On Friday, June 11th, 2010 this is the HNC Birding Report: Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Long-tailed Duck Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Least Bittern Great Egret Green Heron Peregrine Falcon Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Marbled Godwit Ruddy Turnstone Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Dunlin Wilson's Phalarope Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-throated Vireo Eastern Bluebird Blue-winged Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cerulean Warbler Mourning Warbler Hooded Warbler Bobolink Purple Finch
It has been a quiet couple of weeks here in Hamilton Study Area. The last push of shorebirds seems to have gone through with still a good variety being seen last week. On June 2nd, a Marbled Godwit was seen out in the Dundas Marsh. The bird was present for a day but soon disappeared. It is possible that there was more than one bird. Poor viewing conditions due to weather hampered clarity to see other similar sized birds present there. Whimbrel may have been one of the species seen in the marsh along with the Godwit but multiple Godwits are also a possibility. Other birds seen on the mud flats over the past two weeks include Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper and Dunlin. Least Bittern, Great Egret, Green Heron and Bonaparte's Gull were among other non-shorebird species recorded. The Red Hill stormwater pond was host to a female Wilson's Phalarope for a day or so last week. Semipalmated Sandpipers were present here and at Windermere Basin. A Ruddy Turnstone made an appearance this morning on North Island off Eastport Drive. Lingering ducks and loons are of note here this past reporting period. A number of Common Loons seem to be summering on the lake with numbers of 4 and 5 being reported from a few spots around the west end of the lake. A Redhead was seen off Sioux Lookout Park in Burlington, a Long-tailed Duck present at Burloak park along with a potentially nesting pair of Red-necked Grebes. Red-breasted Mergansers were seen at Shoreacres and LaSalle Park. At the Windermere Basin Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater and Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Duck were recorded. Babies are in the news with both Peregrines pairs nesting successfully at the Lift Bridge and at the Sheraton in downtown Hamilton. Two chicks a male named Brant and a female Diana were banded this week. The parents are the same pair from last year. At the Sheraton, Joseph, Chedoke, Peter and Henderson are all doing well. The Sheraton birds can be viewed live at http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/ A little known jewel in the Hamilton Study Area is the banding station at Ruthven. Here on June 3rd, a Cerulean Warbler was recorded. Efforts to relocate last weekend were hampered by wind but Yellow-throated Vireo seems to be nesting here. Also seen were Eastern Bluebird, Blue-winged and Mourning Warbler. In the odds and sods, a Red-headed Woodpecker was seen in the first woodlot west of the water tower on Binbrook Road in Binbrook at the end of May. This in the past was a traditional nesting spot for this species. A Little Gull was seen at Grays Road and flew along the shoreline to VanWagner's Beach where it disappeared. A Purple Finch has made a summer appearance at a home in the Beverly Swamp, unusual for this time of year. Hooded Warblers can be mostly heard at Martins Road in Ancaster, a traditional nesting area. In the past week a Green Heron and a late migrating Magnolia Warbler made for good yard birds in Dundas. Bobolinks are present on Harvest Road in Flamborough. That's the news for this week. Please report your sightings, there are still birds waiting to be found out there. 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/
