The mild weather continues and with it an abundance and variety of waterfowl. Elevator Bay seems to have the greatest concentration locally; along with the usual including the Eurasian Wigeon ( first found on Oct. 12th ) there were 6 Common Loons on Jan 7th. There was a Hooded Merganser at the Millhaven ferry dock on Sunday. With the many Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Red-breasted Mergansers on Amherst Island were 5 Horned Grebes, a Lesser Scaup and 2 male Harlequin Ducks found Sunday but not present on Tuesday. The single Brant on Amherst, first found on Dec. 12th in a large flock of Canadas, was still present on Jan. 9th.
The vole population continues to support a large number of hawks and owls on Amherst. High counts for the week include 20 N. Harriers, 20 Rough-legged Hawks, 10 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Am. Kestrels, 8 Snowy Owls, a couple of dozen Long-eared Owls (it's very difficult to get an accurate number) and a single Saw-whet Owl. A Cooper's Hawk was seen on Wolfe Island last Sunday. Two Bonaparte's Gulls, usually gone by early December, were seen Jan. 7th, one on Wolfe the other on Amherst. Passerines seem to be taking a back seat to the waterfowl. The flock of Red-winged Blackbirds frequenting the Elginburg feeder has dwindled to a few individuals. However numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos, Tree Sparrows and Am. Goldfinches are increasing and a lone Pine Siskin was seen at the above-mentioned Elginburg feeder this week. The last sighting of note was a N. Mockingbird on County Rd. 6 just north of Hwy. 33 to the west of Amherstview seen Sunday and Monday. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
