WILLET LITTLE GULL SABINE'S GULL PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER SNOWY OWL
American Wigeon Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal White-winged Scoter Long-tailed Duck Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Great Egret Green Heron Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Red-necked Phalarope Caspian Tern Common Tern Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Barn Swallow Philadelphia Vireo Purple Finch Well this week is what birders in the Hammer and surrounding area live for, great days at the beach. Last Sunday and Monday were banner days for some of the specialties we find here at this time of year. On Sunday, the SABINE'S GULLS started to arrive in numbers with several groups of 1 and 2's, a group of 9 birds were seen early morning with a feeding frenzy out on the water and a group of 6 flew off the lake around 3:30 p.m.. On Monday, Armageddon, there were 81 sightings of SABINE'S GULLS. Some of these were obviously same birds floating around but at around the noon hour a group of 22 birds got up and flew off the lake. Smaller groups would come in and go overland over the day with the last group seen of 8 flying off the lake late in the day. It is difficult to say for sure how many there were but over 60 may not be too far off. On Tuesday a few strangling birders were lucky enough to view an adult SABINE'S GULL which landed not too far off shore and stayed for a while on the water giving good scope looks. And then there are the Jaegers. Throughout the day on Monday over thirty sightings of Jaegers occurred. Again, some of them could be the same birds making rounds along the lake but at one point a group of 5 Jaegers with 4 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS (one adult with foot long streamers) and 1 PARASITIC JAEGER were kettling over the lake and eventually went inland. A group of three PARASITIC JAEGERS were seen later in the day together. To add to the excitement out in a feeding frenzy on Sunday, three adult LITTLE GULLS were a good record for this time of year. To round out the rarities, the WILLET found the week before stuck around for the weekend in the northeast corner of Tollgate Pond. Down the road, a second SNOWY OWL has been staying around the RV centre on Eastport Drive and has been seen wandering as far as the Skyway Bridge. This owl has been photographed and is different from the bird photographed mid-August at the same location. Other birds seen back at the beach include American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Red-throated and Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Black-bellied Plover, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Red-necked Phalarope. A surprising number of Common Terns moved out last Sunday and Monday and Caspian Terns are still in good supply at Windermere basin with 48 being seen today at Windermere Basin and along the lake. Shorebirds are still very much in the news with the latest and greatest being a Buff-breasted Sandpiper on the beach at Bronte this afternoon. Killer looks at this birds beats the brief looks at Windermere Basin in the vegetation and beats killing yourself at sod farms trying to make something out of the specs in your scope, a nice treat for sure. At Tollgate Pond, American Golden Plover (juvenile seen today), Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated, Least, Pectoral and Bairds Sandpiper are yours for the taking if you have the patience to sift through the gulls and along the shoreline. Patience and a scope are a must. Windermere Basin has been quieter than usual. A couple of Short-billed Dowitchers are a difference between here and Tollgate Pond. On North Island off Eastport action has been restricted to Semipalmated Plover, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. At Red Hill Ponds, action is mostly the same with a few more Short-billed Dowitchers. An American Golden Plover was seen in a field near the Home Depot at Wyecroft in Oakville. The southbound hawk migration has started in earnest. At Woodland Cemetery last weekend, Osprey, Sharp-shinned, Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel and Merlin were birds noted. A similar migration occurred yesterday along the Burlington Shoreline. Chimney Swifts and Barn Swallows were also movers on the northwest winds. Reports of passerines have been few this week, I expect with the passing front, these too will pick up. In the odds and sods, Blue-winged Teal were seen at Windermere Basin and the small pond off Wyecroft in Oakville. Great Egrets have been seen at the Red Hill Pond and Windermere Basin. A Green Heron was a nice surprise at Windermere Basin mid-week. Common Nighthawk reports are lessening but birds were seen over Woodland Cemetery and over the RBG in the week. Philadelphia Vireo and Purple Finch were new migrants seen at Woodland Cemetery last Sunday. The front tomorrow will bring a whole new set of birds. Get out on Sunday and see what the weather has brought. Keep your eye to the sky the next couple of nights as the Northern Lights are also expected to be seen in the south. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
