There has been a whole slew of new migrants this week, lots of interesting sightings and at least two that were totally unexpected. There was an Am. Bittern at the Queen's University Biological Station(QUBS) on the 25th and a Green Heron at Bedford Mills the next day. Virginia Rails were reported from Lost Lake on the 26th and Little Cat on the 29th and there were 2 Common Moorhens near Yarker last Sunday. Thirty Horned and 5 Red-necked Grebes were off Amherst Island a week ago and what was really unusual were 8 more Red-necked on Lake Opinicon yesterday. (These are very rarely reported away from Lake Ontario.)
A trip to Amherst last Friday produced several species of shorebird including 5 Upland and 2 Spotted Sandpipers, 1 Greater and 9 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Dunlin and a Wilson's Phalarope. Also on Amherst, a single Long-eared Owl and 2 Rough-legged Hawks were the raptor highlights. So far only Blue-headed and Warbling Vireos have been seen; the former on Amherst on the 25th and at Lemoine Pt. on the 26th, and the latter at the QUBS on the 25th and on the Opinicon Road on the 27th. Ten species of warbler were noted this week: 2 Yellow-rumped on Amherst last Friday, 4 Yellow at Lemoine Pt., 1 Pine on the Canoe Lake Road, 3 N. Waterthrush at Lost Lake and a Palm on the Opinicon Rd. on Saturday, a Louisiana Waterthush and a Nashville on the Canoe Lake Road and 2 Black-and-white and 2 more N. Waterthrush on the Opinicon Rd. on Sunday, and a Black-throated Green at Lansdowne and a Black-throated Blue at Lemoine Pt. on Wednesday. There were 20+ Bank Swallows at a sand pit near Yarker on Sunday and 4 Purple Martins at Lemoine Pt. on Wednesday. The first Whip-poor-will of the season was at Bedford Mills and the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird was on Amherst, both seen on the 27th. Flycatchers arrived this week; 2 E. Kingbirds on the Opinicon Rd. last Sunday, a Great-crested at Lansdowne on Wednesday and a Least at Chaffey's Lock yesterday. The trip up the Opinicon Rd. last Sunday also had 2 Winter Wrens, a House Wren and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Five Evening Grosbeaks passed through Lemoine Pt. on Saturday and a singleton visited a feeder near Glenburnie from Sunday until Wednesday. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was at Lansdowne and a White-crowned Sparrow picked at freshly planted grass seed near Camden East on Wednesday. The last? Common Redpoll was at Elginburg on Saturday. The most surprising sighting was another Great Gray Owl, the third locally since mid March, found on the QUBS property last Saturday. 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 instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
