EARED GREBE AMERICAN AVOCET CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW Ruffed Grouse Common Loon Horned Grebe American Bittern Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Broad-winged Hawk Virginia Rail Sora Common Moorhen Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Wilson's Snipe Bonaparte's Gull Forster's Tern Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Wood-Pewee Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Purple Martin House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher American Pipit Blue-winged Warbler Golden-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow-warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Scarlet Tanager Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Rusty Blackbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole Purple Finch Pine Siskin
It's been a very busy week here in the Hamilton Study Area! Up until 3 hours ago I had no power from Friday due to that horrific wind storm so NO POWER = NO REPORT. Back on track now. This week has seen the best migration so far with a few surprises and a number of migrants trickling/flooding into the Hamilton Study Area. Early in the week an EARED GREBE was reported along the Burlington Lakeshore mixed in with Horned Grebes. The bird was not seen subsequently. Today, much to the delight of a stalwart Windermere Basin birder a group of AMERICAN AVOCETS arrived into the basin for a rest and a feed. About an hour later another 10 joined them. Can't say enough about the beauty of these birds in spring, what a treat. Earlier this morning, a group of 16 were counted flying by Caroll's Point. On Friday before the wind storm in thick fog, a night jar identified as a CHUCK-WILLS-WIDOW was flushed and refound sitting on a hill side at Bronte Bluffs in Oakville. The bird sat all day even getting blown off its perch at one point before the tree it was sitting under snapped and got caught in the crux of another at which point the bird moved over three feet. There has been some discussion about this night jar. Chuck-wills-Widow and Whip-poor-will are very similar in alot of ways. Most people don't see them in the field. The field guides, Sibley and Nat Geo (in my opinion) don't justify the complexity of each species and it takes advanced field guides to decipher the differences in size, head shape, tail patterns/coloration and other key features. With this bird, many pictures at different angles, different light, different sitting positions were taken and should be submitted to the OBRC for review. There are those who stand by the original identification and those who differ. Ultimately, it's your list !!! but if you have photos and/or can write a report about the defining features (either way) I encourage you to do so. Photo's can also be submitted to me privately and I will ensure that the OBRC gets them if you are not willing to submit a report. This is why we have a review committee and there are many excellent birders/photographers who can contribute. There are so many arrivals this week it would take a few pages to go over when and where they were seen so I will just summarize best I can. The following locations were reported from this week: Lakeside and Arkendo Park in Mississauga, Bronte Bluffs and Sedgewick in Oakville, Sherwood Forest and Shoreacres in Burlington, Globe Park, Edgelake, Confederation and Hunter Estates in Stoney Creek, Fifty Point Conservation Area and 40 Mile Creek in Grimsby, the RBG Arboretum and the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. Birds seen include Green Heron, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Fifty Point), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sherwood), Eastern Wood-Pewee (Dundas Valley, Sedgewick), Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird (Globe Park, RBG Arboretum), Yellow-throated Vireo (Sherwood), Blue-headed, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo, Purple Martin, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Swainson's, Hermit and Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler (Edgelake), Tennessee (Sherwood), Nashville, Northern Parula (Hunter Estates), Yellow, Chestnut-sided (Sedgewick), Magnolia (Edgelake), Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian (50 Point, Sherwood), Pine, Palm, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager (Sherwood), Clay-colored Sparrow (Shoreacres), Field, White-crowned Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Rusty Blackbird (Fifty Point), Orchard Oriole (Shoreacres) and Baltimore Oriole. Shorebirds are in the news this week. In addition to the American Avocets, Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Dunlin were seen in the basin today. Spotted Sandpipers have returned numerous places. A Solitary Sandpiper was found in the flooded area of the creek running through Fifty Point Conservation Area. Up to three Upland Sandpipers were seen yesterday at the corner of Mud and South Grimsby Road 15. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson's Snipe and two Pectoral Sandpipers were seen at the flooded field on 5th Road East yesterday. Two Least Sandpipers were seen in a flooded field with Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on Glancaster Road. In the odds and sods this week, Ruffed Grouse could be heard drumming along the Bruce Trail near Lowville Park. Common Loons continue to migrate en masse with 23 going over a yard in St. George in a span of 30 minutes. Today an American Bittern was seen over Dundas. Broad-winged Hawks continue to trickle through the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch and along the west end of the lake. A Virginia Rail was heard on 5th Road East and a Sora was calling on 11th Road East in Saltfleet. Both species were heard at Kerncliffe Park in Burlington. Common Moorhen continue to be breeders at Safari Marsh on Safari Road in Flamborough. A Forster's Tern and several Bonaparte's Gulls were seen at Windermere Basin today. Yesterday, hundreds of Bonaparte's were seen flying around Windermere Basin, no doubt blown in by the high winds the day before. A flock of American Pipits were seen on Powerline Road yesterday. A late Dark-eyed Junco was seen at Hunter Estates Park in Stoney Creek. A Purple Finch was a house guest at a feeder outside of Ancaster this week, there are still a few reports of these around, keep your feeders stocked. Pine Siskins still seem to be moving through with a small flock seen over the Dundas Valley today and singles at Shoreacres in the week. So many reports from so many sources so sorry if I have left out your sightings. Bill Lamond (bill-lam...@hotmail.com) is our records keeper for the HSA, please forward your sightings to him. Make sure you get out during this busy time to see what's in your local patch. Everything is on the table now. Happy Migration! 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
