There are still good numbers of waterfowl in Elevator Bay and on Wolfe Island although the cold weather is rapidly filling in the bays with ice. The Eurasian Wigeon was not reported this week and there are no other unusual winter ducks. However there are good numbers of scaup, merganser, and Tundra Swan. Three hundred and ninety-two Am. Coots on Wolfe last Saturday was a high count for the year. Herring and Great Black-backed Gull numbers are increasing along ice edges and at local landfills. There was a Glaucous at the Violet dump last Friday and a Lesser Black-backed in Elevator Bay on Sunday. Raptors remain much more abundant on Wolfe than on Amherst. A pair of Kingston birders found no hawks on Amherst last Sunday (that has to be a wintertime first). However the next day there were 3 Rough-legged Hawks and a Short-eared Owl. Wolfe on the other hand had 46 Rough-legged Hawks, with smaller numbers of N. Harrier, Am. Kestrel, and Red-tailed Hawk. Bald Eagle sightings were more common north of the city; not all the back lakes are frozen. There was an adult at Perth Road Village on the 7th and two more at Devil Lake and Buck Lake on the 9th. The only Lake Ontario eagle was in Elevator Bay on Sunday. Other hawk sightings included a Merlin on Wolfe, a Sharp-shinned at Camden East, another Sharp-shinned and a N. Goshawk at Bedford Mills. Owls have been relatively uncooperative this week; 2 Short-eared on Wolfe last Friday, the first two Snowy Owls of the winter, also on Wolfe on Saturday, and a Barred Owl at Bedford Mills seen Monday and Tuesday. Passerines on the other hand put on a good show. Common Redpolls are ubiquitous. There were 500+ reported from Wolfe Island on Wednesday with one flock of 200 containing at least 6 Hoaries. Large flocks of Snow Buntings containing the odd Lapland Longspur were on both Wolfe and Amherst. Pine Grosbeaks were at Odessa, Bedford Mills, and on the Florida Road near Wilton. The only flock of Evening Grosbeaks was a dozen at Bedford mills a week ago. Blackbirds are always scarce in the Kingston area in winter but we managed to tally all four of the common species this week; a Brown-headed Cowbird on Wolfe, a Common Grackle at Camden East and a Rusty and Red-winged Blackbird at Lemoine Point. Feeder birds of note included Red-breasted Nuthatches at Bedford Mills and Bayridge, 13 Wild Turkeys at Camden East, and 11 N. Cardinals and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker out Montreal Street. The Tufted Titmouse is still coming to the Bath feeder. There were also half a dozen Robins in Bayridge last Sunday. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
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