On Thursday, April 27th, 2006, this is the HNC birding report AMERICAN BITTERN SPOTTED SANDPIPER UPLAND SANDPIPER COMMON TERN CHIMNEY SWIFT LEAST FLYCATCHER BANK SWALLOW CLIFF SWALLOW HOUSE WREN WOOD THRUSH BLUE GRAY GNATCATCHER BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER NASHVILLE WARBLER PALM WARBLER BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH BREWER'S BLACKBIRD
Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret Blue-winged Teal Broad-winged Hawk Sandhill Crane Eastern Screech Owl Short-eared Owl Great Horned Owl Snowy Owl Bonaparte's Gull Glaucous Gull Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Purple Martin Brown Creeper Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Lots of migrants filtering in this week keeping the hotline writer busy. Swallows seem to have come in in droves over the past few days. Today a CHIMNEY SWIFT was seen from Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Common Terns, Bonaparte's Gulls and a late Glaucous Gull were seen near Bronte Harbour and a Great Egret was seen in Bronte Marsh yesterday. Along the lakeshore this week, all five species of swallow (Tree, BANK, CLIFF, Northern Rough Winged, Barn Swallow) and Purple Martins have been seen at various points on the lake. Also along the lake at Shell Park in Oakville and/or Shoracres in Burlington LEAST FLYCATCHER, HOUSE WREN, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER were seen. Some of the migrants from previous weeks are still moving through with Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Chipping, Savannah Fox, Swamp and White-throated Sparrow all reported in the week . In the storm pond near Great Lakes Blvd and Shell Park, a SPOTTED SANDPIPER was seen yesterday. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch has been a little slow this week with the majority of the Broadwings going amiss from being seen in numbers here. However this week a BREWERÂ’S BLACKBIRD was seen at the top of a tree at the entrance for a brief time much to the delight of observers. Also seen this week were BLACK-THROATED GREEN and NASHVILLE WARBLER. Also up in Salfleet this week the first reports of UPLAND SANDPIPER came in from Kemp Road and from 10th Road East, a traditional spot for these birds. Short-eared Owls are also still flying at dusk on 10th Road East. Down at the bottom of Fifty Road in the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons, Pied-billed Grebe and Blue-winged Teal were in the ponds today and a Great Horned Owl flew out of the tall pines. Lots of odds & sods happening this week. A WOOD THRUSH was heard in Dundas near Dundas Valley C.A. today. A NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH was heard near 8th concession and Valens Road in the Beverly Swamp, three Sandhill Cranes few over McMaster University yesterday, another report of HOUSE WREN came from the VanWagners Ponds, an AMERICAN BITTERN made a yard list in Brantford this week and a report from Trafalgar and Steeles of a late Snowy Owl hopefully on its way north. That's the news for the week. Keep me posted on sightings, it will be a gorgeous weekend to get out and skulk around. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
