On Friday, October 17th, 2008, this is the HNC Birding Report: BRANT GOLDEN EAGLE NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW
Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Ruddy Duck Common Loon Red-necked Grebe American Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Sharp-shinned Hawk Coopers Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Virginia Rail Sora American Coot Black-bellied Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Cedar Waxwing Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Field Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Lapland Longspur Rusty Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Purple Finch Pine Siskin Its been a quieter week here in the Hamilton Study area with some new migrants arriving and some lingering ones still hanging on. Many of the areas reported from this week are different than in past giving a bit of variety in places to go this time of year. The Dundas Marsh is still a haven for NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. You don't need to trudge to the end of the willows to get this species. By going down the west side of Spencer Creek (left side) just past the old bridge to the manna grass, this species could be seen here with a little luck. Shorebirds have become scarcer this week however good places to look include Princess Point and Valley Inn where the mud flats are increasing in size significantly. At Valley Inn, Killdeer and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen yesterday but I am sure that there are more birds to come. A Merlin was terrorizing the group making viewing challenging. Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Blue Heron and 4 Great Egrets were also present there yesterday. At Rattray Marsh in Mississauga, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers are still present here. Offshore all three scoter species, Red-necked Grebes in numbers and Common Loon were seen. Another spot for shorebirds this week was the large storm water pond located at the northeast corner of Great Lakes Blvd and Rebecca in Oakville where Black-bellied Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper were present earlier in the week. There should be a good movement of buteos and eagles soon. Yesterday over Lorne Park in Mississauga, our first GOLDEN EAGLE was seen late in the day. Other birds moving through on northwest winds yesterday include Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawk, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel and a number of Turkey Vultures. In the Brantford Area, Northern Goshawk and a late Osprey were also seen this week. A trip up to the back of Mountsberg Conservation Area on Wednesday yielded many American Coot (30), Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck and Pied-billed Grebes (9). Water levels remain high here but are dropping. This could also be good for a late shorebirds in the coming weeks. At Valens Conservation area this week, Sora and Virginia Rail, Marsh Wren and a large flock of Rusty Blackbirds were the highlights. Not too far from there at the Crieff Bog an American Bittern was flushed from the side of the road. Passerines have been hard to find this week. I'll give a few locations with odds and ends here. At the orchard located north of Harvester on Cumberland in Burlington, Northern Mockingbird, Gray Catbird, Orange-crowned Warbler and White-throated Sparrow were found. Just off Burloak across from the new Famous Players theatre a weedy area here was good for sparrows. Field, White-throated, White-crowned and Lincolns Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler and large numbers of Brown-headed Cowbirds congregated here. At the back of Christie Conservation Area another lingering Osprey was seen along with a Merlin, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler and White-throated Sparrow. Just north of here on Middletown Road just north of 5th Concession West, an Eastern Bluebird was perched on a wire. Eastern Bluebirds were also reported at Deer Run Court in Brantford. In the odds and sods this week, a BRANT was seen in the Windermere Basin last Saturday, Pine Siskins and Lapland Longspurs were seen and heard flying over North Halton last weekend and a single Purple Finch made a good yard bird in Dundas last weekend. That's the news for the week. Our HNC Fall Bird Count is November 2nd so we will be doing some scouting to see what is out and about. Hopefully birders will be able to scare up some goodies that will stay around. Cheers, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ 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
