Until the big freeze yesterday the variety of waterfowl was quite good. A Canvasback and 2 N. Pintails were on Wolfe Island a week ago as was a Ruddy Duck in Elevator Bay. There were 2 Ring-necked Ducks at Treasure Island on New Years Day and a good number of Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Hooded Mergansers and Am. Coots among the many Mallards, Black Ducks, and Common Mergansers at Elevator Bay on Wednesday. There are still many Tundra Swans on Wolfe and Amherst Islands and in Elevator Bay.
Raptor numbers continue to be better on Wolfe than Amherst. High counts included 7 Bald Eagles on Boxing Day, 44 Rough-legged Hawks, 12 Red-tails, and 4 Snowy Owls seen on Jan. 3rd. The Violet dump has an excellent concentration of gulls; 600+ Herring, 20 Great Black-backed, 4 Glaucous and an Iceland on Jan. 3rd. There was a Bonapartes Gull on the St. Lawrence just east of Kingston on New Years Day. Other than large flocks of Common Redpolls with the odd Hoary and Snow Buntings with occasional Lapland Longspurs, passerines seem to be in short supply. There are small groups of Horned Larks flying off the roadsides on Wolfe Island. The Tufted Titmouse in Bath returned on Dec. 29th after a two-week absence and there was a White-throated Sparrow in Sillsville that same day. Blackbird reports include Red-winged and Rusty as well as Cowbirds. There were 14 Bohemian Waxwings at Odessa on New Years Eve and 20 Cedar Waxwings east of the city on Jan. 3rd. The only grosbeaks reported were 26 Pine on Dec. 26th at the Frontenac Mall and 4 Evening at Bedford Mills the next day. The Amherst Island Christmas count was Dec. 28th; conditions were ideal and we tallied 63 species. Highlights included: 3 Common Loons, a Horned Grebe, a N. Goshawk, a Great Blue Heron, 2 Carolina Wrens, and an Eastern Towhee as well as 5 species of owl, albeit only one of each. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
