WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, November 01, 2007
PINE SISKINS continue to tantalize Quinte area residents with ambiguity as
two or three at some feeders are the norm in keeping with predictions for
this species, while other feeders in at least four locations have them
hanging off the feeders. A Glenora Road feeder this week had a flock of 20,
while flocks of similar size also turned up last week at other locations. A
scarcity of birch seeds in the north is supposed to gently usher redpolls
out of the boreal regions, and hopefully encourage them to make their way to
the Quinte area. And October 28th, a dozen did just that as they fed on
birch seeds behind the Town Hall in Bloomfield. EVENING GROSBEAKS are
turning up everywhere, but not in the numbers that stand out so vividly in
the memories of older birders who relate stories of many hundreds gorging on
sunflower seeds. Twenty-five turned up in Brighton during the week, a number
were seen in Bloomfield crunching down Manitoba maple seeds, and a flock
showed up for a few minutes on Crookston Road near Madoc. Not requiring any
particular reason to visit bird feeders in this area is the AMERICAN TREE
SPARROW, and increasing numbers of these are beginning to show up at feeders
across the region as winter gradually approaches even nearer.
PURPLE FINCHES are still staging appearances at several feeders in the
Quinte area and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES have been appearing as well. Even
more suggestive of winter's approach was an albeit small flock - only
three - SNOW BUNTINGS that showed up yesterday along the beach at Sandbanks.
A lone SNOW BUNTING was along the road to Prince Edward Point today. Babylon
Road today had AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, a NORTHERN SHRIKE and the first PINE
GROSBEAK of the season. Another bird often encountered along beaches, but
this time in a ploughed field along Benway Road on the 28th was a flock of
50 AMERICAN PIPITS. More typical of shorelines and taking advantage of
record low water levels was a GREATER YELLOWLEGS that called even before
full light early one morning at the east end of the Big Island Marsh.
Two RUDDY SHELDUCKS, likely escapees from a private collection somewhere,
have been hanging out with the MALLARDS along Belleville's Bayshore Trail
since last week, and were still there today. Another SNOW GOOSE was seen
during the week, this time off Green Point, south of Deseronto. Despite
heavy hunting pressure, thousands of ducks, mostly MALLARDS and AMERICAN
WIGEON remain in Muscote Bay at the west end of the Big Island Marsh. There
were six MUTE SWANS there today, as well as a single DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANT. At Tremur Lake, just north of Carrying Place, the HOODED
MERGANSER population has increased to over 90, and scaup there now number
about 50. Now that the banding season and regular migration monitoring at
Prince Edward Point is over for another year until next spring rolls around,
observers will have to drive down there themselves to keep up to date on the
current waterfowl population. Those visiting there for the first time need
to be reminded to fill up their car with gas in Picton and pick up some
snacks as you are a long way from a Tim Horton's ! However, today, one
observer did make it down there and noted thousands of GREATER SCAUP off
Prince Edward Point, along with a few WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and one female
BLACK SCOTER.
Ignoring some of the signs of colder weather in the offing have been several
species including a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET during the week at Wellington, a
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW still around near the junction of Jericho Road and
Highway 62, and two reports of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS - four at Chuckery Hill, 25
or so along Welbanks Road, three today along Babylon Road, and three really
optimistic individuals checking out a nesting box along Ridge Road. A late
FIELD SPARROW was seen along Welbanks Road, and a BARN SWALLOW, is still
coursing to and fro over the Brighton Sewage Lagoons where it has been for
several weeks. There were hundreds of AMERICAN ROBINS today in the Prince
Edward Point area.
WILD TURKEYS during the week were seen (6) along Harmony Road in Thurlow
Township, and 9 were seen in a field southeast of the Quinte Skyway Bridge
at Highway 49. The COMMON RAVEN has returned to Sprague Road after an
absence of more than two weeks, and with no dearth of this species in the
county now, we wonder if we even need to report them, as they continue their
expansion into Prince Edward County.
Patronage at local bird feeders is starting to pick up with all the regulars
present, some in rather startling numbers such as 40 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES at
a feeder along Glenora Road. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS are also clients at
that feeder, and others during the week appeared at feeders near Jericho
Road, Consecon, Wellington, Milford and Royal Road. A PILEATED WOODPECKER
showed up at one home in Thurlow during the week. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are
coming regularly to feeders at Big Island and Pleasant Bay. Of course, with
the arrival of songbirds at bird feeders, also comes the arrival of hawks
who like to do a little birding of their own. A COOPER'S HAWK on Green
Point Road consumed a MOURNING DOVE under a kitchen window at that location,
a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK did likewise at a feeder along Maitland Avenue in
Belleville, and another SHARP-SHINNED HAWK checked out a feeder this week on
County Road 7.
A rather amusing story, perhaps more so to me than to the person who
reported it, involved the appearance of a LONG-TAILED WEASEL that somehow
made its way into a local home. According to the observer, he first saw the
creature on the stairs and thought it was a large mouse. But when he
followed, it didn't scurry out of sight like a mouse. It hid behind chairs
and tables and cabinets, peered around them, then raced across the carpet to
another spot, as if playing hide and seek with him. He could hear its
footsteps on the carpeting. The weasel had a lithe body about eight or nine
inches, with brown back and tail, and white underside. At times he could
see it clearly because it paused five or six feet away. When it ran
upstairs again, he opened the porch door, but it refused to be herded
outside. Instead, it seemed to come looking for the home owner when he
adopted its own behaviour and hid round the hall corner. Stopping beside
the sofa, it looked up as if puzzled, then scampered down to the basement.
That was the last he saw of it. Some droppings, whether excreted in fear,
surprise or routine, were all it left behind. One was about two inches long
and slightly coiled, and might have made a curious souvenir. His wife was
quite upset when she returned home and was told about the intruder. Further
inspection of the basement and repeated assurances were not enough to calm
her. They were forced to sleep with the bedroom door closed and sealed at
the bottom with a barrier of books. As a child she had nightmares about her
feet being chopped off while she slept, so it didn't help when he joked that
weasels were carnivores especially fond of gnawing toes.
On that note, that's the Quinte Area Bird Report for this week. Our thanks
to Janet Foster, Evelyn Sloane, Donn Legate, Henri Garand, Fred Helleiner,
Pamela Stagg, John Blaney, Myrna Wood, Joanne Dewey, Serge de Sousa, Silvia
Botnick, Wayne McNulty, Fiona King, Ken & Shirley Joyce, Jack Campbell, John
Charlton and Yvette Bree for their contributions to this week's report. This
report will be updated on Thursday, November 8th, but sightings can be
e-mailed any time before the 6:00 p.m. Thursday deadline. Featured photos
this week in the online edition of the Quinte Area Bird Report as well as on
the Main Birding Page of a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH are all by Dave Bell of
Belleville. Good birding.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
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