On Friday, August 21st, 2009 this is HNC Birding Report:
Wood Duck American Wigeon Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal White-winged Scoter Ruddy Duck Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Red-necked Grebe Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Sandhill Crane American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Red-necked Phalarope Black Tern Common Tern Common Nighthawk Red-headed Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Eastern Kingbird Red-eyed Vireo Horned Lark Brown Thrasher Magnolia Warbler Scarlet Tanager Rose breasted Grosbeak Baltimore Oriole With predominately south winds this week, migration was slow for the Hamilton Study Area. Despite heavy rains yesterday, shorebird habitat remains scarce here but there was a little variety in sightings earlier in the week. Last weekend on 8th Road East sightings included the American Golden Plover, present for quite a few days by then, Semipalmated Plover, Solitary, Upland, Semipalmated, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper and a few Wilson's Snipe. Patience was necessary as birds came in and out of wet areas and by later in the morning on Saturday only a couple of these species were present, perhaps spooked by some raptor. On Wednesday, on 8th Road East south of Green Mountain Road, four Upland Sandpipers were seen in a recently plowed field. Up on the Mountain today, despite the rains from yesterday, the field was relatively dry and only Killdeer and a few Horned Larks were present. At the storm water ponds near North Service Road and Guelph Line, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen last weekend. Up in the north part of the Hamilton Study Area near Neibauers Marsh near Guelph, a group of five Solitary Sandpipers were present in a muddy farm pond. At Neibauers Marsh Pied-billed Grebe and Wood Duck appear to have bred there but the water was too deep for shorebirds. A neat set of sightings this week come from a zodiac travelling out into Lake Ontario on a couple of occasions. Sightings reported from off shore include White-winged Scoter, Common Loons in numbers, a total of nine Black Terns, Common Terns and two Red-necked Phalaropes. We need those east winds to crank up so all of us on the shore can see these birds passing on migration. These should come soon and this is when Hamilton really turns out the specialties. At the Windermere Basin this week, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck and Lesser Yellowlegs were among species seen. Down further east at Grimsby Sewage Lagoons, Wood Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, several Black-crowned Night Herons, Green Heron, Least Sandpiper, Eastern Kingbird and Eastern Phoebe were species noted here. If you haven't taken a trip out to 5th Concession West just west of Sheffield Road, this outing will provide excellent views of nesting Red-headed Woodpeckers which regularly come to the hydro poles along the side of the road. Two adults and a juvenile were seen here this week. Up in Carlisle, the migrants continue to gather this week with Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole being noted in numbers. In the odds and sods this week, Great Egrets were seen at the Dundas Marsh. A Great Egret was seen near Centre Road and Concession 5 East. Sandhill Cranes continue to be seen and photographed at Grass Lake near Glen Morris, a reliable spot in the Hamilton Study Area. Two Common Nighthawks were seen over Lorne Park in Mississauga and another over Guelph in the week, the first of many to come. Brown Thrashers were seen up in Saltfleet and near Valens Conservation Area earlier in the week. A Magnolia Warbler was the only passerine migrant seen at Shoreacres today and a Red-necked Grebe was seen offshore. That's the news for the week. Winds are supposed to turn north which may bring some migrants in the next couple of days. Please report your sightings. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
