Winter has arrived and as expected, waterfowl numbers are going down and feeders are getting busier. There is still some open water at Dupont but the only ducks reported this week were the female Canvasback and 3 Ring-necked Ducks. Last Sunday the Snow Goose was seen on the penitentiary property and downriver east of the city were 5 Tundra Swans, 6 Gadwall, and 7 Long-tailed Ducks.
Two Sharp-shins were seen this week; one on Wolfe Island, the other on the Westbrook Rd. A Cooper's was in the Strathcona Park area no doubt making all the feeder birds more than a little nervous. A N. Harrier panicked the Bluejays and Mourning Doves as it flew over a backyard near Camden East on Wednesday; the second harrier seen in the area of late. Another harrier was reported from Elginburg and several were seen north of Gananoque this week. This is a bit unusual to see so many north of the 401 in midwinter. What wasn't unusual was a report of 17 on Wolfe Island last Tuesday. Also on Wolfe were 6 Short-eared Owls and one Snowy. There were three sightings of Common Ravens; 2 north of Gananoque, 2 at the Napanee Dump, and 25 at the Sydenham dump. The Napanee dump has its usual great selection of winter gulls with 1000+ Herring, 50 Great Black-backed, 3 Glaucous, and 2 Iceland seen yesterday. The snow and cold has not only increased the number of regular feeder birds but has caused some irregulars to come out of the woodwork. The two dozen Red-wings that had supposedly left the feeder near Elginburg all came back, 3 more showed up in Edenwood Estates, 2 at a feeder on the Gore Rd. and a singleton at Camden East. Two White-throated Sparrows arrived on Churchill Cres. and a few Purple Finches near Elginburg. The female Ring-necked Pheasant that has been showing up infrequently at a Camden East feeder since October put in another appearance on Wednesday. There were four mentions of Carolina Wrens; two in the city, one at Pt. St. Mark and the previously reported one in Cartwright Pt. The most unusual occurrence was an American Pipit feeding on chicken scratch at a farm near Gananoque. I wonder what next week will bring. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
