On Friday, 23rd 2010 this is the HNC Birding Report: BLACK VULTURE
Wood Duck American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Ruffed Grouse Common Loon Great Egret Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Golden Eagle Virginia Rail Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Wilson's Snipe American Woodcock Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Common Tern Eastern Phoebe Common Raven Purple Martin Tree Swallow House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Lapland Longspur Purple Finch Not too much movement of migrants this week except for the first arrivals moving off. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrush seem to be reduced in numbers as they move north. This week should bring in some new migrants as we round up April. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch has seen a steady stream of Broad-winged Hawks during the week. Earlier in the week counters had both Bald and Golden Eagles going over. Other raptors include Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, a couple of late Red-shouldered Hawks and a fair number of Sharp-shinned Hawks. In the non-raptor category, Common Loon, Bonaparte's Gull, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Common Raven and a Brown Thrasher that serenades the counters on a daily basis. Up in Salfleet, drying fields later in the week were not as productive for shorebirds. On 10th Road East in a field north and east of the tracks viewed from the Dofasco Trail, a wet area here produced Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Dunlin earlier this week. A Common Raven was seen over the quarry and a group of Lapland Longspurs flew up from this same field in cold temperatures last Saturday. A nice place to walk (when there are no biting insects) is the section of the Dofasco Trail between 5th and 8th Sideroad through the Vinemount Swamp. Here last weekend were Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Purple Finches but this is an ideal spot for warblers passing through and maybe even Prothonotary. An Upland Sandpiper was seen in briefly in one of the fields on the trail near 5th Road East. On 5th Road East, Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Blue-winged and Green Winged Teal, Greater Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe. In a field just north of Green Mountain and east of Tapleytown Rd, two Upland Sandpipers were seen last Sunday. Down at Fifty Road, a lakewatch last Friday three Little Gulls were seen in a flock of 70 Bonaparte's Gulls. Common Terns are back in numbers with several being seen in the bay. Down at Bronte Harbour an Adult Lesser Black=backed Gull and an Iceland Gull were present last weekend. The BLACK VULTURE was seen again heading west toward the peak in Dundas on Tuesday on Wednesday and over the Valley Inn on Wednesday. It would be good to check the roosts near the Dundas Arena and on Tweedsmuir in Dundas for this bird. Great Egrets and Virginia Rail were also see at the Valley Inn. Out at Courtcliffe Park in Carlisle, Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Phoebe, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow and Eastern Meadow Lark were reported this week. At the Fletcher Creek Swamp in north Flamborough two Common Ravens were seen in courtship display with nest material. In the odds and sods, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were reported from Rattray Marsh, Shoreacres, the Northshore Trails of the RBG and from the Dundas Marsh. Early Palm Warblers were also seen in the marsh. Field and Fox Sparrow and an American Woodcock was seen late evening at Shoreacres in Burlington. Pine Warblers have returned to LaSalle Park. A House Wren was seen and heard on Wednesday in a Burlington yard, right on time! Look for migrants this weekend with the change of the weather and email your sightings here! 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/
