FISH CROW Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal King Eider Wild Turkey Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe American Bittern Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Virginia Rail Sandhill Crane Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Pectoral Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe American Woodcock Bonaparte's Gull Little Gull Caspian Tern Common Tern Forster's Tern Snowy Owl Northern Saw-whet Owl Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Northern Shrike Common Raven Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Brown Creeper Winter Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Fox Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Lapland Longspur Rusty Blackbird Pine Siskin
What a wild and whacky weather week we have had here in the Hamilton Study Area. High winds, snow, sleet and heavy rain drove birds into unfamiliar places and displaced already nesting birds. There were a few migrants that arrived despite the conditions but I think we have turned the corner and can expect a surge of migrants over the next few days. The weeks notable was another sighting of FISH CROW from Ben Machree Park in Mississauga and from LaSalle Park in Burlington. New arrivals this week include American Bittern seen today at Kortwright Hills Park in Guelph. Great Egrets were reported with great regularity this week. Virginia Rails have returned to traditional spots such as Kerncliffe Park in Burlington and the Rona Wetlands in Waterdown. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs are now here comfortably with 7 Greaters and 3 Lesser Yellowlegs seen today on 5th Road East. Three Greater Yellowlegs were seen yesterday at Fairchild Creek on 5th Concession West in Flamborough. Yesterday, 15 Wilson's Snipe were flushed from along the field on 5th Road East, today they were up winnowing. Midweek, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers made a brief stop on Green Mountain Road near 6th Road East. Caspian Terns are here in numbers. Common Terns were noted at Bronte Harbour and in Port Credit and a single Forster's Tern stopped briefly at LaSalle Marina on Thursday. More swallows arrived with a lone Bank Swallow being seen near the Suncor Pier trying to find shelter. Tree, Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallow all saw higher numbers. Purple Martins are checking out their nest houses on 10th Road East at Ridge Road. Woodlot migrants this week reported from various locations include, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Fox Sparrow. An Eastern Towhee was a guest at a yard on Strathcona in Hamilton just after the storm. Vesper Sparrows were seen on 8th Road East, near Fern Hill School in Burlington and today on 11th Road East at Highland. A field Sparrow was happily singing along the Dofasco trail at 10th Road East today. Savannah Sparrows are here in numbers now! A dozen Lapland Longspurs were seen near 11th Road and Highland today. The Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch has had a tough week given weather but the last two days have seen more numbers. Larger numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks are now going through. This week should be the height of the Broad-winged migration. Other raptors seen here include a steady stream of Turkey Vultures as well as a few Northern Harriers, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks. Still in the raptor department a juvenile Northern Goshawk was seen along the Nipegon Trail, which runs just east of Sixth Line, between Upper Middle Road and River Oaks Boulevard in Oakville. In the odds and sods this week, 5 pair of Wood Ducks were seen at a pond on Inksetter Road near Dundas. Three Blue-winged Teal were seen on 5th Road East in the flooded field on Wednesday. Today at the flooded area south of Ridge Road between 8th and 10th Road East, Northern Shoveler and 72 Green-winged Teal were noted. A near adult King Eider was seen from the end of 50 Road this morning, a high powered scope is necessary for the identification. Two Wild Turkeys were seen along the woodlot on 8th Road East on the west side. The bay and points along the lake from Burlington to Mississauga have seen good numbers of Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe and Horned Grebe. With the storm, some of these birds ended up on smaller bodies of water inland and a loon had to be rescued as it was in a place where it would never be able to take off. Many Ospreys have returned to their nesting locations. On Thursday in high winds one was seen carrying a large stick to the cell tower at the Aldershot Go Station. Three Sandhill Cranes cruised along the shore of Stoney Creek this morning. Bonaparte's Gulls and an adult Little Gull were seen at Oakville Harbour during the storm. Snowy Owls continue to be seen although with less regularity. Today a stunning male was seen in a field at South Grimsby Sideroad 15th while on a recon mission for Upland Sandpipers (not yet). Earlier in the week a Snowy Owl was seen on one of the head stones at Woodland Cemetery. A Northern Shrike was seen twice this week up on 5th Road East with another shrike being seen briefly at Walkers Line and Britannia. A Chipping Sparrow made an appearance at a feeder in Caledonia surely these should be widespread by now. A Field Sparrow was a welcome guest at this birders yard in south Burlington during the storm. A Rusty Blackbird was heard briefly at Confederation Park this morning and Pine Siskins are still moving through the area with birds being seen this week in North Flamborough. Two notables this week, one was the displacement of American Woodcock after the storm. Several were found and flushed in properties along the lakeshore, perhaps they were already in nesting situations. The biggest surprise of the week was a juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owl that was rescued from Ancaster. It was surmised that the bird was about 6 weeks old. It was displaced by the storm and rescued by the Owl Foundation. It appears that it will make it. This is a highly unusual nesting record for the Hamilton Study Area and may represent the earliest nesting record for the province. That's the news for this week. I expect this coming week to be a rosier picture than last. Keep sending your sightings! Cheers, 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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