Everyone, Some have been asking for an update on birding conditions along Opinicon Road in Eastern Ontario, so here it is:
Though migration was fairly slow this spring all of the most sought after species have returned to Opinicon Road at this time. I counted 15 cerulean and 3 golden-winged warblers between the Lindsay Lake Road (trail) to the Skycroft Campground. Other warblers present in the area include yellow, chestnut-sided, blackburnian, magnolia, black-throated blue, yellow-rumped, prairie (only 1, on May 9), palm, pine, black-throated green, black-and-white, Canada and Nashville warblers, along with American redstart, northern parula, northern waterthrush, ovenbird and common yellowthroat. A blue-winged warbler was foraging and singing in the shrubs along the creek just south of Crosby on Highway 15 (about 1 km north of where Opinicon/Chaffey's Lock Road (the name changes part way along the road) meets Highway 15). A white-phase snow goose was there too. Other birds of interest: yellow- and black-billed cuckoos (still low numbers), 2 red-bellied woodpeckers (on May 13; 1 on Lindsay Lake Road and 1 near the Skycroft Campground), peregrine falcon (1), bald eagle (1), American bitterns, Virginia rails, sora (1), blue-gray gnatcatchers and yellow-throated vireos (and 3 other vireo spp). My field assistants and I saw a tufted titmouse back on May 5 at the Queen's University Biological Station. Unfortunately it has not been relocated, but keep your eyes and ears peeled - it's an unusual bird around here. Pretty well all of the expected migrants have returned with only the latest-arriving species left to make an appearance. Finally, recent counts of eastern whip-poor-wills along Opinicon Road, Massassauga Road and the Cataraqui Trail have provided estimates of about 50 singing males within earshot of the roads/trail - not too bad for a threatened species. If you come whip-poor-willing you'll also hear lots of American woodcocks, common snipes, barred owls and an occasional great horned owl. Directions to Opinicon Road: From Kingston: Go north on Division Street/Perth Road/County Road 10 to just past Perth Road Village. Turn east (right) on Opinicon Road. From Ottawa: Go west on Highway 417 to Highway 7. At Carleton Place turn south (left) on Highway 15. Follow Highway 15 for about 60 km through Smith's Falls and all the way to Chaffey's Lock Road (name changes to Opinicon Road west of Chaffey's Lock). The best birding is between Chaffey's Lock and Perth Road. Queen's University Biological Station (main operations centre; emergency address 280) is located at the end of Queen's University Road, 2 km west of Chaffey's Lock. Note: Visitors are welcome at Queen's Univsersity Biological Station throughout the year. Please avoid distrubing ongoing avain research projects by staying on the trails and not using playback. If you have questions about research at QUBS you can contact Mark Andrew Conboy by email (mcon...@lakeheadu.ca). Mark -- Mark Andrew Conboy Operations & Research Assistant and Outreach Coordinator Queen’s University Biological Station 280 Queen's University Road Elgin, Ontario, Canada K0G 1E0 phone: 613-359-5629 fax: 613-359-6558 email: 7m...@queensu.ca or mcon...@lakeheadu.ca QUBS website: http://www.queensu.ca/qubs/index.html QUBS blog: http://opinicon.wordpress.com/ QUBS flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qubsoutreach/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
