From: Tom Thomas [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 8:17 PM T Subject: O.F.O. Hamilton/Burlington 2011 field trip report Hello, On Saturday October 8th 2011, 23 avid birders met at Hutches on the Beach Strip, on what was a perfect day to look for birds. I have found from experience, that perfect days don't always mean that there are lots of birds around. I did some scouting mid week, and there were lots of birds to be found, but by Friday most of these birds had left, and on Saturday morning we had to really search hard with meager results. The lake was as calm as a mill pond, and the winds if any, were not favorable to blow in any of the rarer species. Having said all that, we did however find some nice birds. On the trails behind Hutches' we saw Black-throated Blue, Common-yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Rusty Blackbird, Trails Flycatcher, Field sparrow, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A trip out to the Windermere Basin ( there is some extensive rehabilitation work going on here, and there is no longer a large pond for waterfowl ) was good for Black-bellied Plover, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper. Other species found here were, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Northern Mockingbird, and Horned Lark. After lunch most of the group wanted to check out the Dundas Marsh, which proved to be a good decision. Here we found Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Marsh Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow ( a few of the sparrows showed well, and most of the group had good looks at what was a life bird for some of them ), Hudsonian Godwit, and a soaring Goshawk. In total we had 75 species, which I would have jumped at, before the trip started. Here is the final species tally for the members who participated...Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy woodpecker, Trails Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Horned Lark, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren, Golden and Ruby -crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Black-throated Blue and Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Field, Nelson's, Song, Swamp, White-throated, and White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Cardinal, Red-wing Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow. I would like to thank Anthony Miller for keeping score, Barry Cherriere for pointing out the shorebirds at the Windermere Basin, and to all those who turned out for the field trip, and hopefully had a good time. Cheers.......T. _______________________________________________ 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/
