Most of the recent reports are of the large concentrations of waterfowl in the city. The Greater Cataraqui River has its usual large number of puddle ducks, divers and coots but 4 Mute and 46 Tundra Swans was a bit unexpected at that location. In Elevator Bay both swans can be found but there were also a couple of Canvasbacks and a Red-throated Loon this week. Highlights from the Amherstview sewage lagoons were 120 Bufflehead and 70 Bonaparte's Gulls. Winter birds noted were Northern Shrikes at Battersea, Camden East and Amherst Island; Pine Siskins, in very small numbers, at Bedford Mills, Chaffey's Lock and Elginburg; and a few Purple Finch moving through Prince Edward Point a week and a half ago. Raptors of note included an immature Golden Eagle near Gananoque and 2 Turkey Vultures at the Cataraqui Conservation Area on November 20th. Owls put on a good showing this week; a pair of E. Screech Owls north of Millhaven, Great Horned at the same location as well as at Battersea and the Queen's Biological Station, a Barred at Gould Lake, 7 Short-eared on Amherst and the area's first Snowy on the Amherst KFN property on November 25th. Other noteworthy sightings were a Red-winged Blackbird at Bedford Mills and Golden-crowned Kinglets at Dupont and Lemoine Point. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker continues to linger at the Elginburg feeder and the Peregrine Falcon has returned to the windowsill on Botterell Hall on the Queen's campus. A flock of 120 House Finches near Dupont was nearly ten times the largest group seen all year. 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 birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
