On Thursday, June 15th, 2006, this is the HNC Biridng Report:
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW Pied-billed Grebe Least Bittern Hooded Merganser Bald Eagle Peregrine Falcon Ruffed Grouse Upland Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Black Tern Black-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech Owl Ruby-throated Hummingbird Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Bluebird Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler Pine Warbler American Redstart Hooded Warbler Scarlet Tanager Grasshopper Sparrow Indigo Bunting Eastern Meadowlark A significantly smaller list this week means two things, nesting season and less writing for me. A couple of good finds this week for the list though. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen briefly but as per usual very vocal at the Iroquois Heights Conservation Area in Ancaster. To find it, enter Iroquis Heights Conservation Area from the parking lot on Old Mohawk Rd. near the 403/Linc. Follow the trail about 500 -700M. to the T junction with the Bruce Trail. (At this point stop & listen - you may well be able to hear it). Turn NE (Rt), go about 100 M to a small side trail, turn N (left). Go about 50 M and look & listen to the NW (your left). Another good find for the week was a singing CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW. This little beast was singing on the top of a telephone pole on MacPherson Road which is access by going east on the South Service Road at Burloak just south of the QEW. This is directly across from Harvester Road to the west. Continue along the South Service Road to MacPherson and then turn right. The bird was singing across from the Truck Depot on the east side. Also of note here were a family of recently hatched Spotted Sandpipers. The Peregrine Falcons over at the Sheraton Hotel are doing well. One of the chicks could possibly be ready for a first flight this weekend. The parents are busy defending the three chicks and sent a Red-tailed Hawk spiraling to an uncertain demise this week. Also seen was an adult Bald Eagle which the Peregrines were alerted to. In Flamborough, Least Bitterns continue to call from the north end of Valens Conservation Area. Also heard/seen here were Black Tern (a great bird!), Ruffed Grouse and Black-billed Cuckoo. Various sightings from the Dundas Valley & area. At Paddy Green Road, Hooded Warbler, Ruffed Grouse and a neat find of a Turkey Vulture nest in the vicinity. At Martins Road, Hooded Warblers continue to be a presence in this traditional spot, along with Blue-winged Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Great Crested and Alder Flycatcher. In the Valley itself, Alder Flycatcher, Blue-winged Warbler, Pine Warbler, American Redstart, and Scarlet Tanager, Today in the Halton Forest located at the elbow of 10th Sideroad and 4th Line, Alder Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Blue-winged Warbler were present amongst the many mosquitoes there. On the Wednesday night walk on the Dofasco trail in Saltfleet off of 10th Road East yielded, Upland Sandpiper, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Meadowlark all seen. Upland Sandpiper also reported at the Brantford airport this week along with another singing CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW and Grasshopper Sparrow. In the odds & sods department, a Pied-billed Grebe and Hooded Merganser are still present in the Desjardins Canal and a pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos were seen in the Willows this week. That's the news of the week. Keep reporting your sightings! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline
