On Friday, October 12th, 2007, this is the HNC Birding Report: GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN FRANKLIN'S GULL
Snow Goose Long-tailed Duck Red-breasted Merganser Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Red-shouldered Hawk Merlin Peregrine Flacon Sora American Coot Black-bellied Plover Semi-palmated Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Red-necked Phalarope Parasitic Jaeger Bonaparte's Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Common Tern Eastern Screech Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Phoebe Barn Swallow Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Winter Wren Marsh Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Swainson's Thrush Gray-cheeked Thrush Hermit Thrush American Pipit Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird Purple Finch A change in the weather has pushed migrants and some rarities out of the area as the temperature cools down and the winds have a strong northerly component. It has been a busy week nonetheless. The AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was last seen from the Northshore trails and over Woodland Cemetery last weekend. Among other birds seen along the northshore were Great Egret, a variety of ducks species, Dunlin, Barn Swallow and a variety of Sparrows which seem to have come in this week in full force including Chipping, Field, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Purple Finch. Out in the Dundas Marsh this week, two FRANKLIN'S GULLS were last seen on Tuesday. Many observers have been out this week and have had good luck finding more Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows along the edge of Paradise Pond, the large dried up pond found on the way out. Other birds reported from Dundas Marsh in the week were Snow Goose, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Sora, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Eastern Phoebe, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter and Marsh Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Rusty Blackbird and a variety of sparrows including White-throated, Swamp and Song Sparrow in great numbers. Behind the Dundas Arena, the Red Bishop seems to have disappeared perhaps moving somewhere else or succumbing to predation. This location also great for sparrows had a variety including White-throated, White-crowned, Song, Swamp and Lincoln's Sparrow and an Eastern Meadowlark. A Northern Harrier was also seen moving through last weekend. Woodland Cemetery was good on Thursday for our first hawk migration in a while. Highlights included hundreds of Turkey Vultures and Red-shouldered Hawks moving through. Passerines seen here in the week include Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Palm and Blackpoll Warblers. Down at nearby Valley Inn the mudflats are still producing some shorebirds. This week Least and Stilt Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a late Spotted Sandpiper. An Osprey was also seen in the area. East winds were blowing again last weekend and some of the hardy went out to brave the wind and rain. Highlights include Common Loon, Black-legged Kittiwake, Parasitic Jaeger, Peregrine Falcon, Common Tern, Bonaparte's Gull, a variety of waterfowl flying around including our first Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers reported. Behind Van Wagners Ponds, a flyby Peregrine Falcon, both Yellowlegs, Red-necked Phalarope, American Pipit, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Green and Pine Warbler, Swamp and Lincoln's Sparrow were highlights for the OFO trip on the Thanksgiving weekend. Over at the nearby Windermere Basin, ducks are starting to fill in the basin along with Horned Grebe. Shorebirds seen over here this week include Semi-palmated Plover, Killdeer, Least, Solitary, Baird's and Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe and Long-billed Dowitcher. A place not reported from in a while, Mountsberg C.A. was very productive with a variety of species this week. Pied-billed Grebe, many American Coot, adult Bald Eagle, Merlin, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Dunlin were highlights here last weekend. Up at Kerncliffe Park in Burlington this week, a Peregrine Falcon was seen migrating. Other birds seen here were Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit and Gray-cheeked Thrush, Black-and-White Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Field, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow. As geese start to move through in great numbers, other geese are sometimes mixed in the group. This week three Snow Geese were seen yesterday on the west end of Bronte Harbour and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was seen at the west end of Christie Conservation Area last Friday. Keep an eye out for Brant which should be coming soon! In the odds and sods, a Peregrine Falcon has been seen in the Cootes and Olympic Drive area a couple of times this week. A Nashville Warbler was seen in a yard in Dundas yesterday. A Black-throated Blue Warbler made a brief and unusual visit to a feeder in Hamilton and an Eastern Screech Owl seems to be a reliable visitor in my yard in south Burlington. That's the news this week, please report your sightings as we are moving into another phase of migration and anything could turn up at any time. Have a great week! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. 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