The most notable birds of the week were a BARROW’S GOLDENEYE off Amherst Island and a GADWALL x MALLARD hybrid (also known as a BREWER’S DUCK) at the Invista Lagoon (Cataraqui Bay). There continue to be good numbers of raptors in our area but almost no finches aside from AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. Numerous “unseasonable” birds are listed below.
City of Kingston The Invista Lagoon and Cataraqui Bay area continues to host up to 3 BALD EAGLES and numerous waterbirds including TUNDRA SWAN, GADWALL, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, HOODED MERGANSER, COMMON MERGANSER and AMERICAN COOT. A flock of 10 000 COMMON MERGANSERS stretched along the Kingston waterfront from Confederation Basin to Barrie Street on the 8th. Other waterbirds off Kingston include 4 CANVASBACKS, 3030 REDHEADS and 2 COMMON LOONS. LONG-TAILED DUCKS were reported off Point Frederick. A GREAT BLUE HERON was seen from Bath Road on the Collin’s Bay Penitentiary property. SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS have not been all that common this winter but one was reported from the intersection of Highway 38 and Cordukes Road. A grey-phase EASTERN SCREECH-OWL was in the Saint Lawrence Woods subdivision. A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was singing briefly on Queen’s University campus. Lemoine Point Conservation Area always has a few seasonally interesting birds including 39 TUNDRA SWANS in Collin’s Bay (along with other less flashy waterfowl), a NORTHERN FLICKER and a dozen or so AMERICAN ROBINS. Amherst Island A BARROW’S GOLDENEYE was recorded off Amherst Island during the Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey. I don’t have any more details on this sighting. Also of note on the survey were 104 TUNDRA SWANS, 1 RED-THROATED LOON, 2 COMMON LOONS, 1 HORNED GREBE and 5 BALD EAGLES. This week’s raptor list was comprised of NORTHERN HARRIER, RED-TAILED HAWK, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, GREAT HORNED OWL and 12 SHORT-EARED OWLS. Bath and Millhaven A pair of SNOW GEESE has been seen by several observers in the fields and on Lake Ontario west of Bath up until at least last weekend. Other waterbirds along the shoreline in this area include 1 NORTHERN PINTAIL, both species of SCAUP, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 1 COMMON LOON and 1 HORNED GREBE. A SNOWY OWL remains just east of Millhaven, north of the Millhaven Inn. BALD EAGLES are frequently seen along the lake shore. Bedford Mills A FIELD SPARROW and a RUSTY BLACKBIRD continue to visit a feeder just south of Bedford Mills. Up to 2 PURPLE FINCHES and 1 COMMON REDPOLL are the only finches aside from goldfinches reported all week. A NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen on the 12th. Opinicon Road TRUMPETER SWANS continue to be reliably sighted at Chaffey’s Lock, albeit in lower numbers, with only 6 present for most of the past week. BALD EAGLES are also commonly reported all over the countryside. If you want to see them look around any patch of open water or drive the back roads around the Rideau Lakes. An adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK and an immature NORTHERN SHRIKE were at Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS) on the 7th but neither has been seen since. Small numbers of BROWN CREEPERS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES persist in the countryside around QUBS and Chaffey’s Lock. Waxwings remain few and far between with only 2 at QUBS’s Fullard Conservation Reserve on Lake Opinicon. Six LAPLAND LONGSPURS were in a field just off of Opinicon Road yesterday. Prince Edward County The highlights in the eastern end of the county this week are the large concentrations of ducks including rafts of 25 500 and 29 100 GREATER SCAUP, 24 800 LONG-TAILED DUCKS and 505 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS. A lone CANVASBACK was off the Waupoos shoreline. One BLACK SCOTER, 4 SURF SCOTERS and 1 RED-NECKED GREBE were off Prince Edward Point. Wolfe Island Waterfowl around the island include up to 185 TUNDRA SWANS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, GREATER SCAUP, LONG-TAILED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GODENEYE, and all three MERGANSER species. Raptorial birds reported this week (with high counts given) were 17 BALD EAGLES, 6 NORTHERN HARRIERS, 17 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 1 AMERICAN KESTREL and 1 NORTHERN SHRIKE. One observer had an impressive count of 10 SNOWY OWLS nearly all within sight of each other. Other Sightings WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at Ivy Lea and GREEN-WINGED TEAL off Howe Island. Small numbers of COMMON LOON at Ivy Lea and Howe Island. There was a male NORTHERN HARRIER near Wilstead. A GREAT BLUE HERON was at Elginburg. A GREAT HORNED OWL was near Odessa and a BARRED OWL was on Florida Road near Wilton. NORTHERN SHRIKES seem to be turning up all over the place. In addition to those mentioned above, there was one in a Harrowsmith backyard and another along Davis Lock Road. The YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER hasn’t been seen in Elginburg since last Sunday but a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER is still being seen at the same bird feeder daily. Forty BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS were along Woodburn Road. Thank you to all those who submitted sightings this week. Keep them coming. -- Mark Andrew Conboy Operations & Research Assistant and Outreach Coordinator Queen’s University Biological Station 280 Queen's University Road Elgin, Ontario, Canada K0G 1E0 phone: 613-359-5629 fax: 613-359-6558 email: [email protected] or [email protected] QUBS website: http://www.queensu.ca/qubs/index.html QUBS blog: http://opinicon.wordpress.com/ QUBS flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qubsoutreach/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
