On Friday, June 12th, 2009, this is the HNC Birding Report: BRANT WESTERN SANDPIPER ICELAND GULL BLACK TERN
Ring-necked Duck Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Ruffed Grouse Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Bald Eagle Peregrine Falcon Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Dunlin Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Gray-cheeked Thrush Blue-winged Warbler Golden-winged Warbler Lawrence's Warbler Brewster's Warbler Nashville Warbler Magnolia Warbler Prairie Warbler American Redstart Indigo Bunting Another shortened list this week for birds moving through the HSA. Most of the birds reported now are birds on territory and/or stragglers which have wandered into the area confused and possibly willing to stay a while! The notable birds this week include a BRANT which has been present at Canada Centre for Inland Waters since Tuesday, seen again today in a flock of Canada Geese. A WESTERN SANDPIPER was present up until Tuesday at Windermere Basin located off Eastport Drive. Along with it, Dunlin, Solitary, Spotted, White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpiper were present in varying numbers through the week. A BLACK TERN made a one day appearance at Grimsby Sewage Lagoons on Tuesday. An ICELAND GULL continues to be seen sporadically from Burloak Park. Another location reported from this week that is new for this spring is the Currie Tract with its entrance located across from the Mohawk Raceway on Guelph Line in north Halton. Up here in this vast tract of land, a singing Prairie Warbler tries to attract a mate and has been singing heartily in the same location which is quite a distance in from the beginning of the parking lot. Directions are as follows: Walk in from the parking area along the main gated trail and follow this for a while (1km??), it will take you under the hydro wires where there is a small wet area and stream, follow the trail part way up the hill just passed this and take the trail to the right which takes you back over to the hydro line. Follow this "hydro trail" that you've just joined, it takes you under the wires 3 times before you begin paralleling the hydro lines on the south side (700m - 1km). Along this stretch you will see the sign Hugh referred to (Green rectangle with white squiggles), stay on the main path. i.e. straight, then about 200m beyond there will be a clearing on the north/left side, there are a couple of small "trails" through the grass here (I first heard the Prairie and a Blue-winged from the trail here), head north to the line of Sumacs and cross through them, this is the aforementioned Hydro Tower N480M and the white chair with ladder (deer-hunting stand??). Also in this stretch of land, Ruffed Grouse, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers and Indigo Buntings were seen and heard. Shell Park in Oakville had a few lingering birds this week, a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Nashville and Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart. Along the lakeshore, lingering waterfowl continue to be seen. Off Rattray Marsh, as many as 26 Red-necked Grebes were seen. At Arkendo Street in Oakville a Horned Grebe was present. A pair of Red-necked Grebes have successfully hatched 2 chicks at Bronte Harbour. Common Loons continue to be seen off Shoreacres. A female Hooded Merganser was seen oddly at the north end of Shoreacres Creek near Lakeshore. A female Bufflehead also continues to summer here. A Common Goldeneye was seen around the islands off Eastport and a Ring-necked Duck was present in the Windermere Basin. Good news for the Lift Bridge Peregrines, 3 females have successfully hatched and been banded. Berl, Maple and Truss are carefully being watched by our Lift Bridge brigade of falconwatch. In the odds and sods, Yellow-billed Cuckoos are nesting near Rock Chapel. Common Nighthawks were seen over central Hamilton. A couple of Adult Bald Eagles were seen along the lakeshore this week, one making mother Peregrine extremely upset and giving chase to the eagle. That's the news for this week. Please keep your sightings coming in, you never know what could drop in unannounced! 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/
