On Friday, November 4th, 2011, this is the HNC Birding Report: PACIFIC LOON SABINE'S GULL POMARINE JAEGER
Brant Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Golden Eagle Merlin American Golden-Plover Killdeer Pectoral Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Wilson's Phalarope Red Phalarope Bonaparte's Gull Short-eared Owl Red-headed Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Pipit American Tree Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting White-winged Crossbill Common Redpoll Pine Siskin Its late fall now and the species count is going down but some good quality birds were found in the Hamilton Study Area this week. As usual here, the focus is on the west end of the lake. A careful sorting of loons yielded three species. Red-throated Loon seems to be the predominant loon these days with Common Loon numbers dwindling. However, at Fifty Point and at the very edge of the circle around Cherry Street near Vineland, two PACIFIC LOONS were seen on Sunday, different birds as one was an adult in almost breeding plumage near Vineland and the other in winter plumage at Fifty Point. East winds were present this week but not too productive with only a one sighting of POMARINE JAEGER and a distant SABINE'S GULL seen yesterday. Other birds seen on the lake however include a large incursion of Long-tailed Ducks, all three Scoter species, both Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe and small numbers of Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and Bonaparte's Gull. The next bout of bad weather should bring in more variety of waterfowl. A distant Short-eared Owl was seen yesterday always a neat sighting over the lake this time of year. Shorebirds are still in the news. On 5th Road East south of Powerline in Saltfleet, a careful check of a field where Killdeer were present yielded Wilson's Snipe (34 of them camouflaged in the furrows), American Golden Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper. Last weekend, a Wilson's Phalarope was seen at the back of Mountsberg off Leslie Street, a late record. On the lake, a Red Phalarope made a brief appearance for a lucky observer at Fifty Point and a personal highlight was a Purple Sandpiper, spotted flying across the lake up to the beach in front of us and then veering down the beach to the east. There will be more of these to come but they can be tough for a year list. There is lots to cover in the odds and sods. A Brant continues to be on the lawn of Spencer Smith Park in Burlington as of today. Two Merlins were dive bombing each other at the east end of Confederation Park yesterday. A Golden Eagle was seen circling its way down the Oakville/Burlington lakeshore on Tuesday. A Red-headed Woodpecker was seen on the Northshore trails near the boardwalk of the Royal Botanical Gardens last weekend. There have been a good number of sightings of these this fall which is very positive. Northern Shrikes were seen on 10th Road East, Bronte Creek Provincial Park and at the RBG nature centre. A late Swainson's Thrush was heard near Sherwood forest Park in Burlington. American Pipits were seen in various ploughed fields up in Saltfleet. Eastern Phoebe, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were sightings at the Van Wagner's Ponds along with Hooded Merganser. Lapland Longspurs were heard this morning near Walker's Line and Fairview. Snow Buntings and Pine Siskins were seen and heard moving along the lake last weekend. Today a White-winged Crossbill visited my yard in South Burlington and at Fifty Point C.A. Common Redpolls were seen flying around. THIS SUNDAY IS THE HNC ANNUAL FALL BIRD COUNT! Please report your sightings from the weekend as the Hamilton Study Area is large and there are many places to cover. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe _______________________________________________ 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/
