The following message is posted on behalf of the Kingston CC Co-ordinator - Ron Weir.
The 66th Kingston Christmas Count was carried out on Sunday 15 Dec 2013 in weather that was less than ideal and temperatures that varied from -19 C to -11 C by afternoon. Blowing snow and fog over the open water were issues during part of the morning, but once the wind velocity changed from NE30-50 kph to NW10-15 kph by late morning and the sun appeared, waterfowl could be readily identified on the extensive open water of Lake Ontario. A total of 45 observers took to the field in nine sections of the mandated circle. As of writing this account, 94 species were located and identified. This is an excellent tally for the weather conditions, but lies below the 21-year average of 104 species. The most numerous species were the 21,872 Canada Geese, 7,269 Mallards, 2,560 Scaup and 1990 starlings. Noteworthy are the 393 Tundra Swans, 33 Bald Eagles, one Peregrine Falcon, one Gyrfalcon (Wolfe Island), six species of owls including 22 Snowy Owls and 16 Short-eared Owls, 46 American Robins, 67 Northern Cardinals, and 766 Snow Buntings. Unusual finds are the two Cackling Geese, single Brant, two Barrow's Goldeneye, and one Tufted Titmouse. Winter finches were scarce with reports of only two Pine Siskins, 40 American Goldfinch along with our year-round House Finch. Ron Weir Mark D. Read 47 Ellerbeck Street, Unit 1, Kingston, Ontario K7L 4H7 Canada Mobile: +1 613 2171246 Email: markdr...@gmail.com Blog: "Confessions of a Global Birder" http://markdread.blogspot.com <http://markdread.blogspot.com/> Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdread/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
