On Friday, April 12th, 2013 this is the HNC Birding Report:
ROSS’S GOOSE BLACK VULTURE BOHEMIAN WAXWING RED CROSSBILL Blue-winged Teal Wild Turkey Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Coopers Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Sandhill Crane Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Wilson's Snipe American Woodcock Bonaparte's Gull Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Caspian Tern Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Phoebe Common Raven Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird White-winged Crossbill Common Redpoll It’s been a rough week for birders and an even rougher week for the migrants that came in last weekend thinking they were here for spring. Despite some harsh conditions, birds continued to arrive with some good birds being seen in the Hamilton Study Area this week. To start with our highlights, this just in a ROSS’S GOOSE was photographed today at 8th Line and Britannia in a wet field that has great potential going forward for shorebirds. A BLACK VULTURE was well described on e-bird in North Halton a couple of days ago, struggling to fly over the quarry on Tremaine between Campbellville and 15th Sideroad. Attempts to relocate have been unsuccessful but really it is inconceivable to think any vulture would get lift over the past day so once the system clears out another scan would be prudent. Getting on the late side BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen today at Wilkes Dam in Brantford. A roving flock has also been seen around the Desjardins Canal in Dundas with anywhere from 25 to 40 birds being reported around the airplane near Urquhart Gardens and on York Road near Olympic arena. Lastly, a new and exciting find last Sunday was a pair of RED CROSSBILLS which seem to be comfortable in the east end of Confederation Park A pair of White-winged Crossbills was also present there on Sunday but have not been seen since. Red Crossbill is a very unusual sighting for the Hamilton Study Area. It’s always nice to highlight a new area and Confederation Park was a hotspot this week. Birds seen here during the week include Bonaparte’s Gull, American Woodcock, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker(15 last Tuesday), Eastern Phoebe, Northern Flicker (20 last Tuesday), Tree Swallow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Fox Sparrows, over 200 Song Sparrows last Tuesday, and Common Redpoll. This edge along the lake is a great fall out point during the spring and should be checked regularly. Nearby at VanWagners Ponds, the cold temperatures drove swallows into catch insects over the pond and three species including Tree, Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallow were noted. East of Confederation Edgelake Park a similar mix of migrants including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet and Eastern Towhee. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatchers deserve medals of honour for standing in the tower this week. There were only a couple of good days for counting this week. Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed, Rough-legged Hawk, American Kestrel and Merlin were among raptors counted this week. Other highlights include Common Loon, Pectoral Sandpiper flyover, Eastern Phoebe, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Thrasher and Fox Sparrow. Another good potential for shorebirds lies on 5th Road East in Saltfleet. Here this week were Wilson’s Snipe and Greater Yellowlegs. Windermere Basin was a good spot earlier in the week where up to 5 Dunlin were seen. Water could be high now after the rain. Up in Flamborough places to watch for shorebirds include 4th Concession West and Oldfield which had Greater Yellowlegs along with Blue-winged Teal and another field on Middletown Road between 4th Concession and Sodom Road where Wilson’s Snipe and more Blue-winged Teal were seen in the week. Up in North Halton a field near 309 Campbellville Road held some Greater Yellowlegs in the week. An early Spotted Sandpiper was seen today just off of Captain Cootes trail in Cootes Paradise. With the rains, there will be plenty fields to check and report on. In the odds and sods this week, Wild Turkey was reported at a yard on 11th Concession East in Flamborough. Red-throated Loon and Horned Grebe were seen from the Burlington Beach Strip mid-week. A Common Loon flew over Spencer Smith Park and should be growing in numbers over the next week. A Pied-billed Grebe and Horned Grebe were seen at LaSalle Marina. Red-necked Grebes were seen in numbers from Burloak Park. Two were scouting out the nest in the tire there. A Black-crowned Night Heron flew past Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Osprey are back at the tower at the 403 and Highway Six with an interesting four being present there mid-week. Sandhill Cranes have returned to the nesting grounds at Grass Lake. Iceland Gull was seen at Bronte Pier and on a flypast at Green Road. A Glaucous Gull was seen from Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Caspian Terns have been coming back in numbers to the colony on Eastport Drive. A Common Raven was seen over Sedgewick Park a couple days ago. Purple Martins were reported from Highway 8 at Colvelly Kennels in Grimsby. Another large concentration of swallows swirled around the Suncor Pier in Oakville in the cold snap composing of mostly Trees with a few Barns. A few Eastern Meadowlarks were seen at Windemere Basin. It’s always prudent to listen for that Western with its melodious song. Lastly Rusty Blackbirds were present in the Vinemount Swamp at 8th Road East on the Dofasco Trail. The bottom line here is that after so much turmoil in the weather with high winds from the south, there has to be something out there after this storm. The weekend looks not to bad to get out for some fresh air and birding. Report your sightings here! 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/
