On Thursday, Jun 1st, 2006, this is the HNC birding report: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER SANDERLING OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO ACADIAN FLYCATCHER ALDER FLYCATCHER
Great Egret Broad-winged Hawk Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Dunlin Black Tern Black-billed Cuckoo Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Red-eyed Vireo Common Raven Gray-cheeked Thrush Wood Thrush Blue-winged Warbler Golden-winged Warbler Lawrence's Warbler Brewster's Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler American Redstart Louisiana Waterthrush Mourning Warbler Eastern Towhee Indigo Bunting The list a little shorter this week as extreme heat and the end of migration means a quiet landscape for birding. Last Friday, a foggy/rainy day was a good day for birding in the Hamilton Study Area. At Bronte Harbour, a Black-bellied Plover and a Black Tern both sat on the pier on the west side of the Bronte River down at Bronte Harbour. The Cliff Swallow colony is active and thriving at the restaurant at Bronte Harbour. At Rattray Marsh, several Great Egrets along with Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated, Least, and Spotted Sandpiper and many Dunlin made for an interesting shorebird afternoon. Other shorebird reports include a sizeable flock of SANDERLING flying around Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington and a few WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS seen at Smithville Sewage Lagoons in Smithville. Also along the lakeshore, Shell Park in Oakville has reported late migrants and some stragglers such as YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, (along the pipeline near Rebecca Street), Eastern Wood Pewee, Great Crested, Yellow-bellied and ALDER FLYCATCHER, many Red-eyed Vireos, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Wood Thrush, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Mourning Warbler and American Redstart. Today at Kerncliffe Park, located off of Kerns Road in north Burlington, both species of cuckoo were heard with Yellow-billed Cuckoo being seen along with Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee and Indigo Bunting. This weeks jewel spot has been the Dundas Valley Conservation Area, a vast area which in my opinion has been under birded. This weeks reports produced Louisiana Waterthrush on the Beckett Trail and near the Merrick Orchard, Hooded Warbler from the Artaban Lookout, a Pine Warbler was beautifully photographed today near the trail centre off of Governors Road, Mourning Warbler at the parking lot of Lions Club Road and at the intersection of the rail trail and Mineral Springs, Acadian Flycatcher on the far west end of the Sawmill Trail, Olive-sided Flycatcher at the north end of the Beckett Trail parking lot, Broad-winged Hawk over the trail centre off of Governors Road, and Common Raven over Martins Road. Again this week, sightings of Golden-winged warbler 100 ft east of the 7km mark on the Rail trail, Brewster's Warbler near the southwest corner of the grassy area just west of the trail centre, blue winged warblers which were numerous and Lawrence's Warbler on the loop trail gave an insight into how complicated the interbreeding of these two species can be. The Dundas Valley contains many different habitats and is well worth hiking in. The trail centre with available maps is located off of Governors Road in Dundas. Our three peregrine chicks are doing well at the Sheraton Hotel. Be sure to view them on the webcam at Http://www.hamiltonnature.org/hamfalcam.html That's the scoop for the week, cooler temperatures and another push of late migrants look promising in the next few days. Don't forget to report your sightings!!! Good Birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
