COMMON LOONS continue to trickle through and up to 26 CANADA GEESE now
frequent the harbour, plus their 30+young. On the lake 20 BRANT flew past on
the 22nd. A WOOD DUCK is using one of the boxes around the harbour.
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and LONG-TAILED DUCKS had been seen regularly offshore
in reasonable numbers but moved on a couple of days ago and are now absent,
even the RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS are hard to find. When people go to look
for them, they can usually find the two remaining HARLEQUIN DUCKS below the
cliffs at Point Traverse. SPOTTED SANDPIPERS were first noticed on the 22nd
and the occasional LEAST SANDPIPER can be found on the beach. RING-BILLED
GULLS OFFSHORE are increasing and 1000 were seen on the 27th.
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS are calling most days and the springs first
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO turned up on the 25th. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS seem to
put in an appearance every few days. Now that late May is here more
flycatchers are arriving. Up to 12 EASTERN WOOD PEWEES can be seen daily
along with up to 15 TRAILL'S and LEAST FLYCATCHERS. YELLOW-BELLIED
FLYCATCHERS arrived on the 24th and 12 were present on the 27th, on the 24th
at least 9 GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS were present in the woodlot.
WARBLING VIREOS are nest building and a PHILADELPHIA VIREO was carrying nest
material as well on the 27th but they don't normally nest here. RED-EYED
VIREOS are plentiful and 30 were seen on the 24th. BLUE JAYS continue to
move and up to 120 a day are being recorded, with COMMON RAVENS continuing
to be seen almost daily. The CLIFF SWALLOWS continue to build nests but only
when the mud puddles are wet and two pairs at the moment are nesting on the
Observatory building. A very late GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET was seen on the
24th, the last one seen was on May 1st; RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS have dwindled
to one or so a day. At least four pairs of BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS are on
nests around the harbour, up from the usual two pairs.
Thrushes are now moving in reasonable numbers, up to 6 GRAY-CHEEKED have
been seen and SWAINSON'S numbered 30 on the 25th with 15+ being seen daily.
AMERICAN ROBIN numbers have been augmented in recent days by recently
fledged individuals, as have the EUROPEAN STARLINGS. CEDAR WAXWINGS started
to increase on the 21st and up to 300 are now to be seen roaming around the
Point. Although it's now late May, 20 species of warblers have been seen
during the week although most species are being seen in much smaller
numbers.
An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was banded on the 25th and MAGNOLIA numbers
continue to be reasonable with up to 60 in a day being noted. CAPE MAYS were
noted on the 21st and 24th, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was last seen on the
22nd. BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS are still adding touches of orange to the trees
and BLACKPOLL WARBLERS are trickling through with up to 5 in a day being
seen in the woods behind the Observatory. Most of the AMERICAN REDSTARTS
being seen are now second year males and females. NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES are
still being trapped. Up to four MOURNING WARBLERS per day are being seen as
are up to 6 CANADA WARBLERS.
Most of the SCARLET TANAGERS seen recently have been females but a nice male
was seen near the banding station on the 27th. The odd WHITE-THROATED and
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS are still being seen as are the occasional female
INDIGO BUNTING. An adult male and a female ORCHARD ORIOLE are sometimes
putting in an appearance indicating that they may be breeding around here
again.
The Observatory closes for the spring after banding on the 31st May. Visit
the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory website at www.peptbo.ca .
To reach Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, take Main Street from
the east end of downtown Picton, down the "Town Hill", and turn immediately
right onto Union Street (directly across from Tip of the Bay Motel). Follow
Union Street out of Picton (becomes County Road 8) for 2.5 km, and at the
junction in the highway, follow County Road 17. Take County Road 17 for 6.5
km and look for the Black River Cheese sign, and turn left onto County Road
16 and follow for 1 km to the Stop sign at County Road 13. Follow County
Road 13 past Black River Cheese for 23.6 km to the Prince Edward Point
National Wildlife Area (County Road 13 eventually becomes Long Point Road).
Follow Long Point Road until you begin passing the Point Traverse Woods and
trails on the left and the Observatory a half kilometre farther along.
Terry Sprague
tspra...@kos.net
www.naturestuff.net
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org
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