NEOTROPIC CORMORANT SNOWY EGRET
Redhead Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Merganser Common Loon Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Osprey Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Bonaparte's Gull Great Black-backed Gull Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart It's been a relatively quiet week here in the Hamilton Study Area. Oppressive heat and humidity have made it hard for birds and birders to get motivated to move. There were two continuing rarities seen though. The NEOTROPIC CORMORANT was seen sleeping in a crowd of Double-crested Cormorants on North Island off Eastport Drive last Sunday. The bird is likely still around but you have to be patient and a little crazy to look through the hundreds of cormorants to see it. The long staying SNOWY EGRET was last reported last Monday but could still be in the area although not seen on a thorough check of the basin Friday. Windermere Basin is still the place to be for shorebirds. This week Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Least, White-rumped , Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper were all seen. A group of 15 Short-billed Dowitchers seen on Friday may have contained a Long-billed, hard to tell at a great distance. A neat report late in the week was of an Upland Sandpiper calling at dawn over the basin midweek. Nearby at VanWagners Beach, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Sanderling and Ruddy Turnstone were birds of note. At Red Hill Creek stormwater pond, two Great Egrets were present along with Greater Yellowlegs. At Windermere and Tollgate pond mid-week a high count of 70 Black-crowned Night Herons were present with one actually swimming in the water. Its a good time to look for Yellow-crowned Night Heron in the mix. Passerine migrants are starting to trickle in. A Red-headed Woodpecker was seen in the Hendrie Valley. A Northern Waterthrush was also photographed here. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Black-and-White Warbler and American Redstart were birds reported from Shoreacres in Burlington. A Common Nighthawk was a good yard bird on Strathcona in Hamilton, more of these to come in the next weeks. In the odds and sods. the two families of Redheads totalling 12 are doing well at Windermere Basin. Last Saturday off Sayers Park, a Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter and Common Loon were out of season finds. Today Common Merganser and Long-tailed Duck were seen from Confederation park. Ospreys were seen flying over Windermere Basin and at Shoreacres today. Several small flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls (all adults) were seen from Sayers Park in Stoney Creek on northwest winds last weekend. A Great Black-backed Gull was a notable find on the beach at VanWagners. Growing flocks of Chimney Swifts can be seen at the local expected haunts, good to note numbers and date last seen. That's the news for this week, second attempt at this report as I had it typed and hit delete by accident on a new computer....... Have a great week, please report your sightings, things will be moving soon. Good birding Cheryl Edgecombe HNC. --- 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 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
