WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA
for the week ending Thursday, March 24, 2005
Spring arrived this past week in little spurts as though unsure of its
welcome. However, there was enough warm, sunny weather to stimulate the
arrival of least a few of the traditional early migrants. Few KILLDEERS have
followed since the arrival of the first individual in Prince Edward County
exactly one week ago (one turned up today at the west end of Big Island) ,
but other species have come along to lend support. AMERICAN WOODCOCKS were
calling near Point Petre on March 18th, and a GREAT BLUE HERON flew over in
the direction of a heronry that is located at Gull Pond. Other GREAT BLUE
HERONS were seen during the week the following day at THE ROCK at Prince
Edward Bay, another flying over Consecon on the 16th, and another in Milford
on Wednesday. North of the County, 4 GREAT BLUE HERONS in flight were seen
at Phillipstone Road (near Thomasburg) on the 20th. One was also seen at
Adolphustown on the 18th. Also north of the County, an EASTERN BLUEBIRD
turned up at a nesting box along Lahey Road in the Madoc area on the 21st.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are back in full force with the first major
numbers, other than wintering individuals, arriving last weekend. COMMON
GRACKLES first appeared March 18th near Bloomfield, followed by March 22nd
east of Lake-on-the-Mountain, and March 23 in Picton, all dates much later
than in past years. A flock of 25 was spotted at the west end of
Kleinsteuber/Parks Road, and four at Massassauga, also on the 23rd, and
several first timers at the author's feeder the same day.
TURKEY VULTURES have made an grand appearance with 2 being seen over
Picton Harbour on March 21st, 1 over Bloomfield on the 20th, another two
seen on the 22nd over Highway 33 in the Danforth Road area, two west of
Picton and 2 in South Marysburgh, both on the 23rd, and 4 on March 24th at
Smith's Bay.
As warmer weather continues, waterfowl is becoming more dispersed at two
of the better viewing areas in the County as ice continues to melt. West
Lake at Wellington had about 2,000 ducks on Wednesday, comprising some 16
species. New arrivals this week were CANVASBACKS. The Outlet River at East
Lake had about 300 ducks & geese comprising mainly scaup, COMMON GOLDENEYE,
BUFFLEHEADS, CANADA GEESE, and a handful of AMERICAN BLACKS. In Prince
Edward Bay, open water conditions continue to improve and during the week
COMMON GOLDENEYE, LONG-TAILED DUCKS, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON MERGANSER and
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER were identified by observers down there. It is only a
matter of time before all attention will be focused on the famous flooded
fields along Kaiser Crossroad, east of Waupoos, where thousands of ducks
will commence to gather, including NORTHERN PINTAILS. We will be reporting
on the weekly status down there as things start to pick up.
As the snow continues to melt, and the fields become bare, many bird
feeders are responding with less patronage although BLUE JAY visitation
remains high with close to 35 still invading the feeders at 23 Sprague Road,
along with some 30 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS that have been regulars for much of
the winter. A feeder along Glenora Road continues to host 40 COMMON
REDPOLLS, 2 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS and the NORTHERN FLICKER that has been a
regular all winter. Two RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and 9 NORTHERN CARDINALS are
coming to a feeder at 2075 County Road 7. A feeder at Thomasburg hosted over
100 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES one day last week.
GREAT GRAY OWLS? Reports have tapered off and the two individuals have
not been seen along Sprague Road for several days, although one was reported
at nearby Northport on Tuesday. Two others were seen on Phillipstone Road
north of Belleville on the 20th. One interesting sighting came from the
Tweed area, where an observer there watched in fascination as a GREAT GRAY
OWL landed on a fence post, shook its head three or four times, then cast
out a pellet, "like an old farmer spitting out a wad of chewing tobacco."
The observer collected the pellet as a souvenir. Birders cherish odd things.
Other interesting sightings during the week included a SCREECH OWL east
of Lake-on-the-Mountain on March 6th (another heard at Hay Bay on the 23rd),
two PILEATED WOODPECKERS at Fish Lake Road near Foster Road, and two BALD
EAGLES (1 adult and 1 immature) at the Quinte Skyway Bridge near Deseronto.
A NORTHERN HARRIER was seen on the 18th and 24th at County Road 2 and 19 in
Ameliasburgh. WILD TURKEYS this past week were seen at Glenora Road (7 at a
feeder), and 30 in a field along County Road 11 near Fosterholm Farms, both
in Prince Edward County, and the customary flock at the Sidney Street/401
location north of Belleville.
And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte
area for this week. Our thanks to Fred & Janet Chandler, Don Craighead, Judy
Bell, Brent Seaton, Silvia Botnick, John Squair, Trudy Kitchen, Brenda
DeCastris, Sheila Simmons, Susan MacKay, David Bree, Frank Artés & Carolyn
Barnes, Laura Pierce, Peter Marshall, Bill Hogg, Joe Victor, Henri Garand,
Brian Durell, and Nancy Fox for their contributions to this week's report.
This report will be updated on Thursday, March 31st. Bird sightings may be
forwarded to [EMAIL PROTECTED] at any time before the Thursday 6:00 p.m.
deadline. This report also appears on the NatureStuff website at
www.naturestuff.net under BIRDING, and our thanks to Dave Bell of Maitland
Avenue, Belleville for contributing his photo of a WILD TURKEY (taken at the
Sidney Street location) for this week's website report.
Terry Sprague
Picton, Ontario
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
