The Kingston Christmas Bird Count was held on Dec 16. Chris Grooms has posted the complete summary to OntBirds already, but there were a few interesting species worth mentioning again such as LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, SANDHILL CRANE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and TUFTED TITMOUSE (one individual of each species). The other species of note recorded this past week was the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD in the city's west end (see below). The usual winter birds had pretty well settled in across the Kingston Region with widespread observations of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, DARK-EYED JUNCO, SNOW BUNTING, COMMON REDPOLL and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (no other winter finches reported to me this past week). A few AMERICAN ROBINS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and BROWN CREEPERS were still around.
City of Kingston The NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD continued to inhabit the shrubbery behind the Gardiners Towncentre at the corner of Bath and Gardiners Roads in the city's west end. Kingston Mills had a congregation of over 700 COMMON MERGANSERS, 1 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, 1 BELTED KINGFISHER and 1 BALD EAGLE. Lake Ontario birds as seen from the Royal Military College included GADWALL, GREATER SCAUP, SURF SCOTER, LONG-TAILED DUCK, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 1 COMMON LOON, 1 BONAPARTE'S GULL and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was at Navy Bay. The Cataraqui River hosted AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, 40 RING-NECKED DUCKS, COMMON GOLDENEYE, HOODED and COMMON MERGANSERS, 1 BALD EAGLE, AMERICAN COOT, 5 BONAPARTE'S GULLS and 15 GREAT-BLACK-BACKED GULLS. A BALD EAGLE, a NORTHERN HARRIER and a COOPER'S HAWK were at CFB Kingston. North of the base, were an exceptional (for Kingston) number of SNOW GEESE: 116. Amherst Island Raptor numbers on the island are not especially high at this time. For example a three hour long trip there a few days ago produced 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 RED-TAILED HAWK, 4 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 1 AMERICAN KESTREL, 2 SNOWY OWLS and 1 BARRED OWL. Also of note were NORTHERN HARRIER, 1 LONG-EARED OWL, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, 2 NORTHERN SHRIKES, 2 COMMON RAVENS and 2 SONG SPARROWS. Bedford Mills A NORTHERN GOSHAWK, a COOPER'S HAWK, a NORTHERN GOSHAWK, 2 BALD EAGLES, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD were all at Bedford Mills. Wolfe Island A good diversity of waterbirds could be found off shore: MUTE SWAN, 103 TUNDRA SWANS, GADWALL, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, GREATER SCAUP, LONG-TAILED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and 2 BONAPARTE'S GULLS. Raptors included NORTHERN HARRIER, 3 BALD EAGLES, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 5 SNOWY OWLS, 1 BARRED OWL, 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS and AMERICAN KESTREL. There were also 2 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS. Thanks to all those who submitted observations over the past week. Happy holiday birding. 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: mark.con...@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/
