On Friday, April 27th, 2012 this is the HNC Birding Report: WESTERN GREBE BLACK VULTURE LITTLE GULL FISH CROW
King Eider Black Scoter Ruffed Grouse Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe American Bittern Least Bittern Black-crowned Night-Heron Osprey Broad-winged Hawk Virginia Rail Sora Common Gallinule Greater Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Snowy Owl Whip-poor-will Red-headed Woodpecker Blue-headed Vireo House Wren Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Bohemian Waxwing Nashville Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Vesper Sparrow Pine Siskin It's still a bit of a slow go for us here in the Hamilton Study Area. Cool, rainy, windy conditions have hampered migration somewhat but a few goodies have popped up giving us a glimpse of things to come. On Monday, a WESTERN GREBE was found just offshore at the east end of Hutch's parking lot at VanWagner's Beach. The bird stayed around for a day or so before sailing off to the east on Tuesday morning. Hawk migration came to a halt this week but a BLACK VULTURE was seen low over the woods at Beamer yesterday, the 6th bird this spring for the Hamilton Area which is phenomenal. On Sunday, a huge migration of Bonaparte's Gulls offered up one adult LITTLE GULL on the lake off Shoreacres in Burlington. FISH CROW sightings remain with birds reported from the Centennial Bike Path in Burlington between Burloak and Appleby, down at White Pine and Lakeshore area and a new location near on Arkendo near Joshua Creek in east Oakville. An HNC Outing into Flamborough last Saturday offered up a few nice birds. American Bittern, Virginia Rail and later in the week Sora were seen and heard at the Safari Road Wetland on Safari Road just west of Kirkwall. Unfortunately not seen by the group but found by another keen birder, a Common Gallinule (aka Moorhen) was seen at the Wetland later in the day. Ruffed Grouse were drumming in the Hyde Tract closeby and a Nashville Warbler was singing there as well. For new arrivals, Upland Sandpipers have returned to the Saltfleet area with four being seen yesterday, two on 8th Road East at Green Mountain and 2 at the traditional area north of the track on 10th Road East between Green Mountain and Ridge Road. Today, two Upland Sandpipers were seen south of Green Mountain on 8th Road East and one heard at 10th and 11th Road East near the Dofasco Trail. Brown Thrashers were also seen at this location. A House Wren was a welcome year bird singing on 8th Road East. Vesper Sparrows were singing on the Dofasco Trail on 10th Road East. On 5th Road East, fields are flooded with the rain and Greater Yellowlegs and Wilson's Snipe were present here. Up in Guelph this week, a Whip-poor-will was an unexpected surprise singing at Preservation Park off Gordon Street last Wednesday. A Red-headed Woodpecker has returned to the Carluke area as a guest at someone's feeder today. A Blue-headed Vireo was seen at Hidden Valley last weekend. A Yellow Warbler was reported from Princess Point yesterday. Just to remind us that winter is still working its way out, an Iceland Gull was seen at the Western Grebe location on Monday and Tuesday. Iceland and Glaucous Gulls were seen at the Suncor Pier early in the week. A sub-adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was also present. A Snowy Owl was present mid-week along the Stoney Creek shoreline at Fruitland Road, likely heading its way north after the weather turned. Pine Siskins appear to be still moving through with some staying and exhibiting nesting activity up near Guelph. A flock of Bohemian Waxwings were seen at the intersection of Watson and Wellington Rd. 34 near Guelph. In the odds and sods, the King Eider is still a resident at LaSalle Marina but changing plumage which is neat to see. Black Scoter, Common and Red-throated Loon, Pied billed and Horned Grebes were seen on the lake with reports from Confederation Park, Gray's Road and Green Road. A large number of Black-crowned Night Herons were seen off Eastport Drive at Canada Centre for Inland Waters earlier in the week, up to 30 or 40. Broad-winged Hawks appear to have skirted the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch this year in great numbers but there are still a few trickling through. That's the news for this week. Once the winds turn south again later in the week, expect a big rush of activity. Please report your sightings! Good Birding! Cheryl Edgecombe HNC _______________________________________________ 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/
