It has been a very good week locally with all the expected migrants pouring in. Killdeer, American Woodcock, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Tree Swallow, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Meadowlark were widely reported. There are excellent concentrations of waterfowl in the Cataraqui River, in Hay Bay and along the Bath Road despite the fact that there is still a considerable amount of ice. Four hundred Ring-necked Ducks in the Cataraqui River last Saturday had increased to 2500 by yesterday. Amongst the many species of duck were 4 Double-crested Cormorants on Wednesday and a Pied-billed Grebe yesterday. There were 50 Hooded Mergansers above the dam at Odessa just north of the 401 last Friday and another 90 in the Cataraqui River on Saturday. Canvasbacks, always a hard duck to find around Kingston, were relatively plentiful this week; 2 at Dupont last Friday, 3 on Wolfe Island last Saturday, and another in Hay Bay yesterday. Also in Hay Bay were 2 "blue phase" Snow Geese well hidden amid the thousands of other waterfowl. Wood Ducks were reported from Elginburg on Monday and N. Shovelers were in both Hay Bay and the Amherstview sewage lagoons yesterday. There was a Black-crowned Night Heron at Collin's Bay on the 25th, Wilson's Snipe at Camden East and on the Florida Road on the 28th, 2 Eastern Bluebirds on the Desert Lake Road last Monday and another near the Lennox Generating Station yesterday, a Belted Kingfisher and 5 Rusty Blackbirds at Camden East on Wednesday,and a Winter Wren at Elginburg on Tuesday. There have been several reports of different raptors this week; a marked change from the usual Snowy Owl and Rough-legged Hawk numbers. A Barred Owl was seen in Frontenac Park last Friday, and the first Red-shouldered Hawk of the spring was nearby in the Helen Quilliam Sanctuary on Monday. A Merlin was reported near Wilton on Monday and yesterday 3 Osprey were found; the first at Wilton Creek near Morven, another circling over Hay Bay, and the third sitting on the nest at the Lennox Generating Station. A late report mentioned a Golden Eagle on Wolfe Island last week on the first day of spring; an auspicious beginning to the new season. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
