POMARINE JAEGER RED-EYED VIREO BLUE-HEADED VIREO CAVE SWALLOW RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER WILSON'S WARBLER BALTIMORE ORIOLE (CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE HSA!)
Snow Goose Cackling Goose Red-breasted Mergansers Harlequin Duck Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Red-shouldered Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Merlin Sandhill Crane Purple Sandpiper Dunlin Bonaparte's Gull Iceland Gull Snowy Owl Belted Kingfisher Tufted Titmouse Ruby-crowned Kinglet Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Yellow-rumped Warbler This list is short this time of year but as you can see at the top there is a good combination of highlighted birds noting rarities to the area but also late birds for winter listers. Warm conditions in November have been ideal for things sticking around and of course south and southwest winds bring in some unusual notables. This week east winds seemed like they would produce some of the goodies that haunt our shores this time of year. Unfortunately, this was only limited to a couple of POMARINE JAEGERS early in the day last Tuesday. A few Bonaparte's Gulls were seen here as well. CAVE SWALLOWS seem to have come in with the systems over the last two weeks with more being seen yesterday than any, maybe due to the colder conditions concentrating them along the shore. It started last weekend with four being seen at Lakeside and likely same ones at the end of Arkendo. Yesterday, a single bird was seen at Gairloch Gardens in Oakville, another single at Coronation park and three at Bronte Bluffs. The three at Bronte were vocalizing and two flew off I suspect to Bronte Harbour where the sun was still shining. I would expect Bronte Harbour and Bronte Bluffs would be a good location to check today for lingering swallows. As has been the case for the last few years the local sewage treatment plants have been a hotspot (pardon the pun) for lingering insect eating birds. This year at the sewage treatment at Arkendo north of Lakeshore, RED-EYED and BLUE-HEADED VIREO, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and WILSON's WARBLER were seen. Birders visiting the area are asked to update the status on these species as the week goes by. West of here at Sedgewick Park, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, ORANGE-CROWNED, WILSONS and Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen. Again, any updates during the week would be appreciated. To round out the late rarities a BALTIMORE ORIOLE was seen in a group of Robins along the speed river between Niska Road and the Humane Society. This is at the edge of the Hamilton Study Area. Waterfowl continue to move through. Last weekend saw a return of Red-breasted Mergansers in the hundreds along the west end of the lake. Red-throated and Common Loons along with Horned Grebes seem to be steady along the lake as well. A lovely Harlequin Duck was seen at the end of Arkendo throughout the week. A Snow and Cackling Goose were seen in a stormwater pond in Oakville at Oak Park. A single Red-necked Grebe was seen at Bronte Harbour. In the odds and sods this week there were two reports of Great Egrets one from earlier in the week at Valley Inn and another from yesterday at the west pond at Olympic Park in Dundas. This could have been at the top of the list as it is getting late for these birds. Black-crowned Night Herons can be seen at the Red Hill Creek outlet where some have wintered before. A neat experience this week for a birder/photographer was two shorebirds at the beach canal flying along the shore headed toward Spencer Smith Park, one a Dunlin and the other a Purple Sandpiper. Interesting to see the two shots in flight of these species. While watching for Cave Swallows there was a light hawk migration along the shore with a nice dark Rough-legged Hawk seen from the end of Arkendo and a Red-shouldered Hawk being seen near Sedgewick. A Merlin makes finding the smaller birds more difficult at Sedgewick as maybe it too has learned that this is a good place to winter list. Sandhill Cranes moved over the Guelph Arboretum mid-week. Quite often we will get big movements this time of year of this species in the HSA. An Iceland Gull was seen in a field with Ring-billed Gulls at Sager Road and Concession 7 last Saturday. Unfortunately, the Franklins Gulls didn't materialize in the area. A Snowy Owl is back down at Bronte Harbour, another was sitting at a light post at Appleby and the QEW last Sunday and another near Limeridge Mall. It appears that we will again have a small invasion of this species. Belted Kingfisher continues to be seen coming out of a nest hole at Burloak Park. A Tufted Titmouse was seen in the Dundas Valley. Last weekend in the south of the HSA, a large flock of Snow Buntings were seen near Hagersville and during the week a group of Snow Buntings with a Lapland Longspur rattling away in the group made a great yard bird over the west end of the lake. Winds are supposed to be east today so for the hardy there may be birds along the west end of the lake. Sheltered areas near the water will be ripe for Cave Swallows that may be foraging for insects. Winter listing starts in a week. If you see anything you think is late or unusual, please send your sightings here! Cheers Cheryl (too tired to write the report last night, sorry) --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ 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
