WHIMBREL Redhead White-winged Scoter Red-breasted Merganser Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Bonaparte's Gull Least Flycatcher Orchard Oriole
It's still a bit quiet in the Hamilton Study Area as we ramp up for August and the start of beach season here at the west end of the lake. Shorebirds seem to be the main focus this week with a few good spots available for viewing returning shorebirds. Windermere Basin this week had a good selection of shorebirds including a surprise one day wonder a WHIMBREL last Wednesday. Other shorebirds include Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderling, Semipalmated, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper. The week before a Stilt Sandpiper made a one day appearance and Short-billed Dowitchers were also present but have not been there the past few days. Perhaps the most intriguing find of the week was a female Redhead and 5 ducklings, a significant nesting record for the Hamilton Study Area. Green Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron were both birds of note. Nearby at Red Hill Stormwater Pond many Lesser Yellowlegs and a Solitary Sandpiper were a highlight. The second place of significance for shorebirds is the Grimsby (Biggar) Lagoons, located east of Fifty Point Conservation Area on Winston Road. Please do not block the driveway to the lagoons there is plenty of room on the shoulder, there is a small fence to climb over. Here this week the level of water in both ponds is down and Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons have been seen in growing numbers. This would be a good place for a wayward heron from the south. Shorebirds seen here include Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Least, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper as well as Short-billed Dowitcher. Please note the presence of ticks at this location. In the odds and sods this week, an injured White-winged Scoter was seen off Suncor Pier. Earlier in the week a group of ten Red-breasted Mergansers were seen here as well. Fifteen Pied-billed Grebes were seen in Neibauer's Marsh last weekend. Two Bonaparte's Gulls were present at Bronte Harbour in a large group of Common and Caspian Terns. Merlins seem to be nesting in a couple of locations this year with sightings in Dundas and South Burlington. It looks like passerine migration has started up as a Least Flycatcher was seen along Appleby Creek in Burlington and an Orchard Oriole was a pleasant surprise at Great Lakes Stormwater Pond. That's the news this week, short and sweet. Things will pick up in the next weeks! Please send your sightings along here, keep cool and hydrated! Cheryl Edgecombe Hamilton Naturalists Club. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ 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
