WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, November 23, 2006
In amongst the flowering Johnny Jump-ups in a Thomasburg garden this week,
there have been a few signs of winter in the offing. A NORTHERN SHRIKE
appeared in a backyard at the west end of Big Island on Monday. Another was
seen at Prince Edward Point on the 19th and on the 22nd. However, the real
treat was this season's first arrival of a SNOWY OWL near Cherry Valley. The
bird was seen by at least two people relatively close to County Road 18,
roughly midway between Cherry Valley and Salmon Point Road. AMERICAN TREE
SPARROWS, of course, continue to increase in numbers at backyard feeding
stations, and decent flocks of them are now being encountered along
roadsides and trails. Five SNOW BUNTINGS were seen at Prince Edward Point
yesterday, and others were noted along Ridge Road on the 21st. At Point
Petre yesterday, there was a RED-NECKED GREBE seen. Two LITTLE GULLS were
seen flying over East Lake and another two were found right beside the road
in a farmer's plowed field at West Lake with a bunch of RING-BILLED and
BONAPARTE'S GULLS affording an excellent close-up view of this uncommon gull
for the observer.
Two SANDHILL CRANES flew low over a house along Huyck's Point Road, west of
Wellington on Monday, and a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD continues to frequent an
area near Caughey Road at Big Island. This afternoon at the east end of the
Murray Canal at Carrying Place, there was a lone DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT
and four species of gulls including 2 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS and 5
BONAPARTE'S GULLS. Weller Bay at Barcovan had about 100 swans of which only
25 were TUNDRA SWANS with the rest being MUTE SWANS. A lone COMMON LOON was
also seen at Barcovan, and winter ducks seem to be arriving there, although
they are widely scattered due to the open conditions. At the other side of
the county, a Prinyer's Cove resident was working on his dock just before
dark and saw 300 SNOW GEESE fly over.
A few interesting sightings from Prince Edward Point. Two Kingston birders
birded the area on the 19th and came up with 25 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS,
quite likely intending to winter in the area due to the excellent crop this
year of red cedar berries, their chief winter food. Also found were 5
EASTERN BLUEBIRDS (probably intending to winter over) , ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 2
COMMON RAVENS, 4 PURPLE FINCH, a RUSTY BLACKBIRD, and three rather late
birds for the season - a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, a BROWN THRASHER and an
EASTERN TOWHEE. Ducks that day were especially sparse with WHITE-WINGED
SCOTERS being the most abundant. On a repeat trip there yesterday, there
were hundreds of GREATER SCAUP and LONG-TAILED DUCKS, along with a total of
50 HORNED GREBES. Also seen were 12 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, a dark phase
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and 8 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.
Hundreds of MALLARDS and AMERICAN WIGEONS continue to dominate the duck
population on Muscote Bay, and last weekend there were 4 TUNDRA SWANS in the
same bay. At South Bay, TUNDRA SWANS are still present down there, although
their numbers tend to fluctuate as groups of them split up and exploit
others areas of the bay. At time the cacophony of sound made by these birds
can be quite deafening. Close to 30 TUNDRA SWANS were seen in flight over
Wellington on the 18th. At Wellington Harbour, MALLARDS, BUFFLEHEADS and
scaup made up the waterfowl species there that can be identified within
viewing range, and there is also a lingering DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT
present.
This is a condensed version of the Quinte Area Bird Report, containing only
the significant sightings for Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. The
full version can be found on the NatureStuff website, under BIRDING from
the Main Menu.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
