On Friday, September 14th, 2007, this is the HNC Birding Report: PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER SABINE'S GULL BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE
American Wigeon Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal White-winged Scoter Pied-billed Grebe Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Lesser Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern Forster's Tern Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Wood-Pewee Traill's Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Brown Creeper Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Veery Swainson's Thrush Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Pine Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Wilson's Warbler Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Baltimore Oriole Another long list of migrants again this week with some excellent sightings and also a changeover to some later migrants as cold fronts move through. Last Sunday was a stellar day at VanWagners beach. Strong east/northeast winds mixed with a bit of rain made for good birding down at the beach. Among the more rare birds seen in the day, 15 PARASITIC JAEGERS, 1 LONG-TAILED JAEGER and 4 juvenile BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE. Other birds seen that day were American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, White-winged Scoter, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Red Knot, Sanderling, our first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the season, Greater Black-backed Gull and quite a few Common Terns. On Saturday afternoon when the east winds began another SABINE'S GULL flew through. Another large scale migration happening this week was a large hawk movement on Wednesday. Places along the lakeshore noted many large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks but accompanying them, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. I was fortunate enough to have this migration happen over the house this week and I sat in my driveway with binoculars and a clicker and shared this experience with several of my neighbours who wondered what I was up to. So far no one has called the paddy wagon. On Tuesday a drop out of passerines was apparent at Shoreacres/Paletta Park in Burlington. Among the early and later migrants seen that day were Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Traill's Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Veery Swainson's Thrush, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat Hooded and Wilson's Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting. More White-throated Sparrows are beginning to show up in various places. At LaSalle Park yesterday, Pied-billed Grebe, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Yellow, Blackpoll, Chestnut-sided, Wilson's and Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart were migrants seen here. Today, behind Van Wagner's ponds a nice mix of early and late migrants included Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Yellow, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler and White-throated Sparrow. At the Windermere Basin Lincoln's and White-crowned Sparrow were flushed from the grasses. Big news in the shorebird department was the arrival of Buff-breasted Sandpipers. A total of 9 were seen in a field off of Haldimand Road (behind house #1603) south of Mount Hope on Saturday and 5 (maybe some of the same) were seen off of Mines Road in the same general location. Other shorebirds continue to be a presence in the Hamilton area with Dundas Marsh being a stronghold. Last Saturday, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated, Least, Baird's, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper were seen. A Forster's Tern was present later in the day. The mudflat at the Valley Inn was also productive this week providing our first Dunlin on Tuesday. Other shorebirds seen here were Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper. In the odds & sods this week a late Baltimore Oriole was accounted for in a yard in Dundas on Sunday. A Merlin was seen Monday on York Road in Dundas and a Peregrine Falcon was herding a large group of Pigeon's near Hwy.5 and Cedar Springs Rd. Burlington on Tuesday evening. A sharp cold front is supposed to pass tonight. Just a heads up that new migrants will be in. Please report your sightings to the me! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe 905-381-0329 HNC Hotline _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm
