WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FOR PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA
for Thursday, January 13, 2005
For awhile, it seemed that Prince Edward County had offended them - the
GREAT GRAY OWLS, that is. Finally, two have shown up in the area - one at
Lake-on-the-Mountain on January 8th, followed by another practically on
someone's sundeck at a residence just on the west side of The Rock (east of
Waupoos). Elsewhere, GREAT GRAY OWLS continue to appear with four sightings
in the Marmora area, two birds on Highway 37 just north of Tweed, and two
east of the village of KEENE. One GREAT GRAY OWL on Crookston Road near
Tweed has been seen using bluebird nesting boxes as perches.
Warm weather over the past week has seen patronage at most bird feeders
in the area drop considerably, although many feeders, including those in
Thomasburg, Belleville, and throughout Prince Edward County still have good
numbers of COMMON REDPOLLS. Feeders at Allisonville, Carrying Place, and on
Maitland Avenue in the Belleville area have about 50 on a regular basis, and
one feeder on Glenora Road has a high of 70, with lesser numbers at other
feeders. However, one feeder, east of Waupoos, had an invasion of 100+
COMMON REDPOLLS that fed for two hours, then left and never returned. Lesser
numbers of PINE SISKINS continue to patronize some feeders in the area with
varying numbers of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. At a Morrison's Point feeder, a
CAROLINA WREN continues to show up from time to time, as does a NORTHERN
FLICKER at a feeder east of Picton. On Harvey Street in Picton, a
RING-NECKED PHEASANT has joined the feeder clientel there. Numerous feeders
in the County have had RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES.
Observers at Prince Edward Point taking part in the North American
Waterfowl Census on January 1st were rewarded with a COMMON LOON, 1
RED-THROATED LOON, 1 RED-NECKED GREBE, 1 HORNED GREBE, 6 TUNDRA SWANS, 50
GREATER SCAUP, 40 LESSER SCAUP, 125 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 1 BLACK SCOTER,
11500 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, 275 BUFFLEHEADS, 550 COMMON GOLDENEYES, 165
RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, and 2 AMERICAN COOTS.
Over at Sandbanks Provincial Park, on January 11th, there were 140 scaup
and 60 REDHEADS in Athol Bay along with WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, BUFFLEHEAD,
LONG-TAILED DUCKS, COMMON GOLDENEYE, MALLARDS, and BLACK DUCK. Birders at
Wellington the same day found 400 CANADA GEESE, 100 MALLARDS, 20 BUFFLEHEAD,
10 MUTE SWANS, 2 TUNDRA SWANS, 15 COMMON MERGANSERS and 10 COMMON GOLDENEYE.
There were 52 TUNDRA SWANS at Smith's Bay on January 13th, as well as 2
COMMON LOONS in Prince Edward Bay during the week.
A few of the hawks to show up in Prince Edward County included NORTHERN
HARRIERS at Point Petre, Sandbanks, Big Island and Belleville; RED-TAILED
HAWKS at Adolphustown on Adolphus Reach, Consecon, Big Island and Fish Lake;
and an AMERICAN KESTREL at Point Petre. Other raptors reported were NORTHERN
SHRIKES at numerous feeders within the reporting area, a BARRED OWL at the
H.R. Frink Centre at Plainfield on the 7th, and BALD EAGLES from numerous
locations around Prince Edward County.
WILD TURKEYS during the week showed up at Prince Edward Point (14),
Marysville (15), West Point (12), County Road 12 at Lake Ontario (19),
Gomorrah Road near Demorestville (2), and at their traditional staging area
on North Sidney Street in Belleville (40). Other interesting sightings
during the week included 2 COMMON RAVENS at the Frink Centre on January 7th,
12 HORNED LARKS on Scoharie Road west of Highway 62, PILEATED WOODPECKER at
Morrison's Point, and a NORTHERN FLICKER at the Stinson Block at Consecon.
A partial albino BLUE JAY with an all white head, is visiting a feeder in
the Rednersville area.
And that's it from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area for this
week. Or thanks to Nick Quickert, Don Chisholm, Bill Hogg, Brian Durell,
Doris Lane, Thomas Rymes, Pat Williams, Trudy Kitchen, Dwight Wages, Don
Craighead, Janet & Fred Chandler, Brenda Decastris, Dianne Drew, Fred
Helleiner, Joanne Dewey, Margaret Haylock-Capon, Helen Graham, Judy Bell,
Silvia Botnick, Ron Weir, Jess Chambers, Evelyn Sloane, David Bree, Donald
McClure, and John and Janet Foster for their contributions to this week's
report. This report will be updated on Thursday, January 20th. Bird
sightings may be forwarded to [EMAIL PROTECTED] at any time before the
Thursday 6:00 p.m. deadline. This report also appears on the NatureStuff
website under BIRDING, with another special photo of the week.
Terry Sprague
Picton, Ontario
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
