On Thursday, August 27th, 2009 this is the HNC Birding Report: LONG-BILLED CURLEW HUDSONIAN GODWIT LONG-TAILED JAEGER
American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal White-winged Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Loon Great Egret Green Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Semipalmated Plover Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Black Tern Common Tern Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Marsh Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Brown Thrasher Blue-winged Warbler Golden-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Bobolink Baltimore Oriole What a difference a week and some north winds make. It's been a busy one in the Hamilton Study Area. The most exciting bird of the week was a LONG-BILLED CURLEW spotted flying along the beach strip in front of Lakeland Community Centre at Van Wagner's Beach last Sunday. The bird was seen flying east over the centre about 20 m above the head and continued flying down the beach landing on the beach at Confederation Park. Here, the bird was viewed taking a drink of water and then being put up again by a Herring Gull and flying further east down the beach. The bird was not relocated despite a desperate search by birders. This is only the second documented sighting for Ontario. Another highlight this week along the same end of the lake was the start of Jaeger season in Hamilton. Today an immature LONG-TAILED JAEGER was seen mid morning at a fairly close distance inside the wave tower. A few more jaegers were seen with the probable sighting of a second adult bird later in the morning. Other birds seen here today and Sunday include, Long-tailed Duck, White-winged Scoter, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Common Loon, Bonaparte's Gull, Black and Common Tern. Shorebird habitat is little here in the Hamilton Study Area. At present, the best areas seem to be on the sod farms in the south end of the area where wet fields and sod are plentiful. No Buff-breasted Sandpipers in this area yet but a search of sod field around the Haldibrook and Highway 6 area yielded Semipalmated Plover, oodles of Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher and Wilson's Snipe. A surprise visitor to a yard/field at Blackheath and Haldibrook Road was a HUDSONIAN GODWIT which made a temporary stop for about 1/2 hour on Tuesday. Other shorebirds seen in the wet area here included Pectoral Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe. Another emerging spot for shorebirds is North Island off Eastport Drive where dropping water levels on the bay made a small mud flat for Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Least and Semipalmated Sandpiper. Passerine migration has picked up again with the influx of warblers into some areas in Hamilton. At Woodland Cemetery last Sunday, Philadelphia Vireo, Golden-winged, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Yellow, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Black-and-white, Wilson's and Canada Warbler were highlights. A small flock of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs flew over as well. On the Northshore Trails at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied and Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo, Marsh Wren , Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, Tennessee, Nashville, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Black-and-white and Canada Warbler, American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole (35!) were seen on Monday. Great Egrets and Osprey were seen on the marsh. A small hawk flight of Red-tailed and Broad-winged Hawks, Turkey Vultures and Northern Harrier were also seen. Reports from Rock Chapel this week include Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ovenbird, Black and White, Canada, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Nashville Warbler and American Redstart. At another location in Flamborough at Safari Road east of Valens Road a good variety of species were seen including, Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Magnolia, Canada, Wilsons, Hooded and Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat. A neat phenomenon this week was the migration of Bobolink in Flamborough. Last Monday over 200 Bobolinks were seen flying over a yard in Flamborough in the evening. At Twiss Road Swamp, a traditionally good spot for Olive-sided Flycatcher, these birds were seen here this week along with Green Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk, Common Nighthawk, Ovenbird, Nashville, Magnolia, and Mourning Warbler. In the odds and sods this week the woodlots at Fifty Point Conservation Area produced Northern Waterthrush, Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart. Olive-sided Flycatcher was seen at Courtcliffe Park in Carlisle. East winds tomorrow could be prosperous down at the beach. Come and check it out! Keep me advised of sightings. Anything could turn up! 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/
