BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE SABINE'S GULL POMARINE JAEGER PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER WESTERN KINGBIRD *BROWN-CHESTED MARTIN*
Red-throated Loon Great Egret Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Broad-winged Hawk American Kestrel Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Red-necked Phalarope Bonaparte's Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Caspian Tern Black Tern Common Tern Yellow-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Yellow-throated Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Connecticut Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Wilson's Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Bobolink This has been probably the busiest week of the entire year with all aspects of Hamilton Birding being highlighted from beach to woodlots. We will start out with the obvious mega on the list. One incredibly lucky observer reported a BROWN-CHESTED MARTIN flying past his condo on the shore of Lake Ontario at Frances and Green Rd. This is a South American species that is an austral migrant and has occurred very rarely in the U.S. with six previous records from the Atlantic coast and Arizona. If accepted by the Ontario Bird Records Committee, this would obviously be a new species for Hamilton, Ontario and Canada! For more details on the sighting, see the observer's blog http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/ (scroll down to see a couple of posts) Hard to beat the above, but there were plenty of other rarities to see this week. As is typical this time of year, Van Wagner's Beach is a hub of activity when the winds are right. Last Sunday, many birders lined up in front of the Lakeland Centre to catch a glimpse of these specialty birds. In the early morning an adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE was seen out from Green Road. Over the course of the day, things were unusually slow but as is the case here, afternoons are typically better with better lighting. About mid-day a group of 4 Jaegers came barrelling down the beach, one POMARINE and three PARASITIC jaegers. Over the course of the afternoon, various jaegers were seen at a distance. SABINE'S GULLS were found later in the afternoon and although distant were unmistakable with their bold pattern across the back. Later on in the afternoon a group of PARASITICS and one POMARINE JAEGER came in closer to the beach to harass gulls in a feeding frenzy. On Monday on the same day as the Martin, east winds again were blowing and LONG-TAILED, PARASITIC and POMARINE JAEGERS in numbers were observed from Green and Frances Road location. Today, all three species of jaegers have been seen and the action has picked up as I type this report. Other birds seen on the lake include Lesser Black-backed Gull, Caspian and Common Tern, Bonaparte's Gull, Red-necked Phalarope and Sanderling. To round out the rarities, the WESTERN KINGBIRD found last Friday was not seen Saturday but reappeared with an Eastern Kingbird on Sunday at the same location. It was last seen on Monday evening. The woodlots were full yesterday. Places reporting this week were Gairloch Gardens in Oakville, Shell Park in Oakville, Shoreacres/Paletta Park in Burlington and Edgelake Park in Stoney Creek. Reported here, mainly yesterday were Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Shoreacres), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (in numbers), Olive-sided Flycatcher (Shell Park), Eastern Wood Pewee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo, Veery, Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrush, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush (Gairloch), Black-and-white, Tennessee, Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Black=throated Green and Wilson's Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a late Bobolink (flyover at Shoreacres). An incredible 45 Blackpoll Warblers were counted at Shoreacres yesterday and this was an underestimate! Shorebirds are still in the news although there is a small lull in the action this week. At Windermere Basin, American Golden, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Bairds and Pectoral Sandpiper were seen in the week. At Red Hill Ponds, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers were birds seen here. Out on the sod farms this week Buff-breasted Sandpiper made a reappearance at Mines and Haldibrook Road being seen along with a number of American Golden Plover. The hawk migration is a little slow to start. Yesterday and today along the Burlington Lakeshore, Sharp-shinned and Broadwing Hawks, American Kestrels (in numbers) and Northern Harrier were seen. In the odds and sods, four Red-throated Loons were seen flying over South Burlington this morning. A Black Tern was found along the Grand River near Cayuga bus sadly had met its demise. At the banding station there, Yellow throated Vireo and Connecticut Warbler were highlights. A single Common Nighthawk flew over south Burlington last night, earlier in the week a few were over West Hamilton. That's the news for this week, should be a good weekend to get out and look for migrants. Keep reporting your sightings here. 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 including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
