Birding Hotline Report

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On Friday, June 5, 2009, this is the HNC Birding Report:

Blue-winged Teal
Canvasback
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Rough-legged Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Black-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Eastern Wood Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Carolina Wren
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
American Redstart
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler

The list grows short this week with the majority of the migrants moved on to breeding grounds and our local breeders quietly on nest. This week's list contains no major rarities however there are a few birds which are of interest for late dates or possible over summering birds. The majority of these are waterfowl.

Hamilton is a spectacular area to find winter waterfowl but for spring and on big days...not so much. A few stragglers are left behind and a scan of the lake from Fifty Point to Bronte Harbour revealed the following. White-winged Scoters were seen on the bay (2) and just east of the Travelodge this week. Some were present off Fifty Point earlier. Common
Loons are found looking from Shoreacres as well as a female Bufflehead. Red-breasted Mergansers were seen from Burloak Park. Red-necked Grebes are nesting at Bronte Harbour and Burloak Park and there are a few off Spencer
Smith Park. A male Canvasback is also being seen at Spencer Smith Park and scattered along the west end of Lake Ontario are still a few Long-tailed Ducks.

Shorebirds seem to dominate a lot of the hotline birds this week. At the field on Britannia between 4th and 5th Line in Oakville Dunlin and many Semipalmated Sandpipers are still present. A male Blue-winged Teal was seen here yesterday. At the stormwater pond at Great Lakes Blvd and Rebecca, a single Ruddy Turnstone was seen along with Semipalmated Sandpipers. At the Windermere Basin this week Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and White-rumped
Sandpiper and a Short-billed Dowitcher were seen. At the end of the pier at the lift bridge a mixed flock of Dunlin and Sanderling put down to rest for a short time on Sunday and a Black-bellied Plover was heard calling here on Tuesday. A Solitary Sandpiper was seen in the rapidly disappearing flooded field at 8th Road East. At 10th Road East, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Dunlin were seen last Sunday.

Migrant traps are quiet this week. At Sherwood Forest Park in Burlington, Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat and Wilson's Warbler were lingering migrants. At Shoreacres, a Black-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood Pewee, Yellow-bellied, Willow and Alder Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Northern Parula, American Redstart, Mourning, Wilson's and Canada Warbler were birds seen here. A pair of Carolina Wrens were seen hopping around the southeast corner with their brand new young.

Speaking of babies, the Peregrine Falcon chicks at the Sheraton in Hamilton were banded this week. Dixon, Durand, Gleig and Strathcona were banded this past week, three females and one male! No word on the lift bridge Peregrines being banded yet but there are three of them on the ledge.

In the odds and sods, a late Rough-legged Hawk flew over Blackheath. This is a yearly event for this yard lister with the latest seen record of June 14th over the same yard. A Hooded Warbler is a very vocal presence near the Community Centre on Jerseyville Road in Ancaster. A Common Nighthawk made a pass over the Dofasco Trail in Saltfleet last week. Last Friday a White-eyed Vireo was banded at Ruthven. Yellow-billed Cuckoos were seen at the corner of Paddy Green and Powerline Road and at Rock Chapel this week.

That's the news this week. Please continue to send in your sightings.

Good Birding,
Cheryl Edgecombe
905-381-0329
HNC Hotline

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