caspian Tern Short-eared Owl Eastern Phoebe Hermit Thrush Tree Swallow Eastern Meadowlark Fox Sparrow Pine Siskin Purple Finch Migration continues to trickle through at an easy pace with this weeks migrants including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Vesper Sparrow and the increasing numbers of Double-crested Cormorants and Caspian Tern. The bird of the week was clearly the VARIED THRUSH in Flamborough. I have come under some scrutiny over my lack of reporting this bird last week. At the time of the report, I did not have permission as of yet to post this bird on the hotline by the owner. This permission,in my opinion, was necessary out of respect for the owner and their neighbours given the location of the property. My intention was not to deny other birders out of the Hamilton area a potential lifer but only to enforce birding edicate that I felt was necessary in this case. That being said, the bird continues to be seen on Westover Road, north of the 8th Concession as of today however patience is necessary. PLEASE respect the guidelines set by the owner (see below). I would like to thank Paul on our behalf for his generosity in sharing this great find. Any comments are welcome, please email me privately. As expected YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS arrived this week with some yard reports, one being seen in the location of the Varied Thush and one at Shoreacres/Palletta Park. The feeder at the Varied Thrush site also continues to host Pine Siskins and a couple of Fox Sparrows. The Niagara Peninsula Hawk Watch has been rather quiet this week with Turkey Vultures being seen coming through in numbers. As per Mike Streets posting "The warm weather rolling into our area today should bring the first Broad-winged Hawks of 2004. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch will assistbirders in learning more about birds of prey by holding Raptor Identification Workshops from 10AM-3PM this Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18th. This weatherwise is supposed to be a warm weekend and would be a worthwhile event to attend. Other birds reported this week from Beamer include Common Loon, Wild Turkey, Eastern Pheobe and Purple Finch. Another good sighting of raptors this week was a pair of Osprey back on the nesting platform at Mountsberg Conservation Area. Caspian Terns are in in numbers this week and first reports of Monday have only increased as more than 40 birds were seen on Centre Island visible off of Eastport Road. Double-crested Cormorants are also increasing in numbers here and at various spots along the waterfront and Tollgate Ponds. The area known as Saltfleet continues to be productive this week. Short-eared Owls continue to be reported from the 10th Concession south of Ridge Road with up to 12 being seen in a field south of the tracks. At dusk they can be spotted from the side of the road on the 10th concession both north and south of the tracks. Northern Harriers are also seen at this location. Both Wild Turkey and Pheasant were heard at this location at dawn. Many winnowing Wilsons Snipe have been reported from 5th Concession, 10th Concession, 11th Concession and Kemp Road west of Mountain Road (seen today). A Pied-billed Grebe and Ring-necked Ducks were present in the Quarry Pond off of Green Mountain Road between the 10th and 11th concession. Up in this area, on Bowslaugh Road, 2 VESPER SPARROWS were seen. While cruising the area, Tree Swallows seem to be more numerous. Grimsby Sewage Lagoons were visited by myself this afternoon. Among the birds seen were Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Eastern Meadowlark and SAVANNAH SPARROW. People entering the property which is located east of 50 Point Conservation area are asked to park at the shed located on the west side and walk in from behind the shed as to not disturb the homeowner on the east side of the property. Please also respect the No Trespassing Signs that are posted from the Ministry of National Defence as we are in negotiations of obtaining this property for a shorebird habitat/wetland and do not wish to jeopardize our efforts. Ducks of interest this week include the 2 Harlequin Ducks still being reported off of Ben Macree Park in Mississauga and many Red-necked Grebes being seen at various spots along the lake such as Bronte Harbour and Shoreacres/Paletta Park in Burlington. A pair of Wood Ducks were reported from the Hendrie Valley in the marshy are this week. A single RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was seen at Shell Park this week, with surely more numbers to come in the following week(s). A yard report of a Hermit Thrush could be an early migrant, look for more of these passing through. That's the scoop for this week, the warm weather this weekend will encourage us to get out and about and enjoy the migrants. Good birding Cheryl Edgecombe Hamilton Naturalists' Club >> > > Tel: (905) 381-0329 >> > > www.hamiltonnature.org > GUIDELINES FOR VARIED THRUSH Please stay to the side of the road to avoid interfering with the local traffic and be careful, the traffic can be faster than might be expected on a dead end road. Also please avoid walking on the wood chips, there are spring ephemerals there. In years past there have been daytime "break-ins" and so neighbours are understandably "interested" in strange cars on the road. Don't be surprised if they ask questions. To avoid interfering with traffic there is room for a couple of cars in the driveway but please keep to the right to maintain clear access to the left garage door. The thrush can be seen from the road and the driveway. Please do not walk over the yard and PLEASE stay off of all mulched areas. Thank you.
