SABINE'S GULL NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER
American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal Greater Scaup Common Merganser Red-necked Grebe American Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Northern Goshawk Merlin Sora American Coot Semipalmated Plover Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Black-billed Cuckoo Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Tree Swallow Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black and White Warbler American Redstart Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Eastern Towhee Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting This has been a banner week for migrants here in the Hamilton Study Area and just in time too! The annual OFO Conference is this weekend and most of the areas that birds are being reported from are field trip areas (insert sigh of relief here). Hopefully the birds stick around for at least one more day. More east wind days visited us at Van Wagner's beach last Friday and Saturday. Among specialties seen in the two days were SABINE'S GULL, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED JAEGER. Common Terns were also seen last Saturday. Yesterday at VanWagners Ponds, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned (close looks!), Nashville, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Palm, and Blackpoll Warbler along with a great Sparrow fest of Field, Lincolns, Swamp, Song and White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Juncos were seen. Lakeshore migrant traps have been very productive this week. Starting in the east at Rattray Marsh in Mississauga, Red-necked Grebe, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula and Common Yellowthroat were seen last weekend. Shoreacres in Burlington and Shell Park in Oakville this week had a great variety of migrants which were kept low by the rain, giving nice looks. Here this week were American Wigeon, Red-necked Grebe, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Phoebe, Brown Creeper, Carolina and Winter Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray-cheeked and Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, White-throated Sparrow and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. At Kerncliffe Park on Kerns Road in Burlington this week Sora, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Orange Crowned, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green, Palm and Nashville Warbler along with Dark-eyed Juncos were recorded. At LaSalle Park today Greater Scaup, Common Merganser, American Coot, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were seen. At the Hendrie Valley on Monday, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Merlin, Sharp-Shinned, Cooper's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawks, Swainson's and Wood Thrush, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Wood Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Tennessee and Nashville, Northern Parula, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll, Black and White Warbler, American Redstart, and Common Yellowthroat. At Woodland Cemetery Osprey, Merlin, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, House, Winter and Carolina Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped and Nashville Warbler, White-throated Sparrow and Indigo Bunting were seen last Sunday. Out at Princess Point today, Orange-crowned, Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped and Nashville Warblers were passing through. The Dundas Marsh has been a productive area this week although conditions vary from day to day. There is a mud flat out at the end of the willows where shorebirds including Semipalmated Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least, White-rumped, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper and Dunlin were seen here during the week. Today an American Bittern was flushed in the marsh and our first NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS were available for viewing for those who plowed through the reeds. Other birds at the marsh include Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Merlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Black-billed Cuckoo, Carolina and Winter Wren and Yellow-rumped Warblers in numbers. In the odds and sods, Eastern Bluebirds and a late Blue-winged Warbler were seen in Brantford, Eastern Towhees were reported from Rock Chapel and the Hamilton Mountain. An adult Bald Eagle was seen at Mount Nemo and another one today on the North Service Road just east of Guelph Line. A Tree Swallow was seen over the Windermere Basin. Up in Saltfleet at 825 Green Mountain Road last Sunday a Wilson's Snipe, Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen. As you can see, this was probably the biggest week yet this fall and how appropriate for the coming weekend. The weekend weather looks great for the conference. We are hoping to dig up a super rarity for all to see. Two hundred and seventy people should be able to come up with something. Good Birding, Cheryl Edgecombe [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
