BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE POMARINE JAEGER PARASITIC JAEGER LONG-TAILED JAEGER Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Redhead Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Red-throated Loon Pied-billed Grebe American Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Black-bellied Plover American Golden-Plover Semipalmated Plover Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Stilt Sandpiper Lesser Black-backed Gull Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Eastern Phoebe Red-eyed Vireo Common Raven House Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Pipit Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Blackpoll Warbler Magnolia Warbler Palm Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Scarlet Tanager Indigo Bunting Rusty Blackbird Purple Finch
ITs been another great fall week here in the Hamilton Study Area. Once again the west end of the lake was where the action was for rarities and this week strong east winds brought them in again. POMARINE, PARASITIC, and a late LONG-TAILED JAEGER and BLACK-LEGGED KIITIWAKE were this week's features. Along with these specialties, Green-winged Teal, Greater and Lesser Scaup, all three Scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Loon, Sanderling and Lesser Black-backed Gull gave full flavour to this location. Making the rounds on shorebird locations, Windermere Basin saw its first of season Dunlin yesterday. Here and the Red Hill Stormwater pond are still excellent for shorebirds with Black-bellied, American Golden and Semipalmated Plover, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Pectoral Sandpiper. Another good location worth checking is the back of Mountsberg C.A. viewed from Leslie Street. Here this week, Stilt Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were highlights. Many ducks were also present at this location including Redhead, American Wigeon, Blue-wined and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail and many Pied-billed Grebes. There is also mud at Valley in where Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a Pectoral Sandpiper were seen in the week. Blue-winged Teal were also present here. Down just outside the HSA, Townsend Sewage Lagoons still seem to be holding shorebirds with Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, and Pectoral Sandpiper being seen at this location. A late Solitary Sandpiper was seen in Spencer Creek in Dundas. The woodlots have been full of late migrants. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Red-eyed Vireo, House Wren, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned and Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Common Yellowthroat, Palm, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were the common thread for the locations reported from which include Shoreacres in Burlington, Woodland Cemetery and Confederation Park. Some earlier and different migrants were also noted. Along Tuck Creek this week, Swainson's, Gray-cheeked, Hermit Thrush, Veery, Red-eyed Vireo and Scarlet Tanager were moving through. At Joe Sam's Park in Waterdown, Magnolia and Nashville Warbler were highlights. At Confederation Park, a Fox Sparrow was a first report for the season. At Shoreacres and Cityview Park, Indigo Buntings were seen, they seem to go unnoticed in fall migration, one day here, next day gone. A Vesper Sparrow was also present at City View Park, located on Kerns Road in Burlington. Up at the Clappison's Corners Wetland located behind the Wal-Mart and Rona on Dundas in Waterdown, a good variety of Sparrows were seen including Lincoln's, Savannah, White-crowned and Swamp Sparrow. Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers are also common here. An Eastern Phoebe also sallied around here. Another good location for Sparrows is the Gates of Heaven Cemetery in North Burlington. Here this week, House Wren, Chipping, White-crowned, Field and Song Sparrows were here in numbers. Over Woodland Cemetery last weekend, American Pipit, Rusty Blackbird and Purple Finch were flyovers. This is a good spot to work on your skills for identifying birds in flight. In the odds and sods this week, a very cool sighting was a mass of over 30 Wood Ducks gathering in a yard out on 11th Concession east of Hwy 6 up in Flamborough (confirmed by photo!). A family group of 4 Pileated Woodpeckers were present at the same location with all in the same tree. Great Blue Heron and Great Egret are building in numbers out in Cootes Paradise. Over thirty egrets were counted from Princess Point. A late American Bittern was flushed in Cootes Paradise. A late Green Heron flew over Cootes Drive in Dundas. A Common Raven was a good yard bird in Carlisle. Blackpoll, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat and Lincoln's Sparrow were birds noted at Townsend Sewage Lagoons. That's the news for this week here in the HSA. This wild weather is sure to bring us something good. Although not good for the specialties at the end of the lake, these south winds could instigate a Cave Swallow movement, Cattle Egrets and possibly a rare flycatcher. The tip of Long Point was harbouring a Gray Flycatcher this week so anything is possible. Take time to search your local woodlots and report your sightings here! Good birding, Cheryl Edgecombe HNC. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - 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
