At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 19th 2004 this is the HNC Birding Report:
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN Great Egret Green Heron Blue-winged Teal Northern Pintail Osprey Cooper's Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Peregrine Falcon Common Moorhen Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Ovenbird Hooded Warbler Canada Warbler A little more action this week with the BOW (bird of the week) being an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN making its debut in the area on Saturday afternoon around the Appleby College in Oakville, Sunday at Coronation Park, and finally settling in on Monday at Cootes Paradise where the bird continues to be seen as of last night. There is a possibility that there are two of them around as the one on the weekend was described as an immature and the one at Cootes is definitely an adult. This bird has been seen from Princess Point in Hamilton and also from the High Level Bridge on York Road. Great Egrets are also being seen around the area of the pelican in Dundas Marsh. An Osprey has also been seen in this general location near the High Level Bridge/Valley Inn area. Tollgate ponds continues to produce more shorbirds this week with Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-Billed Dowitcher, Semipalmated Plover, Blue-winged Teal and a Northern Pintail reported this week. Taquanyah Conservation Area near Cayuga/Decewsville has suitable shorebird habitat. A visit there on the weekend turned up 4 Stilt Sandpipers, 50+ Lesser Yellowlegs, 32 Least Sandpiper and 12 Pectoral Sandpiper. At Grimsby Sewage Lagoons on Saturday a Black-bellied Plover was present along with a Peregrine Falcon. Another spot to check out is Congestion Ponds just off the North Service Road at Guelph Line. A number of Lesser Yellowlegs were seen here by myself yesterday but it also has a bit of mud which would be suitable for migrants to drop in. Hawks are in the news this week, 2 Broad-winged Hawks were seen Aug. 14 one juvenile at Christie CA and Aug. 15 one juvenile at Rock Chapel. An update to the Common Moorhen chicks reported in July, nine of the chicks were seen almost full grown at the same location near Glen Morris, north of St George, by the Tim Hortons Onandaga Camp and Green Herons also seem to be thriving there as well. While looking for the Pelican, a female Hooded Warbler and Ovenbird were spotted on the Northshore trails. A Canada Warbler turned up in a back yard in the Appleby Line and New Street area and someone sent me an excellent photo of a Cooper's Hawk devouring a Mourning Dove in their back yard this week. That's the news of the week. Warblers, swallows, flycatchers and other goodies are starting to move. The hotline will be updated next Thursday. Until then....good birding Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline
