at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 1st, 2005 this is the HNC Birding Report:
PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER BLACK TERN Great Egret American Wigeon Green Winged Teal Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Blue-winged Teal American Coot Sora Sandhill Crane Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Phalarope Common Tern Caspian Tern Yellow-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk Olive-sided Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Red-breasted Nuthatch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Veery Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Golden-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black and White Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Dark-eyed Junco Baltimore Oriole What a great week its been for migrants in the HSA. Warblers galore, great shorebirds, jaegers and potential hurricane wanderers have made it a busy week here. Jaegers are in the big picture for the first time this year. Van Wagner's Beach, the provincial hotspot for all three jaegers, was alive and kicking this week with Long-tailed Jaegers showing up last Friday and again yesterday on strong north-east winds. Of course, most these birds waited until I had vacated the beach, however both Long-tails and Parasitic Jaegers were seen yesterday afternoon. Also viewed yesterday were Sanderling, Caspian Terns, Common Terns and Black Terns a bird which is sadly scarce in our area even on migration. No hurricane waifs were seen at the beach yesterday but it is wise to be on the lookout as these vagrants may be seen many days after the storm has passed. Many passerines were grounded by Katrina which passed through on Tuesday and into Wednesday. On Wednesday, local spots along the lake were producing many species of warblers waiting to continue their journey. At Shoreacres and LaSalle Park, Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Veery, Golden-winged, Tennessee, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Black and White Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Wilson's and Canada Warbler were all reported on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Shoreacres produced Olive-sided Flycatcher, Hermit and Swainson's Thrush along with a Northern Waterthrush. Other species seen at LaSalle included Red-breasted Nuthatch and a family of Pine Warblers. Woodland Cemetery also had its variety of passerine migrants with Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bay-breasted and Yellow-rumped Warbler and Baltimore Oriole being different from the mix above. Shorebirds continue to be of interest particularly at the Willows in Dundas. The trail here is difficult so perhaps the mudflat is best viewed from the Marsh Boardwalk at the RBG but to those familiar with the trail out the Willows, please use caution. This week, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper was one of the highlights along with three Red Knots and three Wilson's Phalaropes. Other shorebirds seen here were Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Stilt, Pectoral, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher and American Golden, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover. Great Egrets were also in the marsh. Grimsby Sewage Lagoons also had a variety of shorebirds and ducks including Short-billed Dowitcher, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Green winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal and American Coot. In the odds and sods department this week, there were a few reports of migrating Common Nighthawks this week so look up even in the evening hours for passing migrants. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Yellow-billed Cuckoo were at Waterdown Wetlands. A Sandhill Crane was spotted at Vanderlieks Ponds in Bismark. Kerncliffe Park had nesting Sora this year in addition to Virginia Rail and the most frightful sighting of the week was a Dark-eyed Junco at a feeder in Waterdown!!!!! Thanks for all the reports this week, keeps me on my toes. Until next week, Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline
