WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for Sunday, October 24, 2004
Owling at Prince Edward Point has been quiet due to windy nights with only 40 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS being caught during the week. A few BRANT are still being seen with 230 seen in the first few days of the week. Two NORTHERN PINTAIL were seen on the 23rd and a RING-NECKED DUCK was in the harbour on the 18th. Offshore the scaup flock is being seen more regularly and has reached 2,500, and up to 170 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS are also offshore. The first BUFFLEHEADS and COMMON GOLDENEYES of the fall were seen on the 19th and the first HOODED MERGANSER was seen in the harbour on the 18th. Raptors have been trickling through with three BALD EAGLES and two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS on the 22nd/23rd. Five ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were seen during the week. A BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER was on the beach on the 18th. Two NORTHERN SHRIKES have appeared already, with a juvenile on the 22nd and an adult on the 23rd. Late birds seen during the week included a RED-EYED VIREO trapped on the 22nd, a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER trapped on the 22nd and a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW on the 23rd. Twenty HORNED LARKS flew over on the 19th, and 25 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS flew over on the 23rd. BROWN CREEPERS are still being seen in good numbers with 25 and 20 on the 22nd/23rd. After the winds of earlier in the week had abated there were lots of GOLDEN-CROWNED and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS around on the 22nd/23rd with 350 and 500 being logged on those dates. AMERICAN ROBINS are moving as well with 300 on the 20th and 225 on the 23rd, other species flying over in the early morning are the COMMON GRACKLES and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS with 900 of the former on the 23rd and 400 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS also on the 23rd. Lastly, the first EVENING GROSBEAK of the fall appeared on the 23rd. Movements of birds have been noted elsewhere as well in the Quinte area. DARK-EYED JUNCOS in varying numbers have been noted at Sheba's Island, Big Island, Sandbanks, Picton and the Madoc and Brighton areas. At Sandbanks, large numbers of both GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and BROWN CREEPERS were moving through yesterday, along with WINTER WRENS, RED-BREASTED and WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and an EASTERN PHOEBE. Much the same action was observed at Point Petre where huge numbers of AMERICAN ROBINS, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, COMMON GRACKLES and EUROPEAN STARLINGS were observed on Easterbrook Road yesterday. More than 200 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were at Point Petre on Monday, accompanied by a sprinkling of late NASHVILLE WARBLERS. BRANT were much in evidence there during the week, most overflying Point Petre, with a flock of 24 remaining in Soup Harbour for two days (October 20-21). Other waterfowl present at Soup Harbour during the week have been 200 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, COMMON MERGANSERS, COMMON LOON, GREATER SCAUP, as well as DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Lots of NORTHERN FLICKERS were around during the week, and hawks seen there included AMERICAN KESTREL, 20+ RED-TAILED HAWKS, several SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, 2 COOPER'S HAWKS. 1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK and 20+ TURKEY VULTURES. Of particular interest was a very late RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD at Point Petre on October 22nd, constituting our latest departure date ever for this species in Prince Edward County. With this movement of birds in the Quinte area, of course, came a few casualties and incidents. A NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL at Peat's Point, south of Belleville, died when it plunged head first into the side of a house; and on Airport Parkway, east of Belleville, a BLUE JAY likewise collided with a window, but survived. A few encounters of the feathered kind included a COOPER'S HAWK at Sandbanks that came close to colliding with a birder, and at 23 Sprague Road, a RUFFED GROUSE roosting in a red cedar did much the same with an observer there. The two SANDHILL CRANES along County Road 10 south of Picton, are still putting on displays for passersby, but only those who are not going that direction with the express purpose of looking for the cranes, are actually seeing them! They move around a lot within a two kilometre stretch of highway, and have no pattern of arrival. On Friday, they were last seen in a bean field across the highway roughly in the vicinity of Sunflower Fields Country Store and Farm Market. Good luck if you are looking for them; however, if you wish to give it a try, take Lake Street/County Road 10 south from Picton and follow out of town for about a kilometre and start looking for them on the left side of the highway from Mowbray Road, south to the Sunflower Fields store. Other miscellaneous sightings to come in during the week were 2 SNOW GEESE at Wellington on October 20th; a flock of 30 BRANT off Green Point heading in the direction of the Napanee River on Tuesday; 5 GREATER YELLOWLEGS at Big Island on Thursday; 4 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS throughout the week on Lahey Road, southwest of Madoc; and a WINTER WREN at the Goodrich-Loomis Conservation Area, north of Brighton today. Of particular interest was the appearance of 2 BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS (male and female) at the West Lake Sector of Sandbanks Provincial Park yesterday. The birds are located just inside the entrance to the West Lake Sector at the four-way stop at the corner of County Road 12 and Lakeshore Lodge Road. Park at the closed gate and walk the short distance up the paved road until you come to a telephone booth. The woodpeckers were feeding in a patch of dying Scot's Pine in the area of the outdoor privy near the pull off area on the right hand side of the road. Project FeederWatch for the 2004/2005 winter season will be commencing shortly. Bird activity at many feeders is heavy right now. Our own feeder has high numbers of BLUE JAYS, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, HOUSE FINCHES and WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, with singles of DOWNY WOODPECKER, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and a scattering of both WHITE-CROWNED and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. A feeder on Elmbrook Road has high numbers of PURPLE FINCHES. Could be a good winter ahead at feeding stations, but we'll have to wait and see how the seed crop holds in the north, before we revel in the appearance of northern finches in any great numbers. 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) , John and Margaret Moore, Eileen Robbins, Ted Wallwork, Phil Englefield, Judith Gray, Alfred Adamo (OntBirds), Jayne Burkholder, Rae O'Brien, Thomas Rymes, Joanne Dewey and Wynne Thomas for their contributions to this week's report. This report is also posted in the BIRDING section of the NatureStuff website. This report will be updated by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 31st. Bird sightings must be in by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evening to be included in the next report. Good fall birding! Terry Sprague Picton, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net
