WESTERN SANDPIPER POMARINE JAEGER PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER SABINE'S GULL
Blue-winged Teal American Wigeon Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Redhead White-winged Scoter Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Horned Grebe Common Nighthawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Stilt Sandpiper Sanderling Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Dowitcher Lesser Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs Red-necked Phalarope Bonaparte's Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Black Tern Common Tern Common Loon Least Bittern Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Red-eyed Vireo Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet Swainson's Thrush Baltimore Oriole Orchard Oriole Clay-colored Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Ovenbird Blue-winged Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Cape May Warbler Magnolia Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler It's been the busiest week of the fall so far here in the Hamilton Study Area, lots to cover so let's get to it. As is always the case, Van Wagner's Beach is always a hot spot at this time of year. This week northeast and east winds brought in all sorts of goodies and it was a banner week for Jaegers and Sabine's Gulls. Last Sunday 31 juvenile SABINE'S GULLS were counted off of Lakeland Centre, groups of 12, 13 plus some single birds were seen migrating through and over the lake. Later in the day an adult Long-tailed Jaeger thrilled observers racing down the shoreline displaying its lovely streamers headed toward the Burlington shoreline. Sabine's gulls were seen in single numbers through the rest of the week with a bird also reported from Bronte. Friday was another spectacular day down at the beach with all three Jaeger species being seen, LONG-TAILED JAEGER (1 juv), PARASITIC JAEGER (10), POMARINE JAEGER (1 juv). Other species recorded from here during the week include Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, White-winged Scoter, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe, Green Heron, Sanderling, Red-necked Phalarope (5 on Sept 1), Bonaparte's Gull, Black Tern (2 on Sept 1), Common Tern and Common Loon. Northeast and east winds later this afternoon and tomorrow may be good for producing more birds, no guarantees but just a heads up. The other hotspots this week are our best shorebirding areas in the Hammer, Tollgate Ponds and Windermere Basin, fortunately not that far apart. On Tuesday at Tollgate Pond a nicely marked juvenile WESTERN SANDPIPER was found along with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Seems to be easier in past years to find Buff-breasted at this location rather than cruising the sod farms south of the Hamilton Airport. Both of these birds stuck around a couple of days for birders to see. Other shorebirds seen here at Tollgate pond were Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least, White-rumped, Stilt, Bairds, Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and on Wednesday, a nice group of 5 Red-necked Phalaropes. Three of them stayed in subsequent days. Blue-winged Teal (up to 10), Green-winged Teal and Redhead were ducks noted here. Note of caution, please be careful while viewing shorebirds along here, there is a great deal of traffic and the Port Authority frowns upon people going over the barrier even though it is more protected from the cars and trucks. Down the road at Windermere Basin a juvenile Red Knot was found last Sunday, it was still present as of Wednesday. On Tuesday a Long-billed Dowitcher was found with a group of three Short-billed Dowitchers. The next morning two Long-billed Dowitchers were present. Other birds seen here at the basin include Black-bellied and American Golden Plover, Stilt and Pectoral Sandpiper. Diversity is lower here but you never know what will drop in. Another spot to watch is North Island along the Northeast Shore of the Harbour with viewing from Eastport Drive. Here this week were Ruddy Turnstone (3) and Sanderling (13). Passerine migration has been a little slow but maybe people are beaching it too much to search the woodlots. Yesterday at Shell Park, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green were noted. On Thursday, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher were seen at Woodland. On Thursday, Lincolns Sparrow and Chestnut-sided Warbler were seen at Confederation Park. Yesterday, a Blue-winged Warbler, still in bright plumage was found in the Cartwright Property. Nearby at the Berry Tract, American Redstart, Canada, , Orange-crowned and Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, and Least Flycatcher were seen on Tuesday. Yard reports include Cape May Warbler and Swainson's Thrush in Dundas, Swainson's Thrush at Rock Chapel, Chestnut-sided, Nashville in South Burlington and Olive-sided Flycatcher in St. George. Lots of migrants to come here, just need a good grounding, many might be passing straight through. In the odds and sods this week, Common Nighthawks have been coming through in good numbers with 137 counted over the Hendrie Valley last Monday Sept 2, 5 over Berry Tract on Sept 3 and 45 seen at the Valley Inn on Sept 3rd. Great Egret, Green Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron were seen here, a good place for any other wayward Heron's to drop inn. Least Bittern was seen and heard at Mountsberg Conservation Area. In Brantford, three juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen on the Grand River at Lorne Bridge. An adult Peregrine Falcon was seen near Shellard Lane in the southwest corner of the circle in Brantford. An early Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen at the Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga earlier in the week. Two late Orchard Orioles were recorded from Ruthven Banding Station. A Clay-colored Sparrow was photographed at Woodland Cemetery last Sunday. That's the news this week, please send your sightings along here. There is much more to come! 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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