On Friday, October 28th, 2011 this is the HNC Birding Report: PACIFIC LOON NORTHERN GANNET SABINE'S GULL BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE POMARINE JAEGER PARAISITIC JAEGER
Brant Wood Duck American Wigeon Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Greater Scaup Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Red-throated Loon Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Horned Grebe Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Golden Eagle American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Black-bellied Plover Sanderling Dunlin Long-billed Dowitcher Red-necked Phalarope Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Great Black-backed Gull Yellow-billed Cuckoo Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Blue-headed Vireo Common Raven Winter Wren House Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Eastern Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird Purple Finch White-winged Crossbill It's been an exciting week again here in the Hamilton Study Area. The western end of Lake Ontario was alive with birds on strong north and northeast winds. It started on quiet winds with a sighting of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE last Sunday down at Confederation Park. On Monday, at the end of Grays Road a careful study of loons, grebes and scoters turned up two PACIFIC LOONS. One was found at the lunch hour and two found later in the afternoon at the same location. Red-throated and Common Loons, all three Scoter species and Horned Grebes were also highlights. On Wednesday the doors blew open and a strong northeast wind, rain and fog gave a perfect recipe for standing at the beach looking for specialties. Among birds seen that day were BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, POMARINE AND PARASITIC JAEGER. Later in the day, I received a call from a local birder who had been called at work to look at a Common Loon that had landed in an industrial area near Head Street at the base of the escarpment in Dundas. Lo and behold the bird was not a loon but a NORTHERN GANNET. The bird was boxed up and brought to the Lakeland Centre where it was released. Other birds seen that day included Brant (in the hundreds) American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Surf, White-winged and Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Red-throated Loon and Common Loon, Dunlin (in the hundreds), late Sanderling, a late Caspian Tern, Bonaparte's and a first basic Little Gull. It was quite an experience. The next day, some of these goodies turned up on the Burlington Lakeshore with the NORTHERN GANNET being seen in the morning and further down Black-legged Kittiwake and Sabine's Gull off Sioux Lookout and SABINE'S GULL being seen near the lift bridge at the lunch hour. Hawk migration continued last week as birds filtered through on northwest winds. At Woodland Cemetery Turkey Vultures and an adult Bald Eagle were seen. Along the Burlington Lakeshore, Turkey Vultures, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered and Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel were highlights here in South Burlington. Golden Eagles were seen over the Valley Inn and along the lakeshore on the Burlington Beach Strip Saturday and at Hutch's on Wednesday. The search was on last weekend for the previous week's Purple Gallinule. Unfortunately, the bird didn't turn up but a few good things were seen as birds had been held back from migration due to weather the week before. In the Hendrie Valley, Wood Duck, American Widgeon, Great Horned Owl, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned, Palm and a very late Yellow Warbler, Eastern Towhee and Purple Finch were seen. A late Yellow-billed Cuckoo was a highlight early in the morning. There were birds to be found in all the local haunts last weekend at various spots. At the Burlington Beachstrip, Red-necked Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green and Blackpoll Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Field and Fox Sparrow were noted. A Clay-coloured Sparrow was seen near the go cart track at Lakeland Centre last Sunday. At the Waterdown Wetlands, a late Broad-winged Hawk, Common Raven, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox, American Tree, Field, Swamp, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Rusty Blackbird and Purple Finch were seen in a couple visits during the week. The Waterdown Wetlands are located on Centre Road just above Concession 5 East in Waterdown. In the odds and sods this week, three Long-billed Dowitchers were seen at the back of Mountsberg Conservation area midweek. A Northern Goshawk is possibly setting up winter territory in Central Hamilton as it has been seen several times this week. A juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker flew across the road near the corner of HWY 6 and Safari Rd.. Northern Shrikes have started turning up with one at Woodland Cemetery last weekend and two in Waterdown early in the week. A House Wren was seen at the Gates of Heaven Cemetery on Sunday. A late Swainson's thrush was a guest at a yard in South Burlington today. Common Ravens have been seen in a few spots this week with two sighted approximately 3 km east of Beamer and another two near Cootes Paradise in addition to the Waterdown ones. A flock of seven Eastern Meadowlarks were seen near Smithville. A small group of White-winged Crossbills were seen near the end of Casablanca Ave in Grimsby where it T's at the lake then flying in a northeast direction. Lapland Longspur and Snow Buntings were seen flying along the lakeshore today, the first of many to come. October is an interesting month but November just gets better. Be on the lookout for wayward flycatchers on the south winds predicted this week along with a push of Cave Swallows. Report your findings here! Cheers, Cheryl Edgecombe _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
