WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, April 20, 2006
A late SNOWY OWL that was mentioned in last week's report, has now moved
south a few kilometres and was seen along Chase Crossroad April 18th. The
bird was on a fence post right beside the road and the observers had a close
look at it for several minutes. Other than that, spring seems to
progressing along quite normally, although the arrival of spring migrants
has been slow this past week.
At Prince Edward Point, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS are slowly returning to
the shoal offshore and up to 125 have been seen in a day and COMMON LOONS
are still trickling through. Two BLUE-WINGED TEALS were seen in the harbour
on the 19th and an AMERICAN BITTERN flew past on the evening of the 17th.
Duck numbers offshore have started dwindling with only 200 LONG-TAILED
DUCKS being seen daily now and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS have virtually
disappeared. A female HOODED MERGANSER was seen in the harbour on the 18th
and up to 50 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS are going past daily. A NORTHERN
GOSHAWK was seen hunting on the evening of the 17th but few raptors are
being seen. Up to 7 WILD TURKEYS frequent the corner near Point Traverse
with the male displaying there daily. A KILLDEER has been seen most days
this week and a LESSER YELLOWLEGS flew over calling on the 18th. Three
LITTLE GULLS were among the BONAPARTE'S GULLS on the 16th, of which 800
were counted on that day. The first CASPIAN TERN appeared in the harbour on
the 18th calling wildly just after dawn. Woodpecker numbers have decreased
with peaks of 3 YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS and 65 NORTHERN FLICKERS being
seen On the 15th, a flicker Intergrade was trapped. The EASTERN PHOEBES
have set up territory around the harbour and the TREE, BARN and CLIFF
SWALLOWS are looking at their nest sites.
Half a dozen BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES are around the banding area, a lot
fewer than Braddock Bay across the lake where 111 were trapped in a day. A
surprise in the nets on the 18th was a BOREAL CHICKADEE, only the third
banded at the Observatory, one must presume that this is a bird returning
north after last fall's movement. With the northerly winds, few new
migrants are being found in the bushes, but 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS flew over
on the 15th and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS were seen on the 18th and 20th. A
few HERMIT THRUSHES are still being found and 2 BROWN THRASHERS were seen
on the 19th and 20th. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS finally arrived on the 15th
but only three have been seen to date. As soon as the winds turn southerly
we should see more of them making their way north. The occasional AMERICAN
TREE SPARROW has been seen with the last on the 18th. A SAVANNAH SPARROW and
an EVENING GROSBEAK were banded on the 19th. The banded LINCOLN'S SPARROW
has been seen twice more and SWAMP SPARROWS are starting to come through.
Two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS were seen on the 18th and three HOUSE SPARROWS, rare
at Prince Edward Point, appeared today.
Other observers at Prince Edward Point on the 15th saw a MERLIN, 3
RED-NECKED GREBES, 2 HORNED GREBES, 12 BROWN CREEPERS, 30 GOLDEN-CROWNED
KINGLETS, 6 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 3 HERMIT THRUSHES, as well as
WHITE-THROATED, FIELD, and SAVANNAH SPARROWS.
Elsewhere in the county, and north of the border, the story has been
woodpeckers. YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS have been reported by several people
in the Quinte area. A PILEATED WOODPECKER was seen near Lyons Road in the
county, and north of the county, there was a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a
PILEATED WOODPECKER seen near the community of Wallbridge. At Sheffield
Conservation Area, 11 km south of Kaladar, there was a nice assortment of
woodpeckers, all observed drumming away at once in the parking lot area.
Included in the collection was a PILEATED, DOWNY, HAIRY and 2 YELLOW-BELLIED
SAPSUCKERS. As I was unloading my kayak from the roof of the car, one
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER landed less than six feet from me, and drummed
vigorously on the bow of the kayak !
A MERLIN has been seen in one area of Picton displaying signs of nesting,
and we are monitoring that at the moment. PIED-BILLED GREBES have been
calling from the east end of the Big Island Marsh, and SWAMP SPARROWS
arrived there on the 14th and are now quite commonly heard. Meanwhile, near
the west end, there was a lone TUNDRA SWAN present this morning, along with
some 80 CANADA GEESE. Four AMERICAN WIGEON, 100 scaup, and up to 40 CANADA
GEESE continue to occupy Muscote Bay at the extreme west end of the Big
Island Marsh. Several hundred COMMON GOLDENEYE showed up on Consecon Lake
this week, unprecedented for that body of water.
Although the famous Kaiser Crossroad waterfowl site is now a field of dust
due to the dry weather, the Bucknell's Slough along Wesley Acres Road south
of Bloomfield, continues to enjoy at least a little bit of activity. On
Tuesday, there were 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS present. The status of the COMMON
RAVENS in the county remains a mystery, although it appears that the species
is definitely becoming established. A pair was seen at Cape Vesey during the
week performing aerial displays, and other sightings have come from Fish
Lake, Sandbanks, Prince Edward Point, Milford, Consecon, South Bay, Glenora
Road, Black River, Elmbrook and Green Point Road. While the same
individuals may be involved in a few of these sightings, it appears quite
clear that the species is moving in.
And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area.
Our thanks to David Okines, Paul Mackenzie, Pamela Martin, Cathie Stewart,
Lloyd Paul, Peter Marshall, Judith Gray, Barry Pinsky, Jane Clarke, Doug &
Evelyn Sloane, Fred Chandler, Nancy Fox, Carol Perlberg, Henri Garand, Ted
Cullin and Donald & Judith McClure for their contributions to this week's
report. This report will be updated on Thursday, April 27th. Bird sightings
may be forwarded any time to [EMAIL PROTECTED] before the Thursday 6:00 p.m.
deadline. This report also appears for a week on the NatureStuff website,
under BIRDING, where this week's photo of a SWAMP SPARROW is by Russ Kitchen
of Thomasburg.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
