GLOSSY IBIS MARBLED GODWIT LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER LITTLE GULL EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL ACADIAN FLYCATCHER (probable) FISH CROW
Snow Goose Black Scoter Ring-necked Pheasant Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Rough-legged Hawk Virginia Rail Sora Sandhill Crane Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Dunlin American Woodcock Bonaparte's Gull Iceland Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern Chimney Swift Great Crested Flycatcher Blue-headed Vireo Warbling Vireo Purple Martin Brown Creeper House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Louisiana Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Nashville Warbler Yellow Warbler Palm Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Eastern Towhee Clay-colored Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Rusty Blackbird It's been a great 24 hours in the Hamilton Study Area. To be honest, at the weeks start, my outlook was not looking so good with rain forecast every day and east winds which really don't help in spring. As the week crept on, the birds got better and better and today was a day to make your head spin. To start out in the rarities, earlier today, a keen observer found 13 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS in a field on the east side of James Snow Parkway, north of Britannia in Milton. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER is not a common species in spring migration to the HSA and this was an excellent find. This is an excellent field to keep checking as conditions are great here for any shorebirds to drop in. Other species seen here included Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. With lots of flooded fields in the area, another keen birder stopped at 8th Line and Britannia and found a GLOSSY IBIS foraging in the flooded grassy field, talk about luck! The Ibis stayed for a couple hours and the lifted off flying out of sight. A check of this field is worth it in the coming days as this or another may return. Yesterday a flock of 9 MARBLED GODWITS were seen flying low along the lakeshore from Bronte Harbour flying toward Hamilton. Unfortunately that was all that was seen of them, but again, this number of MARBLED GODWIT have not been recorded in the Hamilton Study Area in years. Also today a LITTLE GULL was seen at the end of Gray's Road. Others were seen at Rhododendron Gardens in Mississauga last weekend. It's been a good year for these birds that are not so common in the Hamilton Study Area anymore. Bonaparte's Gulls continue to move through as well. Also at the end of Grays road were four Red-throated Loons and a couple of Common Loons as well as an Iceland Gull. Earlier in the week Black Scoters were still being seen from Sayers Park. Common Terns were flying in good numbers along the west end of the lake and in the Hamilton Harbour on Thursday. Many Horned Grebes and Red-necked Grebes were present along the west end of the lake from Bronte to Stoney Creek. EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL is again in the news, also a bird not recorded here often. Most records are birds flushed on migration and this week is no exception. On Wednesday an EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL was flushed from the west side of Edgelake Park in Stoney Creek where it sat in a tree for a while gathering strength to move on. On Thursday another WHIP-POOR-WILL was flushed from the north east side of Sherwood Forest Park in Burlington. The bird flushed into a small tree and then was harassed by a gang of Robins, Hairy Woodpeckers, Flickers and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The bird eventually flew off and was not relocated. Last weekend another excellent find was a probable ACADIAN FLYCATCHER found at 8th line and Britannia in a flooded woodlot. The bird was photographed and sent to the experts but did not call. Acadian would be the expected species given time of year but again not common in the Hamilton Study Area. Finally to round out the rarities a FISH CROW was heard at Bronte Harbour last weekend, seen with another small crow on Ontario Street. Another bird was reported from Shell Park a couple days later and still another or same bird was seen and heard at Shoreacres Park in Burlington on Wednesday. Quite a few migrants arrived later in the week once the rain and east winds subsided. A late Snow Goose and Dunlin were noted at a field at Woodhill and Hwy 5. A growing number of Sora and Virginia Rails are being reported from the Slote Road Bog and Mountsberg C.A.. A Least Sandpiper was seen today along 8th Line East just north of Britannia north of where the Ibis was located. Chimney Swifts have returned to a traditional chimney roost at Hatt and Creekbank Drive in Dundas. Blue-headed Vireo was noted at Shoreacres in Burlington, at Confederation Park, along the Northshore Trails and along the Spencer Creek trail in the week. Great Crested Flycatcher, House Wren, Black-and-White Warbler and Palm Warbler were migrants at Edgelake Park in Stoney Creek. A Yellow Palm Warbler was seen last weekend nearby at Confederation Park. Also at Confederation Park today, American Woodcock, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Nashville, Yellow, Black-and-White, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated and Field Sparrow were birds seen. A Clay-colored Sparrow was a nice addition to this list seen earlier this morning. Louisiana Waterthrush continue to sing off Artaban Road in the Dundas Valley. A single Yellow Warbler was seen at Sedgewick Park in Burlington, another while canoeing on Spencer Creek and another on the Northshore Trails. There will be many more to come this week I am sure. House Wren, Warbling Vireo and Black-throated Green Warbler were seen/heard on the Northshore Trails at the Royal Botanical Gardens. A White-crowned Sparrow was a yard guest in south Burlington today. Warbling Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were reported from the Spencer Creek Trail near the Canadian Tire in Dundas today. Continuing migrants reported in various woodlots along the west end of Lake Ontario include Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee and White-throated Sparrow. Rusty Blackbirds were seen and heard at Shoreacres in Burlington and at Petro Canada Park on Southdown Road. In the odds and sods this week, a single Sandhill Crane was seen over Beamer Memorial Conservation Area on the Hawkwatch this week. Conditions have not been ideal in any way for hawk migration here. Other Sandhill Cranes were reported from Shouldice Road near Grass Lake in Glen Morris. A highlight for a group of birders this week was a Ring-necked Pheasant on 10th Road East. Upland Sandpipers were noted here and on 8th Road east. A very late Rough-legged Hawk was seen on Thursday along the escarpment in East Hamilton. Quite a few white-winged Gulls are still lurking about on the Harbour, along the Burlington/Oakville Lakeshore and at Bronte Harbour. Several Iceland and Glaucous Gulls have been seen this week. A second year Lesser Black-backed Gull and young Great Black-backed Gull were noted at Windermere Basin. That's the news for this week, only three hours to sum that up!!! Next couple of weeks will be busy but bring it on and send your sightings this way. Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. 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