On Saturday, July 24th, 2010, this is the HNC birding Report: Gadwall Redhead Long-tailed Duck Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black-crowned Night Heron Virginia Rail Common Moorhen Sandhill Crane Bald Eagle Merlin Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Red-headed Woodpecker Marsh Wren Swainson's Thrush Vesper Sparrow Orchard Oriole
Things in general are quiet still here in the Hamilton Study Area. Numbers of shorebirds are the highlights this week. There are several areas to check for shorebirds in the area. One of the most promising areas is at the Monoghan Mushroom Farm at 7345 Guelph Line which is north of Derry Road. Here in a small flooded area rich in nutrients a high count of 28 Solitary Sandpipers were seen last Monday. Other shorebirds present here were Semipalmated Plover, Spotted, Least Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. At the stormwater pond seen from the ramp of the Redhill Parkway, Semipalmated, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers were seen this week. Numbers should continue to build over the next few weeks. The Red-necked Grebes at Burloak Park have a successful breeding spot here with 6 eggs which may have hatched already. Down at Bronte Harbour it appears that a Merlin is onsite, probably a local nester. A single Long-tailed Duck was present a week ago. Lots to report in the odds and sods this week. Many Gadwall, Redhead and Ruddy Duck are present in the Windermere basin. At the Rona Ponds in Waterdown, a Pied-billed Grebe was present in the ponds, Virginia Rails and Marsh Wrens have been successful at breeding here and a juvenile Vesper Sparrow was seen yesterday. A Bald Eagle flew over Rock Chapel earlier in the week. Down at the Valley Inn, building numbers of Great Blue Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons and a Great Egret make good company for a wayward heron or egret to drop in and join them. A Red-headed Woodpecker was seen at Sheffield on Concession 5 West. A Swainson's Thrush was heard as a flyover one night in Brantford. Canada Warbler is still present on the LaFarge Trail between 8th and 9th Concession West. A Common Moorhen was seen at the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons. Sandhill Cranes, Pied-billed Grebes and Common Moorhens are still present at Glen Morris. A female Orchard Oriole was seen earlier in the week at 10th Road East at the Dofasco Trail. That's the news this week. Please report your sightings. Sorry for the delay in the report. Total laptop failure yesterday!!!! 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/
