WESTERN GREBE FISH CROW
Blue-winged Teal Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe American Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp=shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Virginia Rail Sandhill Crane Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Wilson's Snipe Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Caspian Tern Snowy Owl Short-eared Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Common Raven Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird American Pipit Eastern Towhee Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Lapland Longspur Rose-breasted Grosbeak Eastern Meadowlark Pine Siskin As you can see by the list, despite the wretched weather birds are arriving albeit in small numbers at present. Sometimes you just can't wait. Our notable birds this week started with WESTERN GREBE last Saturday, seen off Saddington Park in Mississauga. This is likely a returning bird as one has been seen yearly at this location for at least 4 or 5 years now. It was however a one day wonder but could be out on the lake. FISH CROWS are in the news again with birds being seen at Bronte Harbour last weekend and on and off through the week. A group of 4 FISH CROWS flew past Canada Centre for Inland Waters mid week. Arrivals this week include Blue-winged Teal (Grass Lake, 10th Road East), American Bittern (Grass Lake), Virginia Rail (one heard on April 8 th Grass Lake and heard since), Great Egrets (multiple locations), Black-crowned Night Herons (Desjardins Canal), Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs (10th Road East), Wilson's Snipe (5th Road East, Grass Lake), Caspian Tern (multiple locations), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Grimsby, Eramosa Karst, Sedgewick Park Oakville), Eastern Phoebe (Sedgewick Park Oakville), Purple Martin, Tree and Barn Swallow (see Beamer below), American Pipit (East Hamilton), Golden-crowned Kinglets (Beamer and Sedgewick Park Oakville) Eastern Towhee (5th Road East), Vesper and Savannah Sparrow (Paris Plains Church Road). The two earliest migrant arrivals this week were a House Wren at the Beamer Hawkwatch and a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak seen 3 km west of Brant rd 22 on Baptist Church Rd on Thursday. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area has had a good couple of days this week. Turkey Vultures continue to travel in numbers but numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks have been seen along with the first Broad-winged Hawks. Other raptors noted this week were Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawk. Non raptor sightings include Common Loons, Great Blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, Bonaparte's Gull, Pileated Woodpecker, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow and a very early House Wren. The west end of the harbour was productive this week for Loons and Grebes with Common and Red-throated Loon, Pied-billed, Horned and Red-necked Grebes being noted from the Leander Boat Club and Bayfront Park last Sunday. Another worthwhile stop in the HSA is Bronte Harbour. Along with Fish Crows this week, an adult Little Gull was present yesterday along with Bonaparte's Gull, a Snowy Owl was still present. A group of Tree and Barn Swallows with a probable Rough-winged Swallow was seen yesterday. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was a nice find last Sunday. In the odds and sods this week, two different Glaucous Gulls were seen, one adult past Canada Centre for Inland Waters and a immature on the Burlington Beach strip. Snowy Owls are still being seen in the area with one at the QEW and Centennial Parkway last night. Another sat on a post on Green Mountain Road at house number 615 on Thursday. A Short-eared Owl was seen hunting the fields earlier in the week on Winston Churchill just north of Lakeshore Road on the border between Oakville and Mississauga. Northern Shrikes were seen in Saltfleet and on the McCormick Trail in the Dundas Valley, keep your eyes open for Loggerheads, it's that time of year! The Common Ravens were putting on a show on 10th Road East coming up over the cliff of the quarry to bath in the culvert. Winter Wren and White-throated Sparrow were likely overwintering birds at Sedgewick. Five White-crowned Sparrows were seen on 10th Road East, these would be likely overwintering birds. Eastern Meadowlarks have returned to Gates of Heaven Cemetery. Finally a group of 150 Lapland Longspurs were present yesterday on Plains Church Road near Paris. If it weren't so windy it would be worth a check for other Longspur species. These winds could provide some interesting birds getting tossed around. Keep those feeders stocked. Spring will be here eventually. Good birding, 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. 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