SNOWY EGRET DICKCISSEL Northern Pintail Canvasback Redhead Lesser Scaup Common Goldeneye Horned Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Sandhill Crane Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Dowitcher Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Forsters Tern Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-throated Vireo Hooded Warbler
The past couple of weeks have been characteristic of the doldrums of summer but you can't complain about SNOWY EGRET which continued up until a few days ago at Windermere Basin and DICKCISSELS found in two locations one at 825 Green Mountain Road and up to four seen at the Velodrome near Milton. The Windermere Basin seems to be the happening place these days along with Bronte Harbour. Returning shorebirds found at the basin include Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper and our first adult Stilt Sandpiper of the season yesterday. Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitcher were both present at the basin however caution is advised as the two are not easily separated from one another at a distance. Of interest at the basin is a few ducks including Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup and three Redheads all with broods. Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons and a Green Heron were also added to the mix. A scope is necessary for viewing at the basin located off Eastport Drive in Hamilton. Bronte Harbour is the other hotspot with Common Tern, Forster's Tern, Little and Bonaparte's Gull. This is a good place for other small gulls to turn up over the coming weeks. A Horned Grebe has been reported offshore as well. In the odds and sods a Canvasback was an odd sighting down in the Hendrie Valle. A female Common Goldeneye was seen offshore at Shoreacres/Paletta in Burlington. Sandhill Cranes were a good sighting at the Millgrove Loam Pits, perhaps breeders here amongst the heavy mosquito population. Yellow-throated Vireo was also photographed at this location. A great sighting this morning was of a Red-headed Woodpecker found just north of Green Mountain Road on 1st Road East in Stoney Creek. It appears that Hooded Warbler has had a successful nesting season in the traditional Martin's Road site. Also seen in good breeding numbers were Clay-colored Sparrow seen in Brantford at the King & Benton property on the NE corner of the Hwy 403 & Oak Park Rd. That's the news this week. White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork have all been spotted in the Northern States. It's our turn in the Hammer. Keep an eye out for southern specialties. Happy Summer Cheryl Edgecombe HNC --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
