It has been a most satisfying week locally. While the passerine migration has almost ground to a halt there has been a considerable improvement in the number of raptors and we are almost inundated with waterfowl.
Northern Goshawks were seen at Elginburg on the 31st and on Amherst Island yesterday. There was a Bald Eagle at Bedford Mills on Sunday and a Merlin south of Camden East on Wednesday. There are a handful of N. Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks and Am. Kestrels on Wolfe Island and a similar mix on Amherst with the addition of 3 Rough-legged Hawks and a Snowy Owl on Wednesday. There were also 6 Short-eared Owls on the 2nd Concession on Amherst on Sunday. Birds that might hang around for the winter include Purple Finch; 3 in the Cataraqui Cemetery, one at Bedford Mills and 5 at Battersea; Am. Tree Sparrow, the first at Elginburg on Oct. 25th and then another at Battersea on Sunday, then 3 more at Camden East today. A Brown Creeper is at Bedford Mills along with a Red-breasted Nuthatch. There was another Red-breasted Nuthatch at Camden East yesterday, a N. Shrike was at Elginburg on Monday and Snow Buntings were seen at the Cataraqui Cemetery, on Amherst and on Wolfe. There were a few Lapland Longspurs mixed in with the Wolfe Island buntings. Birds not expected to hang around are a Fox Sparrow at Bedford Mills and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the cemetery. The only shorebirds reported were 3 Black-bellied Plover, a Greater Yellowlegs and a couple of Dunlin on Amherst yesterday and an Am. Woodcock north of Barriefield a week ago. There were at least 8 Double-crested Cormorants on Amherst yesterday along with a Great Blue Heron and two Great Black-backed Gulls. Bonaparte's Gulls are still easy to find in the Greater Cataraqui River, on Amherst or on Wolfe. Four areas of waterfowl concentration were well studied this week. At the Little Cataraqui Creek and Elevator Bay there were 13 species including 300 Ring-necked Ducks, 45 N. Pintails, 8 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Ruddy Ducks and a N. Shoveler. The area's first Tundra Swans arrived there on Sunday. In the Greater Cataraqui River from Belle Park there is an excellent selection of puddle ducks and a few divers. Most notable were the large numbers of Am. Wigeon and N. Shoveler. There were also 2 Pied-billed Grebes. On Amherst yesterday, there were about 5 dozen Common Loons on the way over and a Red-necked Grebe on the return trip. At the east end of the island there was a large raft of Greater Scaup containing several Redheads. There were also good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Black Ducks. We were also entertained by a very vocal flock of 67 Tundra Swans. On Wolfe it appears that both Button and Bayfield Bays are chock-full of waterfowl; in descending order of abundance: 20,000 Greater Scaup, 16,000 Redheads, 4000 Ring-necked, 1800 Am. Wigeon, 900 Lesser Scaup, 300 Tundra Swans, 40 Hooded Mergansers, 25 Canvasbacks, 10 Long-tailed Ducks, and singletons of Brant, Snow and Cackling Geese and Ruddy Duck and this doesn't even mention the always numerous Canada Geese and Mallards. The Kingston Field Naturalists do their annual 24 hour Fall Round-up this weekend and if the weather cooperates it should be a most productive outing. 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 [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
