On July 27, 2012, this is the Hamilton Naturalists Club Birding Report:
FISH CROW DICKSISSEL Green-winged Teal Redhead Lesser Scaup Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Sandhill Crane Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Bairds Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Dowitcher American Woodcock Wilsons Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Olive-sided Flycatcher Common Raven Winter Wren Our category of unusual birds of the week is highlighted with the presence of the local FISH CROW at the NE corner of Marine and Jones in Bronte. This bird has been fairly reliable in this area over the past few weeks so if you havent been out to mark this off your list, now is the time to go. Also still in the picture are the DICKSISSELS found last week at Lakeside Park in Mississauga. The birds have either been heard or seen over the past week in the same general location along the weedy area of the fence near the Suncor property. The week has been busy with shorebirds moving in and out of the area as we received our first good bout of rain changing conditions of some of the areas to view them. A great place for shorebirding was found at the back of Mountsberg Conservation Area off Leslie Street. Here in the last couple of days were Semipalmated Plover, Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least, Bairds, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper. An adult Red-necked Phalarope was a welcome bonus to this mix. At the Red Hill Stormwater Pond, a similar mix to the Mounstberg shorebirds was seen with Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper. Up to 5 Short-billed Dowitchers were seen and a Wilsons Phalarope was present all week. Changing water levels changes the mix every day. Also oddly seen at the Red Hill pond was an early migrant Olive-sided Flycatcher last Sunday. Nearby at Tollgate Ponds a small group of adult Sanderling and a Ruddy Turnstone were seen Sunday. At Windermere Basin, a good number of Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers were feeding along the berm. A Wilsons Phalarope seen there may have been the same bird as seen at the Red Hill Stormwater pond. Enthusiasts of summer waterfowl will find a few jewels for their summer list. At Windermere Basin last weekend, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Common Goldeneye Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Ducks were singles found here. Common Mergansers were seen off Eastport Drive, also summering at this location. Rattray Marsh was also good this week with a Long-billed Dowitcher being seen as part of a mix of shorebirds there. Out in Cootes Paradise, a similar mix of Semipalmated Plover, Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least, Pectoral Sandpipers were present. American Woodcocks were flushed in the area as well. Down at Bronte Harbour, a Pied-billed Grebe is still present as it has been all summer. There is a possibility of egg dumping at the Red-necked Grebes nest down there as three old eggs were joined by two new eggs within 24 hours. A single chick hatched earlier in the summer is doing well there. Down the shore at Shoreacres in Burlington a summering Horned Grebe was seen offshore. In the odds and sods, Sandhill Cranes were calling from a wetland at the back of Deer Run Court near Brantford. A group (likely a family group) of 4 Common Ravens were seen soaring over 8th Line north of Derry Road in Mississauga on Wednesday. A Winter Wren has taken up summer residence at Crawford Lake Conservation Area in north Halton. Shorebird spots should be checked constantly as water levels change and the mix of birds is in constant motion. You never know when a super rarity could drop in. Passerines will be on the move in the next couple of weeks too so now is the time to get out! Good birding, 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/
