AMERICAN AVOCET FISH CROW Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Redhead Long-tailed Duck Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Common Gallinule Sandhill Crane Semipalmated Plover Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Baird's Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs Wilson's Phalarope Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern Least Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Merlin Willow Flycatcher
It's still a little quiet out there in the Hamilton Study Area. This week a couple of strong cold fronts should bring some movement of birds and late summer and fall tend to be high season in these parts for specialties. This week, at the top of the list, an AMERICAN AVOCET was found today at Hespeler Mill Pond in the village of Hespeler, best seen from Ellacott Landing off Queen Street. This is one of the best locations at present for shorebirds with Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs all being seen today. Other non-shorebird types here include Wood Duck (several families), a pair of Sandhill Cranes earlier in the week, Common Tern, many Great Blue Herons and up to 16 Great Egrets seen today. FISH CROWS are still being seen along the Burlington/Oakville Shoreline, three probable birds were seen at the end of the Suncor Pier on Saturday and 10 birds were seen at Bronte Harbour including young. Closer to Hamilton both Windermere Basin and Tollgate Pond have shorebird habitat. A Wilson's Phalarope was present up until July 29th. Other shorebirds at these locations include, Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone (Tollgate), Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. The week before last, a Bairds Sandpiper was reported as a one day wonder from Windermere Basin. The Common Terns have left Windermere Basin for the most part. Green-winged Teal, Redhead and Ruddy Duck have all been seen at the basin. In Tollgate Pond at the back berm a colony of Black-crowned Night Herons totalled 20 on July 29th. Now is a good time to look for a wayward Yellow-crowned Night Heron that we had three of in various locations at this time last year. At Tollgate Pond, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail and Redhead were ducks noted here. In the odds and sods, a rogue Long-tailed Duck was spotted at the Burlington lift Bridge on July 22nd, likely a summering bird. On east winds, 9 Green-winged Teal, 1 Hooded Merganser, Common Terns and a first summer Great Black-backed Gull were reported this week. Several families of Pied-billed Grebe have been successful at Neibauer's Marsh west of Guelph. A Great Egret was seen flying over the Valley Inn on July 31st. Grass Lake has always been a good spot for Sandhill Cranes but they are starting to disperse. Two were seen at Grass Lake today and a flock of sever were seen a couple of days ago on Glen Morris Road west of Hwy 24. Three Green Herons were seen over Grass Lake this morning. A Common Gallinule gave a few squawks this morning at Grass Lake and a Least Bittern has been reported there although not seen or heard this morning. Merlins have been reported in several locations, Strathcona in Hamilton, Lorne Park in Brantford, Windermere Basin. Merlins have established themselves as city nesters. A Willow Flycatcher was a fall migrant seen at Woodland Cemetery on July 31st and an unusual sighting for this time of year and location was of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the end of the boardwalk at LaSalle Park on July 30th. Don't let your guard down, things are turning up province wide and these next weather systems should start some passerine migration. Report your sightings here! 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. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
