BLACK VULTURE PIPING PLOVER JAEGER SP SUMMER TANAGER Northern Pintail Redhead Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Virginia Rail Common Gallinule Sandhill Crane Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Whimbrel Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Dunlin Short-billed Dowitcher Bonaparte’s Gull Little Gull Yellow-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great-crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Common Raven Tufted Titmouse Swainson’s Thrush Gray-cheeked Thrush Black-and-white Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Connecticut Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler Wilson’s Warbler Clay-colored Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow
Even though migration is on the down side, there are still good birds being seen in the Hamilton Study Area. The top of the list this week starts with BLACK VULTURE seen last Saturday mid-morning over the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. The same bird was seen earlier in the morning going over Hwy 52 near Lynden but not found subsequently. Last Sunday on inclement weather, a PIPING PLOVER decided to treat birders to an up close and personal view at Bronte Harbour. It is believed that this is one of the offspring from the Darlington birds last year. At the same time, conditions warranted a lake watch and two JAEGERS, a very uncommon sighting in the spring, passed by the harbour at a great distance. Parasitic would be the default for this sighting but you never know at this distance. A couple of flocks of Whimbrel, plenty of Bonaparte’s Gulls with a couple of Little Gulls were also seen. Our weekly FISH CROW sighting comes from Bronte as well with a bird calling from a rooftop of one of the buildings there on Friday. Lastly another great yard bird was a first year SUMMER ANAGER seen on a trail located behind some townhouses at Bronte Road and Rebecca. Shorebirds made the news in a big way this week. The yearly migration of Whimbrel is always a favourite spectacle to see. It started at Saddington Park Last Saturday with a couple of good sized flocks swirling around. Later in the day, two Whimbrel were seen resting on the barge at the mouth of the Credit river. On Thursday with east winds 450 Whimbrel were seen in various sized flocks along with 600 Dunlin, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers and Sanderling. Earlier in the week on Monday, two stunning Red Knot were photographed. The same two or different ones were seen at Pier 27 after that. Up in the fields in Saltfleet a good mix of Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers were seen through the week. A Black-bellied Plover was present last Monday on 8th road east. . Up at 8th Road and Britannia in Milton, a White-rumped Sandpiper was seen from Britannia in the northwest corner of the field. A Ruddy Turnstone has been seen crawling around on the islands at Windermere Basin best viewed from the lookout. New arrivals this week include a couple sightings of Brant, one at Saddington Park on Sunday and another at Pier 27 near Windermere Basin. Yellow and Black-billed Cuckoos cam in force with Dundas Valley seeming to be the hotspot for these creatures. Martins Road seems to be a reliable spot for these. Flycatchers moved in as expected with plenty of Yellow-bellied around but also Willow, Alder, lingering Least and Eastern Wood Pewees. The later warblers were reported in various woodlots this week including Blackpoll, Wilsons, Canada, Connecticut and Mourning Warbler. Connecticut Warbler was seen at Saddington Park on Tuesday, near Bronte Creek and Lakeshore Road on Monday and heard up on 5th Road East last Sunday. A Clay-colored Sparrow was seen up in Saltfleet on Tapleytown just south of Green Mountain Road. Woodlots reported from the week include Saddington Park, Bronte Bluffs, Shoreacres/Paletta, Sherwood Forest Park, Confederation Park and Edgelake. Species seen here include Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrush Black-and-white, Tennessee , Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay-breasted , Blackburnian , Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue , Yellow-rumped Black-throated Green Warbler and Lincoln’s Sparrow in addition to the new arrivals mentioned in the paragraphs above. In the odds and sods this week, it looks like Northern Pintail and Redhead will breed at Windermere Basin again. Common and Red-throated Loons are still being seen on migration at the west end of the lake. Sandhill Cranes are back on territory at Grass Lake in Glen Morris with 9 being seen last weekend. Up in the Safari Road Marsh, Pied-billed Grebe, Virginia Rail and Common Gallinule were noted last Saturday. A notable observation for this observer last Saturday was a the presence of well over 500 Chimney Swifts flying over the water at Saddington Park. The Tufted Titmouse is still being vocal at Bronte Bluffs. Another was a surprise one day visitor at a feeder in Flamborough. Common Raven was being chased by blackbirds at the 403 and Dundas street yesterday. Lastly Hooded Warblers have returned to their breeding grounds near Martin’s Road in Ancaster. That’s it for now, there are still migrants moving through. Keep plugging away at your local haunts and report your sightings here. 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