On Friday, July 8th, 2011 this is the HNC Birding Report: AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
Canvasback Ring-necked Duck Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Merlin Peregrine Falcon Sora Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper American Woodcock Common Nighthawk Yellow-billed Cuckoo Red-headed Woodpecker Purple Martin Marsh Wren Gray Catbird Lawrence's Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Cerulean Warbler American Redstart Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Baltimore Oriole It's been another quiet couple of weeks but things are starting to rearrange themselves and move south so the action will pick up. This week the AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN is making its presence known on the Hamilton Harbour. Throughout the week several people working at Canada Centre for Inland Waters have emailed me to say that the pelican was soaring around on the harbour. It seems to like Neare Island seen from Eastport Drive as a resting spot. Windermere Basin has been the place for a start to the presence of returning shorebirds with half a dozen Lesser Yellowlegs and half a dozen Least Sandpipers seen mid week. The shorebird habitat here will be impressive particularly if we receive some rain. There have been cell made by the construction of the dikes and this year could see a good crop of returning birds that are relatively close. Other birds seen in here this week include Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck and Black-crowned Night Heron. Be cautious, this place is a haven for ticks this year so keep to the paths and do a check after you come out. Another visited in the past two weeks was the trail leading north from Concession 5W in Flamborough just west of the Millgrove Loam Pits. In here last week, American Woodcock, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Marsh Wren, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Redstart and Baltimore Oriole. West and North of here under the transmission towers north of Concession 6 W and west of Westover Road a Prairie Warbler was heard singing. Continuing in Flamborough, a Sora was seen and photographed at Valens Conservation Area and Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrows are singing a chorus near Concession 8 W on Valens Road. In the odds and sods, a large group of about 40 Turkey Vultures were seen soaring over the escarpment in Grimsby on Tuesday, a sizable flock this time of year. A Merlin was acting territorial perched in a large deciduous tree behind 369 East 16th Street on the Central Mountain. The Bronte bird was seen in late May so it appears that there may be a couple of nesting records of these birds in the area which is unusual but growing more common in suburban areas. The two young female Peregrine Falcons were seen cavorting with the pigeons at the lift bridge last week. Two Common Nighthawks flew over Rock Chapel last evening, an interesting sighting this time of year. It appears that Red-headed Woodpecker might be nesting again near Sawmill Road in Ancaster, always nice to see another hotspot like this. A Lawrence's Warbler was seen at the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. Cerulean Warbler appears to be nesting at Ruthven, this is another excellent nesting record. The bird was seen on Tuesday just west of the driveway leading to the mansion there. Also present here is a large colony of Purple Martin with 40 eggs being counted in the past few weeks. That's the news for now. Please report your sightings! Cheers, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC Hotline 905-381-0329 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
