Margaux Rat and I spent a few low-key hours covering a portion of the western end of Wolfe Island today on our bikes. It was quiet overall, but we came up with lingering 3 Snowy Owls still lingering around, the first juxtaposed with Killdeer calling on the wing in front of it. Two were nice white males, one flaunting the wind farm development by using a portable toilet roof as its lookout. This is surely the trailing edge of a fantastic year for these birds in the Kingston region. A couple of Rough-legged Hawks remained but there seems to have been a strong flight out in the last week or so, and Red-tails are again the most common Buteo.
An Eastern Bluebird was best of the returning migrants as it is not a common bird on Wolfe. Horned Larks seem to have completely replaced Snow Buntings. A small flock of Wild Turkey among the turbines and a group of Northern Pintail on the ice of Sand Bay were the only other notable sightings, with only Mute Swans joining the Canada Geese to our dismay. Most of the western coast of Wolfe is still ice-bound, limiting waterfowl numbers. Another week or so should bring a more earnest arrival of spring. Directions: Wolfe Island can be accessed from the ferry dock at Barrack and Ontario Sts. in downtown Kingston. See http://www.wolfeisland.com/ferry.php. Chris Kimber MSc. Candidate Dept. of Biology Queen's University Kingston, ON neongol...@gmail.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
