WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, August 09, 2007
A WHITE PELICAN is creating a bit of excitement among local birders in the
Prince Edward County and Belleville areas this week. The large bird turned
up on Saturday at Snake Island, a small island located in the middle of the
Bay of Quinte roughly mid-way between the east end of Belleville and
Massassauga Point Conservation Area. With a good spotting scope, the bird
can be seen easily from either the Herchimer Street boat launch at the east
end of Belleville, or from the boat launch at Massassauga Point Conservation
Area in Prince Edward County, depending on the whims of the pelican. This
afternoon, we found the bird easily through the spotting scope loafing with
the gulls and cormorants on the south shore of the island. Snake Island
isn't difficult to find. It is the only small island in that area occupied
almost entirely by cormorants, obvious also by the skeletal remains of dead
trees.
To add to the birding excitement in the Belleville area, two GREAT EGRETS
turned up along the shoreline on Wednesday. Another observer witnessed a
MERLIN chasing a crow just a few streets over from Price Chopper on North
Front, flying only a few metres from the observer, and only a short distance
off the ground. There are at least two pairs of MERLINS nesting this year in
Belleville, and another in the Trenton area, all at undisclosed locations.
In the Thurlow area, a COOPER'S HAWK surprised one home owner by passing in
front of a living room window while pursuing a dove. Two OSPREYS were seen
today at Muscote Bay at the west end of Big Island, and three RED-TAILED
HAWKS were seen soaring and calling along Ridge Road, southwest of Picton
yesterday. The adult BALD EAGLE is still hanging out in the Smith's Bay and
South Bay areas of the county where the area is being studied carefully as a
possible location for an eagle nesting platform. I have the pleasure of
joining in that effort tomorrow as we take a more detailed look at dominant
trees in two identified locations.
PILEATED WOODPECKERS also in the news this week. Two were heard calling to
each other along Ridge Road in one backyard yesterday, and an incredible
three, presumed to be young of the year, made a surprise visit to a peanut
feeder along Harmony Road, north of Belleville. Volunteers at Picton's
Macaulay House and Museum watched nervously recently while a PILEATED
WOODPECKER worked at a cherry tree there. It was almost to the day, in 2000,
when a PILEATED WOODPECKER chiselled a perfectly executed three-inch hole in
the newly shingled roof of the Macaulay Museum. The museum itself is an old
church, and once the woodpecker entered and was apparently overwhelmed by
the cavernous space, left the project and never returned. According to
volunteers, the hole was never repaired. Three other PILEATED WOODPECKERS
were seen on Bethesda Road on Wednesday, just north of Fry Road. Two of
them, presumed to be young birds, showed no fear or interest in the
passer-by as she pulled over in her car to watch them as they investigated a
hydro pole, while a third looked on from a fence post nearby.
Elsewhere in the Quinte area, the drought has resulted in brisk business at
bird baths. One Belleville homeowner queries, after I e-mailed regular
contributors to this weekly report for sightings of "unusual activity, "Does
filling up the birdbath at least eight times a day count as unusual
activity?" An unprecedented number of BALTIMORE ORIOLES, with young, coming
to nectar feeders, seemed to occupy the bulk of the reports received this
week. Other bathhouse guests have included EASTERN BLUEBIRDS in the
Belleville area. One Picton area host of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS managed after
numerous tries, to attract bluebirds to his feeder by offering them meal
worms that he purchased from a farm supply dealer in Picton. The dealer
obtained the order of mealworms in error and was about to send them back,
when coincidentally, the Picton resident walked in the door and asked for
all that he had. At 23 Sprague Road, a family of five BROWN THRASHERS with
an attitude, have claimed ownership of at least three of the 15 or so
feeders there, totally encircling the tree from which they hang, and
preventing even the red squirrel from approaching the peanut feeders.
Waterfowl in the news includes the sighting of 50 to 60 CANADA GEESE at
Muscote Bay on the north side of the county. More sightings of waterfowl
will undoubtedly sprinkle this report once the bird banding and daily
monitoring gets under was next week at Prince Edward Point. It seems
difficult to believe that the fall banding season will be under way so soon.
In other wildlife news, an unusual occurrence of a FISHER attacking two
small dogs in a yard east of Lake-on-the-Mountain and the owner of the two
dogs being clawed by the fisher, was reported in two area newspapers last
week. The owner, with whom I spoke, was alarmed by the incident, but also
aware that this was unusual behaviour for the predator which made its debut
in Prince Edward County in 2002. Fear mongers elsewhere though now have
additional fuel to add to the fire as rumours fly that the MNR released
fishers in the county to control cats, and cougars were also released en
masse to control the deer and, of course, the fishers. Obviously, MNR did no
such thing, and these rumours always seem to surface whenever large
predators are seen. A bat of undetermined species has found a home near
Picton in a patio umbrella. Meanwhile at Big Island, another bat entered our
home early one morning, visited every room in the house, flapped silently
over my wife who was still asleep, then returned to the kitchen where it
left on its own through the open door.
And how was your week?
And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area.
Our thanks to Lyle Anderson, Rosemary Kent, Judy Bell, Fiona King, Paul
Daniels, Dave Shannon, Henry Pasila, Russ Williams, Lloyd Paul, Donn Legate,
and Henri Garand for their contributions to this week's report. This report
will be updated on Thursday, August 16th, but sightings can be e-mailed to
me any time before the 6:00 p.m. Thursday deadline. Featured photos this
week in the online version of the Quinte Area Bird Report include a
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK at a feeder by Shirley Laundry, and a PILEATED
WOODPECKER at a peanut feeder by Fiona King. Photo of a GREAT BLUE HERON
along the Moira River in Belleville on the Main Birding section of the
NatureStuff website is by Stephanie Shaw.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
