On Friday, April 15th, 2011 this is the HNC Birding Report: AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN SWAINSON'S HAWK BOHEMIAN WAXWING WESTERN MEADOWLARK
Wood Duck King Eider Ruffed Grouse Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe American Bittern Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Merlin Sandhill Crane Greater Yellowlegs Dunlin Wilson's Snipe American Woodcock Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Chimney Swift Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Tufted Titmouse Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Hermit Thrush Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler Eastern Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Purple Finch Common Redpoll Pine Siskin It has been a good week here in the Hamilton Study area. Wild weather conditions have given us some great birds in the week albeit brief sightings of all. Yesterday was AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN day here with three separate sightings of these birds throughout the area. One of the pelicans was seen on the Grand River in Brantford on the Grand River opposite Brant Conservation Area last Saturday. This or another bird was refound yesterday on a sandbar in the Grand River below the Brantford Golf & Country Club. Another bird was seen in the morning on the Mountsberg Reservoir in Campbellville. Still another was seen in Cootes Paradise in Dundas yesterday and seen again today from the high level bridge. Another great bird this week was a SWAINSON'S HAWK seen over 10th Road East last Saturday. Broad-winged Hawks are starting to come through this week so it's always good to keep and eye to the sky for others. On Monday, a huge weather system brought in many birds and grounded them with thunderstorms in early morning. During this time a WESTERN MEADOWLARK was briefly seen on a soccer pitch at Shell Park. The bird continued on to the west. This next big system might bring in some more rarities. BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS are also in the news as there have been many reports this week and it's getting late for these birds in the area. Last Sunday a group of 120 birds were found on Middletown Rd between 4th Conc. Rd 4 and 5th Conc. West. This flock was moving around and seen again just west of Westover on 4th Concession West on Tuesday. Yesterday a group of 26 was seen on Concession 1 near Sideroad 20 west of Crieff and another group of 18 seen at the Fletcher Creek Reserve on Gore Road. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area in Grimsby was busy this week with the first Broad-winged Hawks coming through earlier in the week. Other raptors noted this week include Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed, Broad-winged and Rough-legged Hawk and Merlin. Other birds seen this week over here include Wood Duck, Common Loon, Bonaparte's Gull, Chimney Swift, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow and Tufted Titmouse. Along the lakeshore this week, various haunts were good for migrants. Rattray Marsh, Shell Park, Sherwood Forest Park and Shoreacres had reports of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Tufted Titmouse (Shoreacres) Brown Creeper (in numbers), Winter Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Shoreacres), Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee (Shell), American Tree, Field and Fox Sparrow, Common Redpoll (Shell Park) and Pine Siskin. The Pine Siskin at Shoreacres was gathering nesting material. At Edgelake Park on Church Street in Stoney Creek Chipping Sparrow and Purple Finch were added to the mix. At Bronte Harbour and Petro Canada Pier Purple Martin, Tree, Barn, Northern Rough-winged and Cliff Swallows were all swirling around. A group of about 40 Bonaparte's Gulls were present Thursday right next to the pier. In the odds and sods, King Eider was seen off Fifty Road last weekend. A Red-throated Loon was seen off Rattray Marsh. Ruffed Grouse were heard drumming in North Halton. Horned Grebes are still being seen in numbers from LaSalle Marina. An American Bittern was heard last evening and again this morning at Safari Road Marsh on Safari Road west of Kirkwall. Black-crowned Night Herons are here in numbers at Bronte Marsh with up to 15 being seen in the week. A Golden Eagle flew over Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School last weekend and another on Brock Road between 4th and 5th Concession . Osprey were seen over Valens Conservation Area last weekend and on the Northshore Trails today. Sandhill Cranes were seen at Grass Lake near Glen Morris, on Sideroad 20 (Wellington Rd 34) between Watson Rd and First Line and in the Dundas Marsh this week. Greater Yellowlegs were seen in flooded fields in Saltfleet and one at a flooded field on Westover Road north of Safari Rd.. Wilson's Snipe and Dunlin were seen on 5th Road East in Saltfleet last weekend. A Dunlin and Common Terns were sighted at Windemere Basin on Tuesday. American Woodcock were peenting at Confederation Park. Pine Warblers were reported in several spots including Rattray Marsh, Burloak Bluffs and LaSalle Park this week. A House Wren has been singing up a storm in Hidden Valley. Savannah Sparrows are back on territory in several places, including three at Ofield Rd & Conc. 4. A singing Eastern Towhee was heard at Conc. 4 West just west of Brock Road. Things are definitely picking up and getting exciting, please report your sightings! Good Birding, Cheryl Edgecombe _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. 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