YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON LONG-TAILED JAEGER
Wood Duck Pied-billed Grebe Ruffed Grouse Great Egret Black-crowned Night Heron Green Heron Merlin Common Gallinule Semipalmated Plover Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Bonaparte's Gull Nashville Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Well this has been quite the week in the Hamilton Study Area. The highlight of the week has been probably the most co-operative LONG-TAILED JAEGER ever in the province. It would be interesting to note how many got this as a life bird this week. The bird was refound last Friday, after being seen earlier in the week, on the beach at Confederation Park by the granddaughter of a Hamilton Birder. An inquisitive and perhaps budding birder of the age of 6 asked her dad what kind of bird it was as it looked different. Pictures were taken and sent to Grandpa for an identification. Lo and behold, this beautiful adult LONG-TAILED JAEGER would spend the next 6 days in various locations on the beach, in parking lots and out on the lake chasing gulls and making close flybys delighting the many people who came down for it. It was even a guest at the wedding I attended as it stunned us with gripping views as we were sipping cocktails on the patio at Lakeland. The bird was seen up until Thursday but with the change in the winds, may have moved on. Other Jaeger Sp. were seen on east winds yesterday so it's that time of year to come to Hamilton. Not to be outdone, two YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS continue to be seen in the Hamilton Study Area. The bird at Windermere is a little more difficult and distant to see but was still there on Thursday. The Cambridge bird located on Beaverdale Road near the Mill Run Trail where the bridge crosses the water is giving stunningly great views as of this morning. Shorebirds are on the move. A good place if you are up in the Cambridge area is at Ellicot Landing in the village of Hespeler. Semipalmated Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Semipalmated, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers were all seen here last Sunday. A Stilt Sandpiper was seen up until Saturday. Another location for shorebirds (with scope) is Tollgate Pond off Eastport in Hamilton. Here Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least and White-rumped Sandpiper and Sanderling were noted here. Sanderling and a Ruddy Turnstone were seen along the beach from Jaeger Watchers. Another new location checked this week was Neibauer's Marsh on Wellington Road 32 near Guelph. Here were a number of breeding pairs of Common Moorhen a bird not common here in the Hamilton Study Area. Many families of Wood Duck and Pied-billed Grebes were also found here. In the odds and sods, a count of the herons from the High Level Bridge at the roost yielded 15 Great Egrets, a number of Black-crowned Night Herons and a Green Heron. This would be a great place for another wayward heron or Spoonbill!! to come in and roost for the night. Ruffed Grouse were flushed along the River and Ruins trail (part of the Bruce Trail) near Lowville on Thursday. Also seen there were Nashville and Bay-breasted Warbler. The Bay-breasted Warbler is a definite migrant so as August progresses passerines will become more of the picture. A Merlin was a guest hawking insects over the Merrrick Orchard in the Dundas Valley and in a St. George yard on Thursday. Now is the time to be out looking in local patches and beyond for any wandering birds. There are rare herons roaming about and a Roseate Spoonbill in Quebec. 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
