WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for Sunday, October 19, 2003
At Prince Edward Point, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL banding continues with 176 banded during this past week. A SCREECH OWL was caught last night. A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was banded on the 12th, and on the 13th a few raptors were moving including 160 TURKEY VULTURES, 4 BALD EAGLES, 20 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, 8 RED-TAILED HAWKS and a handful of SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS. A late SCARLET TANAGER was banded the same day. There was a small arrival of other birds including 150 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 120 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 25 HERMIT THRUSHES, a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, and 100 each of WHITE-CROWNED and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. A LONG-EARED OWL was seen in the trees at the end of the harbour on Tuesday. A MERLIN was trapped and added to the Observatory's banding list on the 16th. Birds flying over that day included the first SNOW BUNTINGS (3) of the fall season, 25 SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, 30 RED-TAILED HAWKS, and 100 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. In the bushes were 250 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 100 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 100 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and 2 FOX SPARROWS. The scaup flocks offshore now number close to 2,500, and REDHEAD appeared on the 17th. Five LONG-TAILED DUCKS, 4 BUFFLEHEAD, 2 SURF SCOTERS and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS were among the duck species seen on Thanksgiving Monday while enroute to Main Duck Island. Other waterfowl seen at the island were both RED-BREASTED and COMMON MERGANSERS, HORNED GREBES, BLACK DUCKS, and COMMON LOONS. Although no jaegers were seen on this annual pelagic trip, a constant trail of bread crumbs upon the water attracted four species of gulls - RING-BILLED HERRING, GREAT BLACK-BACKED and BONAPARTE'S. Sightings on the island more than made up for the absence of jaegers and other possible pelagics. A dead juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON was found lying on the trail just east of the lightkeeper's house. Shorebirds found by the 10 of us on the trip included BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, 5 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. Several HERMIT THRUSHES turned up and there were at least 2 EASTERN TOWHEES added to the day's checklist, as well as 2 EASTERN PHOEBES at the lightkeeper's house, several BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, GREAT BLUE HERON, both WHITE-BREASTED and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BROWN CREEPERS, a WINTER WREN, both kinglet species, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, PURPLE FINCH, HOUSE FINCH, AMERICAN PIPITS, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. Sparrows, commonly recognized as such, included CHIPPING, FIELD, SONG, SAVANNAH, LINCOLN'S, WHITE-THROATED, and WHITE-CROWNED. Also putting in an appearance while we were having lunch near the lighthouse was the season's first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, to add to our raptor list of RED-TAILED HAWK and NORTHERN HARRIER. The big treat of the week was the appearance of 13 CATTLE EGRETS on Thursday. The birds appeared in the late afternoon, in a grassy area beside the No Frills grocery store on the western limits of Picton. The birds were gone the following day. Bird feeders in the area continue to bustle with fall arrivals including a plethora of BLUE JAYS. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH numbers remain high at most feeding stations, and several operators have had PURPLE FINCHES. And a special treat at a bird feeder on Gray's Lane, near King's Road, was a DICKCISSEL seen by New Jersey birder Bob Maurer. The bird arrived with a small flock of HOUSE SPARROWS. Today, at Big Island, there was a very vocal group of about 350 AMERICAN ROBINS flocking and feeding in a stand of red cedars along Sprague Road where they were joined by 50 DARK-EYED JUNCOS. Five WILD TURKEYS chanced an appearance on Thanksgiving in a field at the corner of County Roads 13 and 10. A NORTHERN HARRIER was reported today from 1111 South Big Island Road. A birder birding Belleville today located an interesting contrast off Sidney Street, north of 401, where he found 100 CANADA GEESE in a corn field, while in a field right beside it were 35 WILD TURKEYS. Birds reported at East Riverside Park across from the Wally Dever Arena in Belleville were BELTED KINGFISHER, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to David Okines (Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory), Bob Maurer, Cheryl Anderson, Bruce Ripley, Bruce DiLabio, Bob Sachs, Paul Mackenzie, Lloyd Paul, John and Margaret Moore and Thomas Rymes for their contributions to this week's report. This report will be updated by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 26th. Bird sightings must be in by 6:00 p.m. to be included in the next report. Good birding. Terry Sprague Picton, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
