On Friday, July 27th, 2007, this is the HNC Birding report: RUFF EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE
Wood Duck American Wigeon Northern Pintail Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Hooded Merganser American Bittern Least Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Bald Eagle Virginia Rail Sora American Coot Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Forsters Tern Yellow-billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech Owl Red-headed Woodpecker Eastern Kingbird Tufted Titmouse Purple Finch This week has been another exciting week here in the HSA. Another great bird turned up, this time at the Dundas Marsh on a trail known as the Willows. Last Friday, a male RUFF was found in the first pond as you walk out the Willows trail off of Cootes Drive. The bird was flushed and then reappeared out at the end of the Willows much to the delight of the finder and a couple of other birders. This bird was reported on Sunday from the Willows and on Wednesday with the use of a scope from the Northshore Trails off of the Marsh Boardwalk at the RBG but the bird remains EXTREMELY elusive. Other noteworthy birds seen out here during the week include Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Bonaparte's Gull, American and Least Bittern, Great Egret, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral, Stilt, Solitary, Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher. A young Forsters Tern is also present out at the end of the Willows, another good bird for the HSA. In contrast, the EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE remains at the intersection of Fifty Road and Ridge Road in Vinemount. This bird has been extremely co-operative has been seen most often in the dead snag on top of the spruce on the northeast corner. It is quite vocal as well. Nearby this location at the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons, the ponds are getting lower creating some shorebird habitat in the north pond. Seen this week were Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Virginia Rail with young, Sora, American Coot with young, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Common Tern and Eastern Kingbird. Another family of birds found this week and that are becoming rare in the Hamilton Study Area is a family of Red-headed Woodpeckers seen on Concession 5 West between Sheffield Road and Sager Road. On Monday two adult birds were seen just as you cross Sheffield Road however they seem to have quite a range down this stretch of road. There are also juveniles present at the site. In the odds and sods this week a Bald Eagle was seen behind the Olympic Arena in Dundas. A Tufted Titmouse was seen on the Northshore Trails on the way out to the Marsh Boardwalk. A female Purple Finch was reported from Warren Park in Dundas. Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Eastern Screech Owl were reported from Rock Chapel. More birds have turned up while people are out looking for these rarities! Report your sightings to the hotline! Have a great week, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329
