On Friday, October 1st, 2010, this is the HNC Birding Report: LAUGHING GULL PARASITIC JAEGER SABINE'S GULL
Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Lesser Scaup Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Common Loon Great Egret Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Golden Eagle Peregrine Falcon Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Least Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Lesser Black-backed Gull Caspian Tern Common Nighthawk Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Blue-headed Vireo Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Common Yellowthroat Scarlet Tanager Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Purple Finch It's been another good week here in Hamilton, a few excellent birds added to the mix of migrants still tricking through the area. This week's surprise was a LAUGHING GULL which showed up at where else? Van Wagner's Beach. The bird was seen in front of Hutch's restaurant on Tuesday and Wednesday but has not been reported since. East winds favoured us early in the week and the lake did not let us down. Seen on Sunday and Monday were SABINE'S GULLS and PARASITIC JAEGERS. Also seen were Northern Pintail, Green Winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Surf and White-winged Scoter, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Caspian Tern, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Osprey, Northern Harrier and Peregrine Falcon. The forecast for Sunday to Wednesday is for Northeast winds so expect more jaegers and gulls and maybe even a kittiwake to be seen in the next few days. At the Redhill Stormwater pond a Hudsonian Godwit was the star yesterday and today. Other birds seen include Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, a lovely Long-billed Dowitcher and up to three Egrets (unbanded). Passerines are in the spotlight this week too. A changing of the mix this week to the later migrants includes less diversity in warblers and more diversity of sparrows. At Edgelake Park today, Swainson's and Hermit Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-headed Vireo, Winter Wren, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue and Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Nearby at Confederation Park Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets (in large numbers), Hermit Thrush, Palm, Black-throated Blue, Nashville and Yellow-rumped Warblers and many many White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows today. Another good spot nearby is the VanWagners Ponds where Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Tennessee, Orange-crowned and Black-throated Green Warbler, Fox and Field Sparrows were seen today. Around the lake at Woodland Cemetery earlier in the week a similar mix of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Golden-crowned (many)and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Magnolia, Nashville and Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen. There should be a good raptor migration here over the next day with the north winds forecasted for Saturday. Up at the Waterdown Wetlands located on Centre Road north of Concession 5 East in Waterdown, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray-cheeked Thrush, , House and Winter Wrens, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Common Yellowthroat, and Black-throated Blue Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, Song, and Lincoln's Sparrows and Indigo Bunting . In the odds and sods this week, in a yard in South Burlington, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Nashville, Blackpoll and Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrow and Purple Finch passed through (sorry, happy about my yard list this week!). Common Nighthawks were seen last Saturday over downtown Burlington. A juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker was seen on Sawmill Road in Ancaster last weekend. Indigo Buntings were seen west of Shell Park at the stormwater ponds near Great Lakes Blvd. A Golden Eagle was seen over south Mississauga today. Nine Great Egrets were seen at the Valley Inn on Monday. This weekend should be excellent for birding in Hamilton with a mix of winds forecast and many birds to come. The large system to the east of us could bring in some excellent surprises. 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/
