[Ontbirds] Hamilton OFO trip summary

2017-09-23 Thread olivesided via ONTBIRDS 

31 participants met me at Van Wagner's beach, for some fall birding along the 
Hamilton waterfront. 
A pleasant andsunny morning was welcome. 4 Sanderling on the beach and 2 Great 
Black-backed Gull on the lake, were a good start. That good start quickly 
turned not so good though, as the group quickly discovered that songbirds (even 
very common ones) were nearly impossible to turn up.Despite checking many 
traditional warbler hotspots on the first leg of the trip, our entire group 
only had 1 WARBLER OF 1  SPECIES! A Myrtle! The trend continued with only a 
couple of the usually numerous sparrows we regularly see.Herons put in a good 
show with Great Egrets, Green, Black Crowned Night, and Great Blue, all being 
seen in the same location. Shorebirds were later well represented with Marbled 
Godwit, Golden Plover, Bairds Sand, Ruddy Turnstone , Spotted, and a getting 
late Short-billed Dowitcher.  The Godwit and Turnstone being lifers for 
different participants. 
Ducks also played a role in boosting our moderate species count, (about 60)with 
White-winged Scorer, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Pintail, and Black Duck being 
notable. Upon returning home, I discovered a rogue Parakeet in my backyard. 
He's here as I type this. Does he count? 
I thank Andrew Don and Rob Palin for their great assistance, and also Dave 
Milsom for his tireless work in putting these many OFO outings together.
Len Manning 
 




Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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[Ontbirds] Hamilton OFO Trip Summary - Sept 24, 2016

2016-09-24 Thread Rob Porter 
Greetings birders,

Today at 8am a group of about 32 birders were treated to quite a showing of
fall migration activity at Van Wagner's beach & ponds, as well as at
Windermere Basin and later at the Lakeland centre.

Our first patch at Van Wagner's Ponds was so filled with migration activity
we advanced at a snails pace, taking a full 2.5 hours to get through due to
an abundance of migrant passerines. Highlights were White-throated Sparrows
by the dozens, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned
Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatches, a pair of Blue-headed Vireos, a number
of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a couple Orange-crowned Warblers, a
Philadelphia Vireo, two Brown Thrashers, Eastern Phoebes, Winter Wrens,
Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, a Black-throated Green
Warbler, Blackpoll Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos,
Blackburnian Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Red-eyed
Vireos.. and those were just the highlights.

We then headed over to Windermere Basin, which also did not disappoint.
Some observed species included Hudsonian Godwit, Dunlin, Baird's Sandpiper,
Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Black-bellied
Plover, Northern Shoveler, Osprey, American Kestrel, Ruddy Duck, Caspian
Tern, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, and a couple resting Turkey Vultures.

After lunch, some stayed around to see if jaegers would appear at Lakeland.
The number an observer got to see depended on how long they stayed. A few
got to see a Parasitic Jaegar at a distance, and some also got to see two
more unidentified jaegars also at a distance. Also of note were a couple
Sanderlings, as well as migrant warblers and kinglets passing by --
something not often seen at Lakeland centre.

Thanks to all that attended, and thanks to Caleb Scholtens for taking down
our records for eBird, and to all those who helped others out with
shorebird and fall warbler IDs.

Rob

-- 
Robert Gerald Porter

Hamilton Naturalists' Club / Field Events Director
Weever Apps / Chief Innovation Officer, Co-founder

http://twitter.com/rgeraldporter
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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