WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FOR PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK
ENDING Thursday,November 30, 2006
The arrival of November was heralded by rain and appears to be departing the
same way. This past week there was another flurry of sightings more typical
of summer or early fall. GARTER SNAKES turned up almost daily throughout the
county and an AMERICAN TOAD even ventured out in one area of Prince Edward
County on the 27th. With the predicted drop in temperatures tonight and the
arrival of freezing rain and snow flurries, we have probably seen the last
of these animals and plants, out for one last hurrah. One birder on November
27th, finished his day with no fewer than five TICKS in various stages of
acquaintance with his body! He naturally questioned what they would still be
doing around so late in the year, and admitted to the incident taking some
of the joy away from his birding pleasure, as he had to remove layers of
clothing to find the ticks !
Birders in the Quinte area are also wondering about the fate of a
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER that turned up at a feeder west of Carrying Place on
November 26th. The bird was still there as of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon and
seems to come in with the chickadees. A late season YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
has not been seen in this area since December of 1987 when an individual
showed up at a local feeder in Trenton, attracting close to 100 avid birders
from across the province. Although this species is quite hardy by nature, it
is difficult to imagine it will survive much abuse in the way of freezing
rain and snow, when it is more used to a southern habitat rich in Spanish
moss.
Other birds with delayed departures included a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT in
Picton Harbour on Monday, and a total of six in Wellington Harbour. A BELTED
KINGFISHER was seen off Barcovan Road, south of the Murray Canal on Monday,
and a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was seen at South Bay on the 27th. A thorough
examination of a flock of 35 CEDAR WAXWINGS by one careful observer at
Prince Edward Point on Monday, produced a single EASTERN BLUEBIRD. Two
COMMON LOONS were still on Consecon Lake as of the 27th, and another was in
Picton Harbour the same day. Another BELTED KINGFISHER was seen at the Fox
Pond off Wooler Road, just west of Trenton. EUROPEAN STARLINGS appear to be
in no particular hurry to continue their southward migration any time soon,
as evidenced by 5,000 seen at Prince Edward Point, and another 100 at the
west end of Big Island that appear occasionally.
More winter like birds this past week included yet another SNOWY OWL in
Prince Edward County, this one appearing near the Bergeron zoo north of
Picton. A BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER was found at Sandbanks Provincial Park's
West Lake Sector on the 29th. The bird was found off the paved entrance road
in the Scot's Pine plantation, about 300 metres in along the green
cross-country ski trail, on the north side of the road. Another BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER, this one a female, was seen three days earlier off Crookston
Road in the Tweed area. There was a NORTHERN SHRIKE on Royal Road on Monday.
HOODED MERGANSER during the week were found at South Bay, and about 200 are
present in Muscote Bay now, having replaced the MALLARDS and AMERICAN
WIGEONS which had been regulars there all month. CANADA GEESE are also
present on Muscote Bay, and about 200 on Tremur Lake west of Trenton where
there are also 150 LESSER SCAUP. Conditions at Wellington continue to make
waterfowl identity a challenge as the majority of birds are widely scattered
in the lake. Present there this week were COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD,
CANADA GEESE and a few RING-BILLED and BONAPARTE'S GULLS. The mild weather
this past week has kept MUTE SWANS from moving over to the Weller's Bay and
Presqu'ile Bay area where many of them normally winter, and close to 40 are
still present in Consecon Lake, and 29 were counted in West Lake on the
27th. Four TUNDRA SWANS were present on Muscote Bay this week, but the
status of the population at South Bay is unknown where a high of 425 had
been seen earlier this month.
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
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