Despite the lingering winter there is some open water at this end of Lake Ontario. The south shore of Amherst Island is completely ice-free and there is a large section from the Lennox Generating Station west towards Sandhurst that is open. Both of these areas are loaded with hundreds of waterfowl, nothing out of the ordinary, but impressive nevertheless because of the large numbers and the intermixing of so many species. Away from these two areas the only sightings of note were 3 Double-crested Cormorants in the Dupont lagoon on Tuesday and 3 Canvasbacks at Gananoque on Wednesday.
There have been several reports of Killdeer, E. Meadowlark, Song Sparrow, and Am. Woodcock this week and a few more Turkey Vultures to add to the list of new arrivals. In the departures department the Pine Grosbeaks have moved on and Common Redpoll numbers are down from what they were a few weeks ago. There was a flock of Bohemian Waxwings at Marble Rock on Wednesday. Raptor sightings have been excellent this week. Bald Eagles on the Cataraqui River, at Perth Road Village, and at Ivy Lea; Red-shouldered Hawks at Perth Road Village and Wolfe Lake, and a pair of Osprey on the Thousand Island Parkway. The downtown Merlin put in another appearance on College Street on Wednesday. An early trip to Amherst this morning had good results; as well as the aforementioned waterfowl there were at least two dozen Rough-legged Hawks and a N. Harrier in the eastern half of the island and a Peregrine Falcon standing on the ice off the northeast end. The Owl Woods (you should walk in from the south shore) yielded 6 Am. Woodcock, a Saw-whet, a Long-eared as well as 2 Barred Owls. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
