HSA Big Year - Weekly Summary (March 19 - 27)

On Sunday, March 19, I went to Beamer where I met up with Lauren Booker and we counted raptors for the day. We had a decent day for March totaling just under 100 raptors. Most of the birds were Turkey Vultures but we had had some Sharp-shinned Hawks, Cooper's Hawks, and a few Red-tailed Hawks. I think the best bird I saw that day at Beamer was not in fact a raptor, it was a few groups of Sandhill Cranes! These birds circled the tower a few times and called a little bit which was cool to witness. 

Sandhill Cranes

On Tuesday my mom and I went to Hamilton to attend our first in person Monthly Bird Study Meeting run by the Hamilton Naturalists' Club. It was great! 

Occasionally after school my mom and I would go out birding together and we decided to go to the Burlington/Hamilton area for the evening. We drove around Burlington first listening for Fish Crows and scanning the lake for ducks. After that we spent the last hour of daylight at the High Level bridge in Hamilton with Matt Mills. There we spotted a small group of Tree Swallows flying quickly just above Cootes Paradise and a couple hundred of blackbirds flying by. Didn't hear any Fish Crows that day but saw lots of ducks.

The next day after school, we went to Windermere Basin to look for some early shorebirds like Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs. I was able to do one scan of the basin before I received a message on Discord. A Glaucous-winged Gull (incredibly rare gull for Ontario; found on the west coast) had just been spotted by Bill Lamond near Brantford, roughly 50 minutes from us at the time. If we left immediately, we probably could have gotten there just before 6:30pm but we decided to stay in Hamilton to wait for the gull to come to us. In the winter, gulls in Brantford fly to Hamilton Harbour in the evening to roost. The majority of them seem to go to the Yacht Club so that's where we went. 

It was cold, sitting on a bench panning through a few hundred gulls didn't help. As the sun slowly set, more gulls were streaming in from the west. Searching basically till dusk did not reveal the rare gull. It was still neat to see 6 Iceland Gulls and a female Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser (hybrid) swimming around with some Common Goldeneyes. I wasn't too upset to miss this gull because they usually stick around for a few days in that general area but that didn't seem to be the case with this one. 

Iceland Gull

Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser (hybrid)

The next day was really bad weather and even with a few determined birders out looking, the Glaucous-winged Gull could not be found. Hopefully it's still somewhere out there.... in the HSA. 

Since the winds were so brutally strong that day (reaching 50km/h winds, stronger gusts) I went out to Oakville Harbour in the evening and did a short lakewatch. This reminded me of lakewatching at Van Wagner's Beach in fall during terrible weather and when the winds were so strong. The only thing missing was the people and jaegers. I was still pretty surprised to see a few Killdeer on the move flying against the wind right along the shoreline. A squirrel nearby was taking advantage of all the leaves being blown around and using those to build his nest high in a tree being swung around in the wind. 

Oakville Harbour during high winds

The rest of my weekend was spent with my dad around Hamilton and Niagara. We drove up and down the roads on the escarpment near Stoney Creek looking for dabbling ducks in the flooded fields. There wasn't a whole bunch of waterfoul around but we still managed to see a few Green-winged Teal, a pair of Northern Pintail and a pair of Blue-winged Teal! 

My dad dropped me off at Beamer and here's what I saw! eBird Checklist - Beamer CA

The Short-eared Owl was so unexpected!

I seem to always have a great time at Beamer; even if there's very little raptor movement, there's always great birders present to share stories with and listen to some of the experiences they've had. Even after 6 hours, I didn't want to leave. 

Hawkwatching at Beamer CA

HSA Year List: 114

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Whats new/arriving to the HSA?

- Already staring to see Tree Swallow's around large bodies of water (Cootes Paradise)

- Dabbling ducks like Blue-winged Teal have arrived this week (mainly seen in flooded fields up near Saltfleet, but could be anywhere where there is water)

- Red-necked Grebes will soon be appearing in the hundreds on Lake Ontario. 

- Loons are on the move; especially Common's. 

- Geese of all kinds are migrating (check out the rare birds below), good time to find a Ross's Goose with a Snow Goose. 

- Hawk migration is ramping up quickly! Anywhere along the escarpment can be good. Keep your eyes to the sky on south winds or even on calm days.

- A good time to get your FOY American Woodcock. Listen on calm nights around large grassy fields. 

- Some of the first shorebirds are showing up. Killdeer are practically everywhere but some shorebirds like Yellowlegs, Dunlin, and Pectoral Sandpiper are soon to arrive.  

- Fish Crows have arrived in small numbers around Peel and Burlington. 

- Migrants like Eastern Pheobe and Osprey have already been seen in the area and in about a month guess what we'll be starting to see & hear?! Warblers!!

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Recent Rare Bird Sightings: (birds in bold red means I have yet to see that species in the HSA this year)

Snow Goose - One landed on Lake Ontario off Fifty Point in Hamilton with a large flock of Canada Geese (Matt Mills & Rob Dobos; March 21)

One observed feeding in a field with many Canada Geese in Brant County on 5th Concession Rd W (Bill & Sarah Lamond; March 21) -- Blue morph found at same location (Nathan Hood; March 27)

A pair (blue & white morph) found in a pond on St. George Rd in Brant, just North of St George (Josh Nieuwenhuis; March 22)

White morph at Scotch Block reservoir in Halton (Yves Scholten; March 23)

Greater White-fronted Goose - The ones found by Dean Hughes in Haldimand were seen again on Sunday; roughly 80 individuals. 

One found around Christie Lake CA (Middletown Rd) in Hamilton (Sarah Sharp; March 19). This bird was present at that location for 2 days then it moved over to the fields around Flamboro Downs (Rowan Keunen; March 21)

One observed flying over Preservation Park, just south of Guelph (Erik Van Den Kieboom; March 21)

2 at Hespeler Mill Pond in Waterloo on one fine evening (Tim Kuntz; March 22)

2 in a pond near the town of Grassie, in Grimsby (Shannon Hingston; March 26)

Black Vulture - One flying east over Beamer CA in Niagara (Not sure who spotted this bird but the official counter at Beamer that day was Tom Thomas; March 21). For birds to be counted as migrants at Beamer, they have to be heading from East to West. This bird was said to be going east so perhaps it was one of those birds from New York that hang out along the Niagara River?

King Eider - Continuing female seen off Fifty Point. Been present since at least January 1st. 

Bohemian Waxing - A single individual found mixed in with a group of Cedar Waxwings in Wellington, near St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School (Dana Latour; March 22)

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL - Possibly one of the two from Ohio earlier this year; found in a flooded farm field on Cockshutt Rd, a kilometer south of Burtch Rd (Bill Lamond; March 24)