The BOOK LAUNCH FOR BIRDS OF HAMILTON AND SURROUNDING AREAS is tonight from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at the Burlington Arts Centre on Lakeshore Road just west of Brant Street in Burlington. Signed copies of books will be available for purchase at the event. All are welcome to join us to celebrate this great endeavour by Bob Curry with the help of many of our Hamilton birding community. Information about the book and the launch can be viewed at http://www.hamiltonnature.org/publications/birdsofhamilton.htm
WILLET HUDSONIAN GODWIT POMARINE JAEGER NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Bufflehead Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Great Egret Broad-winged Hawk Merlin Black-crowned Night Heron Sora American Coot Greater Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Sanderling Dunlin Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Winter Wren Marsh Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Magnolia Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Common Yellowthroat Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Fox Sparrow Field Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco More great birds are passing through this week in the Hamilton Area. The Dundas Marsh has been the focus of many of the unusual birds . If you can handle the walk out there and the changing water levels, every day seems to bring a new mix of birds. This weeks highlights were HUDSONIAN GODWIT, WILLET and NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW however many other birds were seen here over the week including Northern Shoveler, Common Merganser, Green-winged Teal, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper (rather late!), Solitary Sandpiper, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Marsh Wren and Hermit Thrush. On this note there will be a Hamilton Naturalists Club outing to the Dundas Marsh this Saturday, October 14th (weather permitting). The start time is 8:00 a.m. which is unadvertised on our website and brochure. Be prepared for water, wear rubber boots. Parking is on Cootes Drive. Another surprise spot for NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW was in the tiny marsh located to the west of the pipeline area at Shell Park. A Marsh Wren, uncommon for this park was also seen passing through here. Many White-crowned, White-throated and Swamp Sparrows were flying around in the weedy field that surrounded the marshy area. In the park itself, were a smattering of leftover warblers including Nashville, Magnolia, many Yellow-rumped Warblers and Common Yellowthroat, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush and Eastern Phoebe. Waterfowl are here in increasing numbers again this week. At VanWagners Beach, Black, Surf and White-winged Scoter, Red-throated Loon and Common Loons were seen and Long-tailed Ducks are making their way back. On the OFO outing last Saturday, brief views of a POMARINE JAEGER were enjoyed by some. More to come from this location! At the back of Mountsberg Conservation Area, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck and American Coot were among the waterfowl seen last weekend. At Rattray Marsh in Mississauga on Monday, many Green-winged Teal, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Sora, Solitary Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs were seen. Another forgotten gem in the Burlington area is Kerncliffe Park on Kerns Road. Here this week were At Kerncliffe this week, Broad-winged Hawk, Common Loon (fly-over obviously), Hermit Thrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Eastern Towhee, Swamp Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. Soras are still calling in the tiny marsh there. At Woodland Cemetery were reports Winter Wren, Eastern Phoebe, Dark-eyed Junco, Field Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Fox Sparrow. This spot will be good in the next couple of weeks for Golden Eagles and Northern Goshawks passing through. In the odds & sods this week a Merlin seems to be setting up winter territory again in the Walker's Line and New Street area, and Sanderling and an Orange-crowned Warbler were reported from Fifty Point. That's the news of the week. Have a great weekend, good birding! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
