At 1:30 pm today (May 11), Cheryl Edgecombe, Dave Don and I refound a female Summer Tanager in Hamilton's West Mountain area. The bird was first found by Ron Valentine late yesterday evening. The location is near the western end of Scenic Drive at the Escarpment along a small creek ravine called Langs Park which runs between Chateau Ct. and San Franciso Ave.
To get there, get onto the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and near the west end take the Mohawk Rd. exit going east into Hamilton. At the first stoplight, turn left (north) onto Scenic Dr. Take this to where it bends sharply to the east at the Escarpment and park in the small parking lot. This is where the Chedoke Radial Trail crests the Escarpment and goes into Iroquois Heights Conservation Area. However, from the parking lot you need to walk east on Scenic Dr. for about 100 m and just past Chateau Ct. on the south side of the road is a path which runs along the east side of this small creek (this is Langs Park). Take this path, which connects with San Francisco Ave in about 200 m. Just before the path goes out to the street, cross over the creek along the top of the culvert, and continue walking up the east side of the creek about another 150 m or so. The bird has been hanging around the area behind the houses on the west side of the creek which have trees with blossoms, which is just upstream from a yard with a childrens playground. There is also a red safety cone in the creek at this spot. The bird may be high in the maples and other trees, but frequently flies out to grab a bee or other insect at the blossoms, so this is a good place to watch. We did see it fly up the creek a few times, but it always came back to the blossoms eventually. It was still there when we left it around 2:45 pm with a happy group of long-time Hamilton birders. It is a bright red morph female with much red on the tail and rear crown. Good luck, Rob Dobos Dundas, Ont. [email protected]
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