On Thursday, September 28th, 2006, this is the HNC Birding Report: ARCTIC TERN WESTERN KINGBIRD NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW
Redhead Bufflehead Common Merganser Green Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Broad-winged Hawk American Coot Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Black-billed Cuckoo Great Horned Owl Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe Red-eyed Vireo Brown Creeper Golden crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Brown Thrasher Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue-Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Back-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Common Yellowthroat Scarlet Tanager Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow First of all, I am pleased to announce the book launch of Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Areas on October 12th, 2006 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Burlington Arts Centre in downtown Burlington. This book is an excellent reference guide to birds of the Hamilton Study Area, an in-depth look into the history, trends and sightings of this area by author Bob Curry. The Hamilton Study area covers a wide area including Mississauga, Oakville, Waterloo region, Niagara Region, Guelph, and Brantford. The photography is spectacular. Please come and join us to celebrate this great accomplishment! This has been another great week in the Hamilton Study Area! Rarities continue to filter through the area keeping us on our toes. This weeks big news was the presence of a WESTERN KINGBIRD on Dry Lake Road in Cayuga. This bird was present on Tuesday night and stayed until late afternoon on Wednesday. It has not been reported today. While observing the kingbird, hawks were traveling through including many Turkey Vultures and some Broad-winged Hawks. Another interesting sighting last week was that of a probable ARCTIC TERN traveling with four Common Terns, it made an appearance at Van Wagners Beach last Friday on northeast winds. Also present that day a flock of Bonaparte's Gulls and my first Dunlin of the season. A Parasitic Jaeger made a brief chase of a gull in a feeding frenzy out on the water here. Warblers continue to filter through the area albeit not in the numbers that were present a couple of weeks ago but with good variety. Woodland Cemetery and nearby Valley Inn last Saturday had Eastern Wood Pewee, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue-Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart and Scarlet Tanager. At LaSalle Park Green Heron, Common Merganser, Redhead, Bufflehead, American Coot, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Magnolia Warbler and Black-Throated Blue Warbler were reported. On Monday, cool weather brought a mini-fallout of bird life to Shoreacres/Paletta Park in Burlington. Among the species seen, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue-Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Back-throated Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager, Lincoln's Sparrow, and many White-throated Sparrows. This mixture signifies a changeover again of migrants. Out in the Dundas Marsh, one NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW was seen last Monday. A Long-billed Dowitcher was found last Sunday at the end of the Willows on the mud flat and was last reported yesterday. Along with it Stilt Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plovers, Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs and many Killdeer. On the trail out a Black-billed Cuckoo flew across the trail. More to come from this location! Behind the Olympic Arena, a few varieties of sparrow were seen including White-crowned, White-throated and Lincoln's Sparrow. The habitat back here is great for many sparrows. In the odds & sods this week Wilson's Snipe were present at the North Service Road and Guelph Line storm ponds. That's the news for the week. Have a great weekend! Good birding! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
