On Friday, October, 8, 2010 this is the HNC birding report: BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE ARCTIC TERN POMARINE JAEGER PARASITIC JAEGER
Brant Green-winged Teal Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Common Loon Golden Eagle Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Hudsonian Godwit Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Short-billed Dowitcher Lesser Black-backed Gull Short-eared Owl Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Phoebe Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Pipit Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Palm Warbler American Redstart Eastern Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Rusty Blackbird Baltimore Oriole Purple Finch Pine Siskin It was day of east winds last weekend and things looked promising and for the lucky few at VanWagners Beach. Early in the morning on Sunday, a juvenile ARCTIC TERN flew past Hutch's and on to Confederation park. A BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE also made a fly by around the noon hour. Small flocks of Brant were seen and both PARASITIC AND POMARINE JAEGERS made appearances, some close to the shoreline. Things dried up shortly after the noon hour and many enthusiastic birders were stopped short of adding species to the year list. However, there is still time left and October and November can be extremely good months down here. Other birds seen from here include Green-winged Teal, Surf and White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Sanderling, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl and Rusty Blackbird. Nearby at the Red Hill Stormwater Pond, the Hudsonian Godwit was still present as of Wednesday. Other birds include Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Windermere Basin has been under construction but Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpiper were seen last Saturday. Out at the Dundas Marsh, 5 Hudsonian Godwits were present as of yesterday. Other birds seen last weekend include Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral, Solitary and Least Sandpiper and Dunlin. To wrap up shorebirds Spotted Sandpipers were seen at Burloak Park and at the Valley Inn this week, it's getting late for these too! Gloomy weather made conditions ideal for grounding birds earlier in the week. Passerines, particularly sparrows could be found in large numbers at several locations in the area. A good place to skulk around is the Beach Canal on the Burlington side of the lift bridge. Parking at Beachway Park and winding your way in and out of the brush here was good for producing a number of species this week. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets (in numbers), Yellow-rumped Warblers (everywhere!), Northern Parula, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue Warbler, White-throated, White-crowned, Lincoln's, Swamp and Field Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were some of the species recorded this week. This afternoon at LaSalle a nice variety of Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets (in numbers), Hermit Thrush and Swainson's Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Parula, Nashville, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue and Orange-crowned Warblers, and White-crowned Sparrows were seen. Yesterday at Sherwood Forest Park in Oakville, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Orange-crowned Warbler, White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp and quite a few Chipping Sparrows were seen. Up at Waterdown Wetlands on Tuesday, House Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow-rumped, Palm, Orange-crowned, Nashville and Blackpoll Warbler, Fox, Swamp, Lincoln's, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Purple Finch were seen. In the odds and sods this week, several people are still reporting Hummingbirds coming to feeders. Now is a good time to check them for any unusual species and please report them this way. A late Baltimore Oriole was seen at Shoreacres last weekend. A Gray-cheeked Thrush was seen at Shell Park. A late Tennessee Warbler and our first Tree Sparrow was seen in the Dundas area. Today a Golden Eagle passed over Dundas giving excellent views against the blue sky. In Grimsby, two Pine Siskins briefly visited a feeder yesterday. That's the news this week, please report your sightings over this long weekend. Have a 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/
