On Friday, May 29th, 2009, this is the HNC Birding Report: BLACK SCOTER AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN ICELAND GULL ARCTIC TERN WHITE-EYED VIREO LAPLAND LONGSPUR
American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe American Bittern Least Bittern Green Heron Osprey Bald Eagle Peregrine Falcon Virginia Rail Common Moorhen Sandhill Crane Black-bellied Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Whimbrel Ruddy Turnstone Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Yellow-billed Cuckoo Short-eared Owl Common Nighthawk Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Blue-headed Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Winter Wren Marsh Wren Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-White Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Connecticut Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Clay-colored Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Orchard Oriole Purple Finch Pine Siskin A little slower this week but a very interesting variety of birds here in the Hamilton Study Area. Some new, some still moving through, some just plain late leaving and a few neat sightings to report. In the rarities this week, a BLACK SCOTER made a late date appearance off Sioux Lookout in Burlington and was seen yesterday at Burloak Park. An AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was last seen on Saturday flying west out of the Dundas Marsh and has not been reported since. Although not rare to the area during the winter a very late ICELAND GULL was seen at VanWagners Beach today. On a birdathon last Saturday, an ARCTIC TERN made a flyby past the lookout at Burloak Park flying toward Bronte Harbour. Last Saturday, a WHITE-EYED VIREO made a brief appearance in Ancaster at the north end of Martins Road north of Jerseyville Road. It has not been reported since. Lastly, a lingering female LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen in a field east of 6th Road East south of Green Mountain Road, a record late date by 3 weeks. There were maybe others present there as well. A hidden jewel in the Hamilton Study Area that is not often reported from is Grass Lake near Glen Morris. Starting out a big day here last Saturday a number of species which are difficult to find in the HSA were seen here. These species included Pied-billed Grebe, American Bittern, Green Heron, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen and Sandhill Crane which all appeared to be establishing nesting here. East of Grass Lake and moving back into Flamborough on Concession 5 West just west of Sheffield Road, a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers have re-established their nesting site here. Continuing in Flamborough, a Clay-colored Sparrow was on territory at Concession 6 between Valens and Kirkwall Rds at the Pinedale Tree Farm. Also seen/heard here was a Purple Finch. At the Safari Road Marsh, Virginia Rail could be heard calling along with the brief sighting of a Least Bittern. At the Northland Nurseries on the 5th Concession West both Grasshopper and Clay-colored Sparrows have been seen on territory here. Please make sure you notify the Nursery Staff if interested in poking around this place. In the northern part of Flamborough on Lennon Road, a unique habitat with northern specialties is a highlight in the Hamilton Study Area. Here last weekend, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Canada Warbler and White-throated Sparrow were all singing on territory here. The lakeshore migrant traps have been so so this week. Today at Shoreacres in Burlington a female Connecticut Warbler was well viewed if only for a brief time in the northeast corner of the park. Also present here this week were Common Loon, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied, Alder, Willow, Least and Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireo, Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrush, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay-breasted , Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's and Canada Warbler and Lincoln's Sparrow. Shell Park in Oakville had a few stragglers including some of the above birds in addition to Blue-headed Vireo and Black-throated Blue Warbler. Shorebirds continue to move through the area with a large flight of Whimbrel passing through the area this week. Last week, flocks were seen at Saddington Park in Mississauga and off Bronte Cemetery in Oakville on Monday and birds were seen yesterday flying past Canada Centre for Inland Waters and Shoreacres. This weekend should still be a good time to look for birds moving through. Other shorebird hotspots have produced some variety this week. A Black-bellied Plover was seen at VanWagners Beach today. Earlier in the week a Ruddy Turnstone was seen with a small flock of Dunlin at Confederation Park. Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated, Least and White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen in the Windermere Basin. Ruddy Turnstones and Dunlin were present at Pier 27 at the Hamilton Harbour this week. Up at 10th Road East, Semipalmated Plover, Upland and Semipalmated Sandpiper and Dunlin were seen in the field east of 10th Road East near the railway tracks. A male Green-winged Teal was also seen in this flooded field. At the Rockton Berry Farm, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover, Least and Semipalmated Sandpiper were among shorebirds seen here. At a quickly drying up locale just south of 4th Concession West on Middletown Road in Flamborough, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Least and Spotted Sandpiper and a Blue-winged Teal were recorded here last Saturday. Seven Ruddy Turnstones were seen at the end of the Petro Canada Pier in Oakville today. At the flooded field on Britannia between 4th and 5th line in Oakville, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin and Lesser Yellowlegs were birds seen here today. Good news for the Lift Bridge Peregrine Falcons, it appears that three chicks have successfully hatched there. A special thanks to volunteers who watch over these little ones in a very precarious area near the lake! In the odds and sods this week, American Wigeon and a Ring-necked Duck were seen in the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons. A couple of Common Nighthawks were seen from Princess Point flying over the Northshore of the Royal Botanical Gardens. In the Dundas Marsh, Bald Eagle can been seen at a distance on nest, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Marsh Wren were heard. Short-eared Owls seem to still be around the area of 10th Road East, easily viewed from the road in late afternoon. An odd sighting of an Osprey on nest on a light standard at the Badenoch Sports Field just north of the 401 made a good addition to a big day list. Orchard Orioles seem to be expanding their territories with singing birds at Fifty Point Conservation area, Grimsby Sewage Lagoons and 10th Road East. Another Clay-colored Sparrow was seen and heard near the Mowhawk Raceway in North Halton. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen at the Berry Tract. Pine Siskins are still in the area with birds being seen at Hyde Tract in Flamborough and at a feeder in south Burlington. That's the news for this week. Please keep forwarding your sightings, migration is not over yet! Good Birding, 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/
