Last weekend there was an excellent variety of waterfowl on Amherst Island with every opening in the ice chock-a-block with everthing from Buffleheads to Tundra Swans. By Tuesday the open water had disappeared and so had the birds. A group from Montreal reported 11 species of duck and 2 species of swan as well as 7 Bald Eagles last Saturday. Other raptor numbers seem to be stable although 3 Am. Kestrels on Amherst on Tuesday does seem to be a bit of an increase. The Dupont lagoon still has large numbers and a good variety of waterfowl including 9 Am. Coot tallied last Sunday.
Ring-necked Pheasants were reported from Camden East, Amherst Island and I was emailed a photo of a striking male sitting in a tree on Wolfe Island; something the observer had never seen before. A lone Wild Turkey scratched for food in the middle of a large cornfield north of Wilton. There are still flocks of Snow Buntings on both Wolfe and Amherst. Horned Larks on Amherst and 5 Am. Robins on Wolfe do not make a spring but 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds and a N. Flicker on Amherst last Saturday and an increase in Purple Finch numbers at a feeder near Camden East might be an indication that things will happen soon. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
