On Friday, November 11, 2011, this is the HNC Birding Report:
POMARINE JAEGER LE CONTE'S SPARROW Brant Cackling Goose Blue-winged Teal Harlequin Duck Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Golden Eagle Black-bellied Plover American Golden-Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper White-rumped sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Dunlin Wilsons Snipe Glaucous Gull Jaeger sp. Eastern Phoebe Common Raven Tufted Titmouse Snow Bunting Eastern Meadowlark Purple Finch Pine Siskin White-winged Crossbill The weather formula for our Fall Bird Count went like this: Sunny, warm conditions = no birds. Generally this was the case but a few good finds came up making it interesting and people enjoyed the day out in the field. Some of the highlights of the count were as follows: Brant, found at Spencer Smith Park and at Bronte Harbour. A Blue-winged Teal was found in one of the areas but I dont have exact detail. A Harlequin Duck was found up in a quarry on Concession 2 in Puslinch. An odd place for a Harlequin, this bird was a one day wonder. The next day a Red-necked Grebe and Horned Grebe were present. Common and Red-throated Loons were found on the lake with Red-throated Loons far outnumbering Common Loons now. A few shorebirds made highlights for the count. Black-bellied Plover and American Golden Plover were present at the speedway in Cayuga. American Golden-Plover, Killdeer,Least, White-rumped and Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin and Wilsons Snipe were highlights on 5th Road East south of Powerline Road in Saltfleet. Three Greater Yellowlegs were seen at the Dundas Hydro Ponds. An Eastern Meadowlark was found here as well. An early Glaucous Gull was found at the Brantford Landfill. Down at Bronte Pier, an unidentified Jaeger species was seen late day, too far to call but noteworthy none the less. Tufted Titmouse was a good bird found at a feeder in the south of the HSA. Lingering Eastern Phoebes were found, one in the Bronte Woods area. Lastly, a group of White-winged Crossbills were seen in Bronte Creek Provincial Park. A small group of a dozen continued yesterday in Parking Lot A at the park. The day before the count a Common Raven was seen near Concession 5 and Middletown Road and a small flock of White-winged Crossbills flew over Pleasant Valley in Dundas. Two days after the count a LE CONTES SPARROW was seen on a small trail leading to the viewing tower at Binbrook Conservation Area on the Tyneside Trail. A search the next day did not turn up the bird but this secretive little sparrow could still be about. On the same day down at the beach, northeast winds turned up a juvenile dark-morph POMARINE JAEGER. In the odds and sods this week, a Cackling Goose was seen on the lawn at Canada Centre for Inland Waters yesterday. Two Golden Eagles flew over the Hanlon Expressway at the 401 yesterday. A Purple Sandpiper was seen mid-week in the traditional spot on the rocks at Fifty Point Conservation Area. Finally, winter birds are still moving through with reports of Snow Buntings flying along the Lake, Purple Finch and Pine Siskins in small flocks moving around the area. Keep your feeders stocked, they may settle in for the winter. There are lots of interesting birds turning up in the province now. Time to get out and find the locals! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
