WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA
for Sunday October 05, 2003
No word this week on the status of the COMMON EIDER that has been seen
off and on at Prince Edward Point since first appearing on September 13th.
It was last seen September 27th. A visit there on September 30th failed to
reveal any sign of it. At the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area,
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS are starting to appear in the woods, and BLUE JAYS
are still passing over in droves. Nuthatches and creepers are becoming more
obvious as are both species of kinglets. The first WINTER WRENS showed up on
September 24th, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES have shown some signs of movement
with 600 being seen daily.
On Tuesday at Prince Edward Point, there were good numbers of warblers,
mostly in the bushes near the water in the Point Traverse woods. One
Carleton Place observer likened it almost to spring birding with lots of
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, PINE WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, NORTHERN PARULA (3),
several BLACK-THROATED GREEN, 2 BLACK-THROATED BLUE, NASHVILLE, MAGNOLIA and
AMERICAN REDSTART. GRAY-CHEEKED and SWAINSON'S THRUSHES were also present.
There were several raptors that day including BALD EAGLE, BROAD-WINGED HAWK,
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, COOPER'S HAWK, NORTHERN HARRIER and OSPREY. Other birds
included both species of kinglets (lots of RUBYs), PURPLE FINCHES and a
FIELD SPARROW on the ground. About 10 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS flew by near the
lighthouse.
At Sandbanks Provincial Park, there has been good birding there this
past week with OVENBIRD, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, BROWN
CREEPER, WINTER WREN and flocks of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. BLUE-HEADED
VIREOS were also seen at Albury, east of Carrying Place, along with
NASHVILLE WARBLERS. A flock of several hundred RUSTY BLACKBIRDS descended on
a lawn there Thursday, and today there was a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK at this same
location.
At Point Petre on Wednesday, an observer there found hundreds of
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and 5,000+ EUROPEAN STARLINGS. In between all that
stuff were 2 AMERICAN PIPITS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, a SWAINSON'S THRUSH,
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, BROWN CREEPERS, a FIELD SPARROW, both
SHARP-SHINNED and COOPER'S HAWKS, AMERICAN KESTREL, and a RED-TAILED HAWK.
Many feeder operators around the county are reporting good numbers of
DARK-EYED JUNCOS, BLUE JAYS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. Two RUBY-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRDS are still coming to a nectar feeder in the Picton subdivision
of Fawcettville.
Two GREEN HERONS were seen on Tuesday at Lake-on-the-Mountain as well as
a NORTHERN HARRIER. The GREAT EGRET was still at Wellington Harbour as of
Thursday, and it, or another, was present at Sandy Cove, off Sunrise Drive
near Massassauga Point Conservation Area the following day. There was a
winter plumaged FORSTER'S TERN at Wellington Harbour on Thursday.
Outside the county, the bird of the week was the AMERICAN AVOCET on
Amherst Island on Friday. Today, a LONG-EARED OWL and a NORTHERN SAW-WHET
OWL were found at the north entrance to the Pine Woods. Also present at
Amherst Island today were both kinglets, both WHITE-CROWNED and
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were also present in small numbers at the H.R.
Frink Centre, 9 km north of Belleville, where both species of kinglets were
seen along with CANADA GEESE, NORTHERN FLICKER and BLUE JAYS. A NORTHERN
HARRIER was reported during the week, as well as a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, and
the first COMMON REDPOLL of the season. In the Trenton area, observers there
found the waterfront starting to show some signs of promise. Present
Thursday were about 50 AMERICAN COOTS, along with MALLARDS, CANADA GEESE,
AMERICAN WIGEON. Over a dozen NORTHERN SHOVELERS were concentrated in the
inlet west of Bain Park, and a RED-NECKED GREBE was in the Bay of Quinte
just off Bain Park.
And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and area. Our
thanks to John Blaney, David Okines, David Bree, Ken & Shirley Joyce, Agneta
Sand, Mike Jaques, Bruce DiLabio, Brian Credico, Helen Graham, Bob Sachs,
Alex Scott (OntBirds), Jeremiah Allen, Rae O'Brien, John & Margaret Moore,
and Bob Simpson for their contributions to this week's report. This report
will be updated by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 12th. Bird sightings must be
in by 6:00 p.m. to be included in the next report.
Terry Sprague
Picton, Ontario
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
"Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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