BARROWS GOLDENEYE COMMON NIGHTHAWK (late record) PARASITIC JAEGER AMERICAN AVOCET WESTERN KINGBIRD WHITE-EYED VIREO BLACK-THROATED SPARROW (MEGA!!!)
Brant Tundra Swan King Eider Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Red-breasted Merganser Horned Grebe Sandhill Crane Dunlin Pectoral Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Red-throated Loon Common Loon Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Golden Eagle Rough-legged Hawk Short-eared Owl Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Marsh Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Snow Bunting Eastern Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler It's been another spectacular week here in the Hamilton Study Area as our annual Alan Wormington Fall Bird Count got underway on November 3rd and boy did birders ever come to the plate this year. The total number of species at this point including a count day before and after the 3rd will be around 135, pretty impressive this late in the year. Let's start at the top. Slam dunk for Hamilton's Bird of the Year and the best bird to ever turn up on the fall bird count a BLACK-THROATED SPARROW was found by Mark Jennings on the Sheldon Creek Trail in Oakville. The bird was present for three solid days and one brief morning sighting on Wednesday. As you may recall this year Mark has found Yellow Rail, Cinnamon Teal and a spring Black-legged Kittiwake just in the patch he birds around Bronte. Buying a lottery ticket would be recommended!!! This is also the second time of year that I have thrown yard tools down on the driveway, left my garage open and peeled out of the driveway issuing calls from my neighbours asking what's wrong. While on site of the sparrow, word got out of an unlikely lingering Great Crested Flycatcher, word went out to a scout team who identified it as a WESTERN KINGBIRD which has remarkably been around all week including yesterday. The bird is located at the Urquhart Butterfly Gardens/Canal Park off York Road in Dundas. Other stand alone rarities found on the count include the refind of a BARROWS GOLDENEYE for count day along the Stoney Creek lakeshore, there were actually two separate birds seen in the three days, one discovered on Friday, November 1st and apparently a different bird photographed on the Sunday for the count. A late AMERCIAN AVOCET touched down briefly off Princess Point mid afternoon on count day, the water levels here too high to keep it grounded. Three WHITE-EYED VIREOS were seen on the count, one continuing bird at Sedgewick Park in Oakville, one seen at LaSalle Park in Burlington count day and a third in Brant County. Another WHITE-EYED VIREO was turned up yesterday at Fifty Point Conservation Area in the campground at Site 4. On the day following the count the second latest COMMON NIGHTHAWK was flushed up in Stoney Creek in a scrubby area between DeWitt and Millen Road, the bird looking rather weak and wary. Lastly a PARASITIC JAEGER was a count period bird off Bronte. Other notable fall bird count sightings include the following: Brant (Count Period), Pectoral Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Shrike, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron (at Kingbird location), Golden Eagle (several reported), Eastern Phoebe, Swainson's Thrush (at Kingbird Location count period), Nelson's Sparrow (on the accessible trail off Cootes Drive), Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Tennessee Warbler (2 banded at Ruthven), Nashville Warbler (count period) and Pine Warbler (Flamborough). In the odds and sods this week, a Brant was seen far out from Lakeland Centre on Monday. A small group of Tundra Swans landed in Cootes Paradise on Wednesday. A first year male King Eider was seen on Thursday at Burloak Park. All three Scoter species and a slew of Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers are visible from the Stoney Creek shoreline. Peppered in here are Common and Red-throated Loons. A number of Horned Grebes were present off Fifty Point yesterday. There was a notable movement of Sandhill Cranes yesterday over the Hamilton Brantford Rail Trail with a total of 255 being seen or heard. Another group was heard calling over Westover Rd, north of the 8th Con Rd West. A week ago on Friday a big movement of Dunlin were seen along the Stoney Creek shoreline, small groups and singles have been noted through the week. A Rough-legged Hawk and a sub-adult Golden Eagle were notables yesterday on a hawkwatch at Springbank Meadows Park in Mississauga. Two Short-eared Owls were flushed near the Wyecroft/McPherson stormwater pond in Oakville. A Marsh Wren was seen on the trail off Cootes Drive on a search for Nelson's Sparrows. Sedgewick Park in Oakville seems to be harbouring a number of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush and Yellow-rumped Warblers in addition to the Vireo. The time is coming ripe for winter lingerers at this location. Snow Bunting flocks were seen along the west end of the lake this week unfortunately a sign that snow will indeed be coming soon. A female Eastern Towhee was kicking up leaves in a scrubby off the North Service Road near DeWitt Road yesterday. It's been a good week for sparrows, American Tree Sparrows have been moving in, along the sides of roads a number of Chipping Sparrows have been foraging with Dark-eyed Juncos growing in numbers. Vesper Sparrows were seen at Kings Forest and Bronte Creek Provincial Park on November 6th. A Field Sparrow was seen at Fifty Point yesterday. There are birds to be found yet! Stock your feeders and get out to scour the local patch, report your sightings here. If you see something of rare significance, please post to the local or provincial list serves in addition to ebirding/whats app. In my opinion it's the best way to get the word out on rarities in a widespread manner so everyone has a chance to enjoy (my two cents). Stay warm, good birding. Cheryl Edgecombe HNC _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
