On Friday, October 9th, 2009, this is the HNC Birding Report: Common Loon Great Egret Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Black-bellied Plover American Golden-Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Caspian Tern Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Traill's Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Common Raven Barn Swallow Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Palm Warbler American Redstart Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco
Another fall week brings more migrants into the Hamilton Study Area. Some of them are just stragglers, others just the beginning of numbers to come. Shorebirding has been fairly decent this week. From the bridge on Plains Road just west of Louies Grill looking down into the Valley Inn property, a vast expanse of mud can be easily viewed with a scope. Here this week on the mud were, Great Egrets (up to 7), Great Blue Heron, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral, White-rumped and Stilt Sandpipers (a total of 10 on Tuesday). A Solitary Sandpiper was seen on the mud at the bottom of the hill as you drive down via Woodland Cemetery. Shorebirds seen on the mudflat in Cootes Paradise include Black-bellied, American Golden and Semipalmated Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Least, Pectoral, White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper. Over the marsh during the week a small hawk flight including Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier and Red-shouldered Hawk were seen. Great Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron and Bonaparte's Gulls were also seen. Turkey Vultures, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks were noted at various places travelling along the lakeshore this week. Over the coming week look for the Red-shouldered sightings to pick up. Passerine migration continues to change daily. In the area around Spencer's Creek in Dundas, Solitary Sandpiper, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue-headed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green and Palm Warbler, Lincoln's, Swamp and White-throated Sparrows. Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows have returned to the traditional areas in the Dundas Marsh but may be lurking elsewhere in suitable habitat. The weedy garden areas behind the Olympic Arena in Dundas are great for sparrows. Chipping, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows were all present there last Saturday. A couple of Orange-crowned and a Nashville Warbler also made an appearance. There was a mini fallout at Confederation Park last weekend. One keen observer noted Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Traill's Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, House, Winter and Carolina Wren, Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Tennessee, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, White-throated, White-crowned and Swamp Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco. In the odds and sods, a late Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood Pewee and Eastern Towhee was seen at Shoreacres in Burlington. A Fox Sparrow was seen in the area of Hidden Valley Park, the first of many to come. Up on Britannia Road between 4th and 5th Line, 7 Wilson's Snipe were present in the field today, a good place to keep checking. At Coronation Park on a calm day last week up to 30 Common Loons were seen out on the water. Dark-eyed Juncos and a late Barn Swallow were seen at Grimsby Sewage Lagoons. A Common Raven flew over the Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford. A lingering Caspian Tern was seen on the Hamilton Harbour at least twice this week. Extra birding time for some this Thanksgiving weekend. Make sure to report your sightings! Happy Thanksgiving! 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/
