On Thursday, July 19th, 2007 this is the HNC Birding Report: EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE
Pied-billed Grebe Hooded Merganser Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Bald Eagle American Kestrel Sora Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Yellow-billed Cuckoo Pileated Woodpecker Great-crested Flycatcher Marsh Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Clay-colored Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark The exciting news of the week was the discovery of a EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE at the intersection of Fifty Road and Ridge Road in Grimsby. The bird, apparently present for the last three months, is fairly active but has been seen on the top of the spruce on the northeast corner of the intersection, on the adjacent wires, on the chimney at the southeast corner and on the ground at this location. This is an extremely busy intersection so use caution when going to view this bird. There are some areas of wide shoulder to pull over on. The bird continues to be seen today. Shorebirds continue to be seen on migration here in the HSA. This week at the small pond out the Willows at the Dundas Marsh thirty-six Lesser Yellowlegs, one Solitary Sandpiper and a couple of Spotted Sandpipers were present on Monday. Yesterday over seventy Lesser Yellowlegs were seen along with ten Least Sandpipers. Lesser Yellowlegs continue to be seen at the North Service Road storm ponds west of Guelph Line and Lesser Yellowlegs were also present with Spotted Sandpiper at the large pond at Munns Cemetery just east of 6th line and Dundas in Oakville. Other birds seen in the Dundas Marsh this week were Marsh Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher with young and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Poison ivy, Gypsy Moths, and mosquitoes are thick in here so be prepared! Young birds continue to be recorded in other areas with young Great Crested Flycatchers and Pileated Woodpeckers reported at Rock Chapel. In the Desjardins Canal in Dundas, three juvenile Hooded Mergansers and a Pied-billed Grebe were seen. Present at the nearby Dundas Hydro Ponds were Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron and a Sora was flushed from along the shore last Monday. In the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons, young American Coots continue to be photographed in both cells. It appears also that Green Heron nested in the area as there were five birds present in one tree this afternoon. At Courtcliffe Park in Carlisle, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Meadowlark, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a pair of American Kestrels with fledglings were seen in the week. In the odds and sods this week a young Bald Eagle was seen over Central Park today, probably post breeding dispersal. A Clay-colored Sparrow was seen in the valley to the east of the tower at Paddy Green Road. That's the news for this week. Turning up a Eurasian Collared-Dove just goes to show you that many unusual birds may be present in the area, they are just waiting to be found. Thanks for your sightings! Good Birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
