On Thursday, April 5th, 2012 this is the HNC Birding Report: BLACK VULTURE FISH CROW
King Eider Ring-necked Pheasant Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Peregrine Falcon Virginia Rail Killdeer Wilson's Snipe Caspian Tern Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Common Raven Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Eastern Bluebird Pine Warbler Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Pine Siskin Black is the theme here in the Hamilton Study area with the two rarities of the week being of this colour. BLACK VULTURE continues to be moving through in a growing number as another one was seen over the tower at the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch last Monday. Three have been seen here this season with another not too far away but not seen by the counters. The same or probably another bird was seen with a group of Turkey Vultures by a birder stuck in traffic at the 403 and Highway 6 on Tuesday. The other major story of the week is FISH CROW. It's tough to tell the numbers of these birds that have infiltrated the area but the numbers seem to be growing. It started out in Guelph last weekend when two of them were reported from the south campus at University of Guelph. One or two of these birds were reported for a couple of days around the area of Johnston Green and Stevenson-Palmer intersection which is slightly north of here. On Saturday, lightning struck twice for the lucky birder stuck in traffic with the Black Vulture and who saw a FISH CROW a couple of weeks ago at Shell Park as a FISH CROW circled over his yard calling on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the same or another bird was seen and heard at Bronte Harbour where it was seen daily until Wednesday when it was joined by a second one and exhibiting courtship behavior. Another FISH CROW was also seen flying near Cambridge toward Glen Morris yesterday so there seems to be a mini-invasion of them here in the Hamilton Area. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch open house is tomorrow and there is a full day of events planned up at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area in Grimsby. The entrance to the conservation is on Quarry Road. It's supposed to be a nice day so check it out. Other birds seen at the Hawkwatch this week besides the BLACK VULTURE include, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed, and Rough-legged Hawk, Golden Eagle, Common Loon, Common Raven, Eastern Phoebe, Purple Martin, Fox Sparrow and Pine Siskin. Nearby at 10th Road East a walk along the Dofasco Trail between Ridge Road and Green Mountain yielded a pair of Ring-necked Pheasants, a number of winnowing Wilson's Snipe, Northern Shrike, Field and Fox Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark. This week a number of First of Season birds occurred with Caspian Terns being first seen on Monday and increasing in number through the week. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird was seen in Guelph inspecting a spider web. Our first Pine Warbler was seen at LaSalle Park on Tuesday with one noted at Greenlawn Cemetery on Wednesday. In the odds and sods, other birds seen at Bronte Harbour include King Eider, a pair of Killdeer on nest in an inconvenient location and Barn Swallows. Black-crowned Night Herons are reported back at Bronte Marsh. Red-necked Grebes are present in good numbers off Saddington Park and Rattray Marsh. A number of Horned Grebes are also present here. A Great Egret flew over Highway 6 and the 401 in Morriston. Virginia Rail was heard on Sunday evening on 5th Road East between Green Mountain Rd and Powerline Rd.. Eastern Bluebirds are setting up shop in Bronte Provincial Park Campground. Common Raven was seen up in north Flamborough. This species continues to increase in number with nesting records now yearly. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was seen at a yard up on the East Mountain in Hamilton. Baby news to end the report, Madame X and Serge are back on the scrape at the Sheraton Hotel in Hamilton and sitting on four eggs! See the webcam at http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/ That's the news this week. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend. Time to get out and take note of the migrants. Please report your sightings! Cheers, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC _______________________________________________ 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/
