On Friday, April 10th, 2009, this is the HNC Birding Report:
EARED GREBE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN LITTLE GULL POMARINE JAEGER Tundra Swan American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Harlequin Duck Black Scoter Wild Turkey Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Egret Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Peregrine Falcon Sandhill Crane Greater Yellowlegs Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Thayer's Gull Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Caspian Tern Snowy Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Purple Martin Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Winter Wren Hermit Thrush American Pipit Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Lapland Longspur Purple Finch Pine Siskin The list grows longer this week as we continue into spring although this week I think we took a couple of steps back. The week was busy though with some new migrants coming in and some good birds around. As always this time of year, we start with the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch at Beamer Conservation Area which had its open house today. Hawks and Vultures continue to filter through here in varying numbers and changing in variety. A couple of days this week were wash outs with cold temperatures however on the other days, Red-tails, Red-shoulders (in dwindling numbers), Rough-legged and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Bald and Golden Eagles were counted. Among the other birds seen in the week were Common Loons migrating, Barn and Tree Swallow, Purple Martins, Eastern Phoebe, Fox Sparrow and Purple Finch. Up in Saltfleet which is west of Beamer a number of new migrants were in this week. On Tuesday when fields were covered in snow, many birds came to the road to feed. Birds seen last Tuesday included Wilson's Snipe on 11th Road East, Vesper Sparrows on 11th, 10th, and 8th Road East, Savannah Sparrows, American Pipits on 5th Road east along with many Tree Swallows low over the fields trying to gather insects and stay warm. Yesterday and today, a high count of Lapland Longspurs were found on 6th Road East just south of Green Mountain. It is extremely difficult to see at first but a pan over the field reveals hundreds of these Longspurs feeding in the tilled grass. A Northern Harrier passed over the field and put up at least 500 birds yesterday and probably more. Many of these birds are breeding plumaged males. On 8th Road East two Greater Yellowlegs were present on the west side between Ridge and Green Mountain Road. At Powerline Road just west of 5th Road East, Blue-winged Teal were seen today at the back of the wet fields. Common Loons were seen this morning over Mud Street east of Centennial. A flock of 80 Wild Turkeys were seen yesterday on 1st Road West just north of Green Mountain Road. A Chipping Sparrow was also seen on 1st Road West today. Wild weather last Monday brought in a few nice birds to VanWagners Beach. The overwintering juvenile POMARINE JAEGER was seen again at Hutches. Also seen on these northeast winds was an adult LITTLE GULL along with a few Bonaparte's Gulls. Along the lakeshore at various places, Horned and Red-necked Grebes continue to move through. Yesterday at Green Road a distant EARED GREBE was reported. Yesterday 2 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS flew high over Beach Blvd on their way north. Out in Flamborough, things remained quiet. A Greater Yellowlegs was seen near Middletown Road and 5th Concession West. At Fairchild Creek which is located on 5th Concession West near Settlers Road, a good number of Tundra Swans were still present on Wednesday. American Wigeon, Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal and a single Greater Yellowlegs were seen in the flooded creek bed too. For Gull enthusiasts, numbers of Gulls at the Waterdown Garden Supplies seem to be increasing. Seen amongst the thousands of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls were Iceland, Glaucous, Thayers and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Hopefully you have more patience than I do. At the Valley Inn this week, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Great Egret, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox, Swamp and White-crowned Sparrows were among migrants seen this week. GOOD NEWS for our Sheraton Peregrine Falcons Madame X has now laid 4 eggs. The peregrines can be watched on http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/. No word yet on the lift bridge couple but birds continue to be present there. In the odds and sods this week, on the Northshore Trails at the RBG, 4 Bald Eagles were present yesterday with 2 using the new nest platform there. Purple Finches are also still lurking about. Barn Swallows were flying over Cootes Paradise. A female Black Scoter was seen with 4 White-winged Scoters, just east of the last island of rocks at LaSalle Park. Caspian Terns continue to increase in numbers at the breeding colony off Eastport Drive. A late Snowy Owl was seen at the Leon's in Burlington on North Service Road between Walker's and Guelph Line yesterday and today. Down at Shell Park today, migrants seen included Eastern Phoebe, Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Three Harlequin Ducks (1 stunning male and 2 females) were last reported Saturday at Saddington Park in Mississauga. Pine Siskins continue to be seen at feeders around the HSA and are likely starting to nest. That's the news this week. Get out there and scour over the Easter Weekend, something really good may be about. Happy Easter! 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 information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
