AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN SNOWY EGRET CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Northern Pintail Lesser Scaup Common Merganser Red-necked Grebe Black-crowned Night Heron Broad-winged Hawk Sandhill Crane Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Dunlin Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Phalarope Great Black-backed Gull Yellow-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk Sedge Wren Eastern Bluebird Tufted Titmouse Canada Warbler Hooded Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Mourning Warbler Bobolink Pine Siskin The mood has changed here in the Hamilton Study Area. Birds have settled in and are in nesting mode in the Hamilton Study Area. However, a few nice birds have popped up in the last two weeks to drive home that you shouldn't stop looking for birds. Rare birds and late migrants make it interesting. Let's start with the top of the list. Yesterday an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was found in Cootes Paradise off Hickory Island. The bird has been spotted from the RBG grounds at the Arboretum, from Princess Point at the end of Longwood in west Hamilton and from the High Level Bridge in Hamilton, on the east side before entering into Hamilton. The bird was been seen today but plays hide and seek with birders throughout the day as it moves around the island. With the thunderstorms last night, it was a good opportunity to look for rarities that may have been grounded from the activity. Today a SNOWY EGRET was found at the Windermere Basin while on a survey of the grounds. The SNOWY EGRET was visible up until late in the day from the viewing platform located at the basin accessed from the parking lot located off Eastport Drive near Pier 26 just past the RV Sales Centre located along Eastport. Lastly, a CONNECTICUT WARBLER was a good find last week at Joe Sams Park In Waterdown. It was not seen the next day. A consolation prize there for the taking are nesting Mourning Warblers found in the park. Shorebirds are still in the news although numbers are dwindling now and in a few weeks southbound birds will be returning. At the Great Lakes Stormwater Ponds at Burloak and Rebecca, two late Short-billed Dowitchers, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers were seen. At the Windermere Basin a Short-billed Dowitcher, a number of Semipalmated Sandpipers and a few Dunlin were present. A Wilson's Phalarope was seen a few days ago and the week before, seems to be hiding from viewers. This may be a possible nesting situation. In the odds and sods, Northern Pintail and Lesser Scaup are waterfowl lingering at the Windermere Basin. New arrivals are a couple of Hooded Mergansers seen in the last two days here at the Basin. A success story for the week was the rescue of the Red-necked Grebe at Bronte Harbour. The bird was seen with a fish hook in its neck and was rescued with the fish hook removed. The bird seems to be recovering well and the nest has two successful hatchlings. Up on Lennon Road which is a traditional area for northern species Broad-winged Hawk, Canada Warbler and White-throated Sparrow were birds seen here. There are a number of first and second year Great Black Backed Gulls summering here, good locations to find these are Bronte Harbour and the islands off Eastport Drive. Common Nighthawks are still moving through with sightings over Grimsby and over east Hamilton this morning. Last week the Sedge Wren was still being heard on 8th Line north of Derry Road in Milton just before the end of the road. Hooded Warblers are back on territory at Robert wade Ancaster community park near Martin's Road. Good Warblers seen this week include a continuing Brewster's Warbler on Valens Road. Two Blackburnian Warblers were seen and heard in South Shell Park. A Yellow-rumped Warbler was an unexpected surprise at Bronte Bluffs. A Blackpoll Warbler was heard on Woodhill Road between Concession 2 and Hwy 5. Eastern Bluebirds and Bobolinks are nesting in Bronte Creek Provincial Park East. Good yard birds include a Tufted Titmouse and Yellow-billed Cuckoos both in Dundas. Pine Siskins seem to have stuck around for the breeding season with birds still coming to feeders in East Hamilton. There is exciting baby news in the area as there appear to be three pair of Peregrine Falcons Nesting in the Hamilton Study area. The pair at the Sheraton in Hamilton have two young. The pair at the Lift Bridge now have three of which two have gotten into trouble in straying from the nest this week. A third pair are nesting in Vinemount near the new HSA Sanctuary on 10th Road East near the quarry. The Sheraton and Lift Bridge sites are in need of keepers to watch for the youngsters who are now testing their wings and fledging from the nest. Please visit the site http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/. If you would like to watch at the lift bridge site, please email me privately and I can put you in touch with the people there. Thats the news for this week. just because the birds have quieted doesn't mean there are not great birds around. Please keep your sightings coming! Good birding Cheryl Edgecombe HNC --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
