AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN ACADIAN FLYCATCHER WHITE-EYED VIREO CERULEAN WARBLER YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT SUMMER TANAGER
Red-throated Loon Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Green Heron Peregrine Falcon Black-belied Plover Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe American Woodcock Forster's Tern Yellow-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-headed Woodpecker Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Trails Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush Gray Catbird American Pipit Ovenbird Louisiana Waterthrush Northern Waterthrush Golden-winged Warbler Blue-winged Warbler Black-and-White Warbler Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler Wilson's Warbler Eastern Towhee Clay-colored Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Scarlet Tanager Rose-breasted Grosbeak Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole What a HUGE week it's been for birders in the HSA loaded with diversity and a good number of rare/uncommon birds in the area. We start as always at the top of the list. An AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was found last weekend in Cootes Paradise. The bird was seen off and on from various access points and then was seen on Monday up for a fly over the arboretum and Woodland Cemetery. Monday was the last day the bird was reported. The woodlots have been very busy this week with migrants filtering through and birders out looking for the unusual. Starting last weekend a CERULEAN WARBLER was found at Shell Park. On Monday, another CERULEAN was found by a keen observer at Shoreacres in Burlington who also found an ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. The CERULEAN stuck around for a couple of days and may have been joined by another Cerulean. Another female then showed up at Shell Park in Oakville and to round things off a third (or fourth) was found on Wednesday at Fifty Point Conservation Area. Normally we are lucky to even get one reported. Another ACADIAN FLYCATCHER was found today along the Spencer Creek Trail in Dundas. A WHITE-EYED VIREO was seen today near the entrance to the parking lot of the Westdale Ravine. This ravine has been productive this week with one of the highlights Yellow-throated Vireo, a tough bird to find in the HSA. Today a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen near the Suncor office next to Lakeside Park in Mississauga. The bird was spished out of the tickets within the cement company's property there and then disappeared within seconds not to return as it typical CHAT behaviour. Also today, a female SUMMER TANAGER was spotted at Forty Mile Creek in Grimsby. Unfortunately the bird was chased off by another bird and could not be relocated but definitely could be in the area. The woodlot was alive with birds today. It's hard to know how to approach how to present the list this time of year. A rundown of the birds seen at various lakeshore lots including Lakeside Park in Mississauga, Sedgewick, Bronte Bluffs and Shell Park in Oakville, Sherwood Forest and Shoreacres in Burlington, Confederation Park, Edgelake Park in Stoney Creek and Fifty Point and Forty Mile Creek in Grimsby includes many of the same birds so I will list them, highlighting a specific species if it was only seen at one location. Birds at these locations include Green Heron, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Confederation Park), Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied, Trails and Least Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireo, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Veery, Gray-cheeked, Swainson's, Hermit and Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Golden-winged Warbler (north Shell Park & Confederation Park), Blue-winged, Black-and-White, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler (Bronte Bluffs), American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Pine, Yellow-rumped, Prairie (Fifty Point and Lakeside Park), Black-throated Green, Canada and Wilson's Warbler, Eastern Towhee (female at Fifty Point), Lincoln's and White-crowned Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole (Fifty Point and Tuck Creek), and Baltimore Oriole. In the odds and sods, Red-throated and Common Loons can still be seen out on the lake although Red-throated Loon sightings have dropped significantly. Three Red-throated Loons were seen in front of Wild Waterworks at Confederation Park last Saturday. Red-necked Grebes have set up shop at Bronte Harbour as soon as the tire went out. I suspect the same scenario at Burloak Park. Green Heron sightings have risen in number with birds seen at Spencer Creek Trail in Dundas, Fifty Point C.A. and Forty Mile Creek. The Peregrines at the Sheraton Hotel in Hamilton had a failed nest but have restarted on the east end of the ledge a location not used by these birds in over 20 years of tracking nesting here. Of interest another pair of Peregrine Falcons were seen on Concession St, a few blocks west of Henderson/Juravinski Hospital perhaps a third nesting pair to ones at the Sheraton and the Lift Bridge. Black-bellied Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe and American Pipit were good finds on 5th Road East between Powerline and Green Mountain Road. Forster's Terns are still moving through with one at Bayfront Park earlier in the week and two more sitting on the Pier at Bronte this morning. A Common Nighthawk was a lovely yard guest on a fence in a back yard in Grimsby today, well photographed by the owner. A Red-headed Woodpecker was a great sighting at Bayshore Park in Burlington. Three more were found at the Currie Tract across from Mowhawk Raceway in Morristown. Down the road from Bayshore Park, an Olive-sided Flycatcher made an appearance at Lasalle Park. A Hooded Warbler was a yard bird for a lucky birder in east Oakville, one of 16 warbler species recorded in this yard this week alone!!! Clay-colored Sparrow was photographed along Concession 8 in Flamborough. Another good location for these this week was Cityview Park in Burlington. An Orchard Oriole was also noted here. Lastly, two Dark-eyed Juncos were recorded this week, one at Lowville Park north of Burlington and the other in the driveway of a birder at an unknown locale. The report is long and packed with punch, its peak time of migration and the woodlots were full of birds today. With north winds forecast tonight, these birds might not go too far so get out and explore your local patch to see what turns up. Thanks to all that have submitted sightings to me. Please keep them coming! 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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