WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for Sunday, January 11, 2004
Only the very dedicated were out birding this week as temperatures in Prince Edward County and the Quinte area dipped to -23 degrees Celsius. While birdfeeders enjoyed a brisk trade, the sudden change in temperatures did result in the disappearance of the RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in Kingston. It is presumed the bird succumbed to the frigid temperatures, despite its ability to slip into torpor to withstand "cool" weather. Elsewhere, business was booming. The BOREAL CHICKADEE at a feeder west of Rednersville, was confirmed through a submitted photo. However, its appearances at the feeder are sporadic at best. COMMON REDPOLLS are coming to feeders in varying numbers in Picton, Bloomfield, Long Point Road, east of Lake-on-the-Mountain, Low Street in Picton, Scoharie Road, and outside the county at Thomasburg. COMMON REDPOLLS (6) were also seen in flight on January 6th, passing over Roblin Road, just east of the Menzel Nature Reserve, north of Deseronto. There is a HOARY REDPOLL at a feeder at 2800 County Road 1 just northwest of Bloomfield. A feeder at 4587 Long Point Road has two immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, and there is a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW visiting a feeder in Bloomfield, and another four at a feeder on Glenora Road. A feeder near Bongard Crossroad has PINE SISKINS and a COMMON GRACKLE. Once again, THE NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD has taken a leave of absence from the feeder at 23 Sprague Road on Big Island. Some high numbers of feeder birds during the week included no fewer than 6 DOWNY WOODPECKERS near Bloomfield, 60 HOUSE FINCHES at a Long Point Road feeder, and a PILEATED WOODPECKER at a feeder in the Barry Heights area of Trenton (a high number for anyone if you are providing suet!). RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS are coming to feeders at Prinyer's Cove, 2800 County Road 1, and at Waupoos. With the severe weather, and the subsequent higher patronage at feeders, there will be hawks. One feeder on Maitland Drive in Belleville was under siege this week as a single SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was seen casing the joint this morning from a fence post and 2 RED-TAILED HAWKS are also surveying the site from nearby. Consequently. bird feeder patronage there has been a drop in visitation, particularly HOUSE FINCHES which formerly numbered 50. A NORTHERN SHRIKE has also been in the area. Other species of interest seen during the week included a BELTED KINGFISHER at Morrison's Point on January 6th, and 6 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, 2 COMMON FLICKERS, 40 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 40 AMERICAN ROBINS, 5 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 3 NORTHERN SHRIKES and 200 SNOW BUNTINGS, all along Long Point Road on January 6th. There was a light phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK in Milford on Friday, and 43 WILD TURKEYS at Sandbanks Provincial Park. A BALD EAGLE was seen on Adolphus Reach on Saturday, and it, or another, was seen today from the Prince Edward County side of the Reach. Birders on Amherst Island on Friday found 5 dark phase and 20 light phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 10 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 3 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and a SNOWY OWL. Another possible SNOWY OWL was seen in Prince Edward County in blowing snow near Mathie Road early one morning this past week. Other birds of prey in the Bloomfield area during the week included a RED-TAILED HAWK on Wesley Acres Road, 2 NORTHERN HARRIERS near Mallory Road, and an AMERICAN KESTREL on Highway 62. And waterfowl. Where were they to go once the local nearshore waters froze solid? Still, a few things were seen. Prior to the big freeze, there was a COMMON LOON in Prinyer's Cove on January 5th, and 50 TUNDRA SWANS on Pleasant Bay one day earlier. MALLARDS, CANADA GEESE and about 150 mergansers were present in Adolphus Reach before the freeze, and 60 CANADA GEESE dropped into Soup Harbour on Thursday. But there are more CANADA GEESE out there somewhere. A record 4,715 were seen during the Prince Edward Point Bird Count on December 20th. Numbers of waterfowl on Prince Edward Bay dropped considerably from the previous week. LONG-TAILED DUCKS numbered about 500, with lesser numbers of COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, MALLARDS, and BLACK DUCKS. A larger portion of Prince Edward Bay froze this week, pushing the waterfowl seen last week in the South Bay and Smith's Bay areas, farther out toward open Lake Ontario. The majority of COMMON GOLDENEYE appear to be off Cressy Lakeside Road and on the south shore of the county. Two weeks ago, there was a NORTHERN PINTAIL in the Kaiser Crossroad flooded fields, along with 400 CANADA GEESE, 300 MALLARDS and a few hundred BLACK DUCKS. This area is usually only flooded in the spring and offers excellent birding. And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. In addition to this weekly bird report being posted on the OntarioBirds listerv, and on Gord Gallant's Ontario Birding site, and sent by e-mail to 79 private subscribers, this report now appears every Sunday night on the NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net . This site was totally revamped early this year and contains a considerable amount of information on Prince Edward County birding, and also contains a current checklist of the birds of Prince Edward County. Our thanks to Wynne Thomas, Michael Schummer, John Charlton, Judy Bell, Albert Boisvert, Doris Lane, Cheryl Anderson, Susan Shipman, Silvia Botnick, Kurt Hennige, Paul Mackenzie, Lucille Fragomeni, Trudy Kitchen, Laura Pierce, Nancy Fox, Donald McClure, Bill Hogg and Joe Victor for their contributions to this week's report. This report will be updated by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 18th. Bird sightings must be in by 6:00 p.m. to be included in the next report. Good winter 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.
