Resending the report from last night as it didnt appear to go through. NEOTROPIC CORMORANT BLACK VULTURE WESTERN SANDPIPER PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE Great Egret Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Willet Whimbrel Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Bairds Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Wilsons Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Common Tern Black Tern Common Nighthawk Whip-poor-will Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Tennessee Warbler American Redstart Cape May Warbler Magnolia Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut sided Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler
Its been an exciting week here in the the Hamilton Study Area as things heat up for the fall season and the west end of Lake Ontario comes into play for Hamilton and Ontario birders. The most exciting bird of the week came through the persistence of one of the local birders watching Cormorants pass by Green Road in Stoney Creek. With news of two NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS on the Great Lakes hopes were high that there would be more with one in the Hamilton Area. On Sunday and Monday, this observer as able to photograph what is an apparent NEOTROPIC CORMORANT in a mass of Double-crested Cormorants. Kudos to this individual as this task is a bit daunting with the numbers of cormorants around still. East winds fired up last Sunday albeit light but enough to bringing our first BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE last Saturday. On Sunday, an adult LONG-TAILED JAEGER with full streamers was seen again from Green Road along with a year old PARASITIC JAEGER. The LONG-TAILED JAEGER was seen later in the day being harassed by a gull. Other birds seen on the lake in the week include Common and Black Tern. Today three LONG-TAILED JAEGERS were seen near the wave tower and a JAEGER sp was seen out harassing gulls. Semipalmated Plover and Sanderling were also seen on the beach. A WESTERN SANDPIPER was seen at Townsend Sewage Lagoons last Sunday, just out of the HSA but close enough! Lastly to round out the rarities a BLACK VULTURE was seen yesterday over Brantford over Mohawk Road near the intersection of Greenwich. There is a large roost of Vultures on Forest Ave which fly over the Brantford Dump daily so it may be worth another check of this location for this bird. This bird was seen again tonight. Shorebirds are still very much in the news this week as several locations in the Hamilton Study area appear to be good with a variety of species. A new spot this week was the Hespeler Mill Pond near Cambridge. Conditions seem the best here and this weeks report includes American Golden Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Semipalmated, Least, Stilt. Bairds and Pectoral Sandpiper. Seventeen Great Egrets were also seen here. For directions: From HWY 401, take exit 286 (Townline Road) and drive north. After about 4 km, turn left on River Road. After about 2 km, you will come to a stop sign. Turn right into the parking lot (called "Ellacott Lookout"). Scan the river from here. Windermere Basin is still fairly active with Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated, Least, Stilt and Pectoral Sandpiper, Wilsons Phalarope and Short-billed Dowitcher reported this week. A good find was a juvenile Willet a couple of days ago. Nearby, a Whimbrel flew over Beach Blvd for a lucky observer waiting for the bus. Perhaps it made landfall at the basin. Another spot for shorebirds earlier in the week was Rattray Marsh where three Red-necked Phalaropes were present in addition to species mentioned for the above locations. The mud flat is fairly exposed and it would be good to check this location regularly. Today, water levels were higher so there were no shorebirds. Passerine migration is starting to pick up significantly with a change in the winds. Today at Rattray Marsh, Red-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, Magnolia, Black and White Warbler, American Redstart were migrants seen here. Close by in east Oakville a Cape May Warbler was a highlight on the yard list.Today at Confederation Park in Hamilton, Philadelphia Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Tennessee, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped and Chestnut-sided Warbler and American Redstart were migrants moving through here. In the odds and sods this week a rare migrant in the Hamilton Study Area, a Whip-poor-will was heard this week at Rock Chapel in Flamborough. A number of reports of Common Nighthawks have come in from Hamilton area this week, the first of many to come. At Rona Ponds in Waterdown Least and Willow Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Chestnut-sided, Pine and Yellow Warbler were noted. A Northern Waterthrush was a migrant at Joe Sams Park also in Waterdown. An Ovenbird was a migrant at Shoreacres in Burlington. All the lakeshore properties should be checked for migrants after this front moved through and north winds were here today. Thats the news this week. Things are happening quickly so please 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 including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
