On Friday June 15th, 2007 this is the HNC Birding Report: SEDGE WREN
Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Ruffed Grouse Wild Turkey Red-necked Grebe Least Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Northern Goshawk Common Moorhen American Coot American Golden Plover Killdeer Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Upland Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Dunlin Common Tern Foresters Tern Black-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Cuckoo Great Horned Owl Common Nighthawk Eastern Kingbird Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Veery Wood Thrush Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler Lawrence's Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler American Redstart Mourning Warbler Scarlet Tanager Clay-coloured Sparrow Field Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Orchard Oriole Mid June is quieter here in the HSA. Many of our breeding birds are settled in, some of them are with chicks already. Bird song is mostly limited to a few short hours in the morning and leaf cover makes it difficult to view birds thus fine tuning the bird song identification skills. The following report covers a great deal of the Hamilton Study area with locations of where to find these primarily nesting species. One of the nicest places to visit this week was the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. Last Saturday, a hike off of Paddy Green Road near the radio tower yielded a number of different species and spectacular scenery. Black-billed and Yellow-billed cuckoos do well in this location as there are a number of different habitats to be found here that they like and hopefully Gypsy Moth Caterpillars as a source of food! In the meadow to the east of the radio tower a SEDGE WREN was heard and then proceeded to give gripping views both Saturday and Sunday. Also at the this same meadow in the tiny evergreen trees, a couple of Clay-coloured Sparrows were seen and heard. Among other species found on this hike in the meadow and then through the valley on the Headwaters Trail were Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Veery, Wood Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Chestnut Sided, Black-throated Green and Mourning Warbler, American Redstart, Scarlet Tanager, Field Sparrow and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Elsewhere in the Valley a male Lawrences Warbler is at the south side of old orchard and 2 recently fledged Great Horned Owlets were making short flights and uttering begging calls to an adult on McCormicks Trail. The Grimsby Sewage Lagoons have been a busy nesting site this year. The Common Tern which nests on the island in the north lagoon can be seen feeding a single chick. Baby American Coots with their brilliant red heads were photographed in the week. A pair of Common Moorhens seem to be elusive probably because they too were on nest. A Least Bittern has been heard on and off over the past few weeks keeping well out of sight. A pair of Ruddy Ducks appeared as if they would nest but only the female is left this week. Up at the Dofasco Trail on the Wednesday Night Walk, walking east from 5th Rd. East to the end of the Boardwalk, a pair of Killdeer with young, along with a Black-Billed Cuckoo, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler and Cedar Waxwings. Wood Thrush, Field Sparrow and House Wrens were also heard. Walking from 10th Rd. East to 11th Rd. East, we saw Wild Turkey, Upland Sandpipers, Eastern Kingbirds, Barn Swallows and Bobolinks. At Bronte Harbour this week, all six species of Swallow (Tree, Barn, Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff and Purple Martin) were seen and appear to be nesting in the area. A Red-necked Grebe has 7 eggs in the nest at the Harbour and an unusual sighting of a Forster's Tern here last weekend. The Red-necked Grebe nest at Burloak Park appears to have failed unfortunately. Further east at Rattray Marsh in Mississauga, Great Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Carolina Wren, Rose breasted Grosbeak and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher were seen and/or heard and a sprinkling of shorebirds with Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper. Another couple of species of shorebirds were seen down at the Windermere Basin this week with four Semipalmated Sandpipers seen last weekend and an American Golden Plover there yesterday. At the Waterdown Wetland Trails, Ruffed Grouse (chick spotted through a gap in a wooded area ) Great Crested Flycatcher, Mourning Warbler, American Redstart, and Indigo Bunting were reported Wednesday. Up in Flamborough on 5th concession West in Flamborough, a Green Heron, Hooded Merganser (well grown fledgling ), Bobolink, and Eastern Meadowlark were also seen Wednesday. In the southern region, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Orchard Oriole were seen last Sunday at Ruthven, another great area to bird here in the HSA. In the odds and sods this week a nesting Northern Goshawk gave us chase up in Killbride this week, quite the experience. Another Great Horned Owlet can be seen at the RBG Rock Garden and is easy to observe from the top trail in a nest in a dead pine at the RBG Rock Garden, west side. Common Nighthawks are flying over Edinburgh Ave in Hamilton, a nice summer sighting! Thanks to all for all of your sightings this week, we had many from a wide variety of places here in the HSA. Have a great week! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
