Hamilton Naturalists' Club (HNC) weekly bird sightings report, Friday, November 15, 2019
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE GREEN HERON WESTERN KINGBIRD WHITE-EYED VIREO YELLOW WARBLER SCARLET TANAGER Cackling Goose Tundra Swan Wood Duck Canvasback Ring-necked Duck King Eider Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Sandhill Crane Killdeer Sanderling Dunlin American Woodcock Spotted Sandpiper Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Red-throated Loon Common Loon Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Golden Eagle Northern Harrier Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon Eastern Phoebe Horned Lark Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Pipit Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Chipping Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Nashville Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler The highlights from this week include a few rarities found in earlier weeks hanging on and a few very late dates for species normally long gone by mid-November. The weather turned nasty this week with a major winter storm on Nov 11 dumping lots of snow and bringing frigid temperatures. The WESTERN KINGBIRD found on Nov 3 at Canal Park and the Urquhart Butterfly Garden next to the Desjardins Canal in Dundas was being seen regularly until Nov 11 before the storm hit. Checks for it the next 2 days turned up empty and it was feared to have expired, but miraculously it was refound on Nov 14 huddling close to the water's edge of the Canal, where it was seen again today. Other birds found at the Desjardins Canal include a lingering GREEN HERON seen up to today, now providing the second latest date for the Hamiilton Study Area (HSA). This bird seems to have an injured wing so it's not likely to be able to leave. In the Canal and the West Pond east of Olympic Drive, a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron remains along with 2 Wood Ducks and at least 155 Hooded Mergansers on Nov 14, while a Yellow-rumped Warbler was at the nearby Dundas Sewage Treatment Plant. At Sedgewick Park in Oakville, the WHITE-EYED VIREO continues to be seen near the sewage treatment plant tanks including today. Also found here were a very late immature female YELLOW WARBLER on Nov 14, Nashville Warbler Nov 13-14, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, an Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. On Nov 12, after the storm subsided and winds turned NW, a large migration of Sandhill Cranes was witnessed through the area with a total of 585 counted from Woodland Cemetery and afterwards another 250 counted from Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Aldershot, providing a record high one day count for the HSA. Sandhill Cranes were also noted migrating over Mississauga and Brantford. Migrating raptors were also counted from some of these sites and in south Burlington, with numbers of Red-tailed Hawks, some Turkey Vultures, 2 juvenile Golden Eagles over Burlington, and single Red-shouldered Hawk, Merlin and Northern Harrier. Small flocks of Eastern Bluebird and Snow Bunting and a single Killdeer were also tallied over Woodland Cemetery, while 3 Cackling Geese in a flock of Canadas were noted over Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Along the lakeshore, amongst the large numbers of diving ducks off Stoney Creek a male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was again found off Grays Rd on Nov 13, seen again today off Confederation Park. An immature male King Eider, originally seen at Bronte last week was found at the lake end of the Burlington Ship Canal on Nov 9 continuing to Nov 14. Small numbers of Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Horned Grebe and Red-necked Grebe were here, along the Stoney Creek Lakeshore and the north shore of Hamilton Harbour. Two Pied-billed Grebes were on the harbour off the south side of Bayfront Park today. Six Tundra Swans were seen at LaSalle Marina and some were heard going over Dundas today. Large numbers of diving ducks are now along the west end and north shore of Hamilton Harbour including numbers of Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks and Ruddy Ducks off LaSalle Marina. A record late for the HSA immature male SCARLET TANAGER was found at the north end of Fruitland Rd at the lake in Stoney Creek on Nov 13 and seen up to today. It was rather tame and was feeding on the plentiful wild grape and other berries along the fence on the west side of the lookout. Note that construction is underway at the site so access may be somewhat limited at times. On Nov 12 a late Sanderling was found along the shore at South Shell Park in Bronte along with 7 American Pipits, and a Nashville Warbler was found at Burloak Waterfront Park. American Pipits have also been found the past couple days at LaSalle Marina, Bronte Harbour, the West Harbour Waterfront Trail and Bayfront Park, and along the Spencer Creek Trail in Dundas. An Eastern Phoebe has been present the past few days at the Desjardins Canal under the High Level Bridge. A Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the ice edge at Cootes Paradise near the Fishway on Nov 13. At the Lorne Bridge over the Grand River in Brantford a pair of adult Peregrine Falcons have been hanging around since Nov 12. A first year Iceland Gull was there Nov 13 and a second winter bird there Nov 14, along with 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls that day. An adult Glaucous Gull flew over Stoney Creek on Nov 14. Birds found on Nov 12 on Paris Plains Church Rd SW of Glen Morris included 1 Eastern Meadowlark, 30 Horned Larks, 20 Snow Buntings, 1 Lapland Longspur, 5 Bald Eagles and 1 Northern Harrier, while the nearby Spottiswood Lake held 19 Wood Ducks, 1 Northern Pintail, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 9 Sandhill Cranes and 1 Rough-legged Hawk nearby. A flock of about 75-100 Snow Buntings were in a field at the NW corner of Miles Rd and Airport Rd on Nov 14. Numbers of Horned Larks are being found along Fallsview Rd above Dundas with 50 there today. Chipping Sparrows have been coming into feeders in Stoney Creek and Dundas. A late American Woodcock was flushed at the Dofasco Trail near 10th Rd E in Saltfleet on Nov 10, as well as a Vesper Sparrow being seen there. Also late was a Spotted Sandpiper at Valley Inn on Nov 10. That's the news for this week, Rob Dobos, Hamilton Naturalists' Club. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
