Locally the interest and numbers of birds seems to have shifted from warblers and shorebirds to raptors and waterfowl. Today off Amherst Island there were 25 Common Loons and 24 Horned Grebes. There was also a Red-necked Grebe and a Red-throated Loon. A Common Loon remained on Devil Lake at least until Tuesday. Canada Goose numbers are expanding rapidly with large flocks in many of the harvested fields. A field trip to Wolfe Island last Sunday had one lone Snow Goose amongst the thousands of Canadas. There were also 6 Snow Geese last Saturday with many Canadas at a large pond south of Napanee. Thirty Ruddy Ducks in the Cataraqui River last Saturday were a highlight after searching through hundreds of Am. Wigeon, Mallards and other species of waterfowl. Shorebirds are still present in the usual areas but numbers are down and all are common varieties. The area's first Rough-legged Hawk was on Amherst on Monday and a Short-eared Owl survey on Tuesday, that covered only the centre part of the island, turned up an impressive 35 N. Harriers as well as a single Short-eared Owl. Another Short-eared was seen on the KFN property today. Purple Finches, Fox Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes and Rusty Blackbirds moved through in good numbers this week. There have been a few reports of small numbers of Pine Siskins. There was a Tree Sparrow on Wolfe on Sunday, a Lincoln's at Elginburg on Tuesday and a Chipping at Bedford Mills today. A few hundred Tree Swallows on Wolfe Island last Sunday indicated that flying insects were still to be found. The best birds of the week were a Brewer's Blackbird seen last Friday and a Boreal Chickadee, both reported from the Queen's Biology Station on Lake Opinicon. 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 ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
