WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, February 28, 2008
Well, it has been quite a week, what with vultures, the solitaire, flocks of barred owls and woodpeckers turning trees inside out! The TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, discovered February 16th at the corner of Point Petre Road and Simpson Road, could now be best described as "somewhere in the Point Petre area." It was last seen on Saturday and appears to be taking in a much wider area now. Certainly worth taking a spin down there this weekend as observers this past week have found no fewer than 5 COMMON RAVENS, 100 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, 130 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 2 optimistic TURKEY VULTURES, a NORTHERN FLICKER, PILEATED WOODPECKER and a half dozen or so EASTERN BLUEBIRDS. If you find the solitaire, then it will just be icing on the cake. BARRED OWLS might not be appearing in flocks in the Quinte area, but there certainly have been enough of them around to suggest more than the occasional individual. In the Belleville area, there were several sightings of BARRED OWLS, perhaps the same individual involved in at least a few of the sightings. One was seen on Avonlough Road in Belleville during the week, and in the same city, one flew across the driveway of one surprised resident missing him by scant inches. One was seen at Bayside, between Belleville and Trenton, hunting in a backyard there, and what was probably a BARRED flew across Ben Gill Road just south of the Big Swamp near Picton. The BARRED OWL seen at South Bay last week, was present in the same area again on Saturday with a second individual which flew off into the nearby woods, while the other one remained long enough on a hydro wire to be photographed. Another BARRED OWL near Trenton tried several times at one home to reach a pet cockatiel which it spied through the window. In Belleville, shovelling the snow from one walkway had to be postponed in order to allow a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL to continue its siesta in the sun as it perched on the blade of the shovel. A WINTER WREN turned up at the outflow of the Brighton Constructed Wetland yesterday, and last week there was a NORTHERN FLICKER hanging around at one address east of Elmbrook, likely the same individual that was reported there earlier this winter. To prove that birds are where you find them, one cross-country skier in the Bay of Quinte at the mouth of Sawguin Creek, scared up a RUFFED GROUSE along the shoreline that had found some shelter against a tree and some cattails. More COMMON RAVENS were seen during the week at Cape Vesey (2), Consecon (2), Belleville (2) and singles at South Bay and along Melville Road. The flock of 60 CEDAR WAXWINGS that has been present all month in the Stinson Block area west of Consecon is still there feeding on the bountiful crop of red cedar berries. Both BOHEMIANS and CEDARS were noted along Glenora Road during the week, and a nice flock of 30 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS was reported by several observers at the Glendon Green Boat Launch at Sandbanks. EASTERN BLUEBIRDS have showed up at several areas, mainly south of Cherry Valley, appearing along Royal Road, Point Petre and at Salmon Point Road, with a few also being noted at Bayside near Trenton. A single PINE GROSBEAK continues to sing periodically from an apple tree in a field west of 23 Sprague Road where it has been for more than a week. One appeared at a Barry Heights feeder in Trenton during the week and 8 appeared one day at the H.R. Frink Centre at Plainfield. A well disciplined RUFFED GROUSE appears at one of the platform feeders at the Frink Centre most mornings to get its fill of feed well before the school groups arrive. A PILEATED WOODPECKER is a regular in the silver maple swamp there, and not far away a NORTHERN SHRIKE is seen most mornings on Bronk Road between Harmony and Blessington Road. Two NORTHERN SHRIKES are also present around County Road 13 and Babylon Road in the Prince Edward Point area. An over zealous PILEATED WOODPECKER in last week's report did more than just set a suet feeder swinging at a residence near Tweed. Owners John and Janet Foster were surprised to find one of their young maples - for lack of a more descriptive term - turned inside out. One cavity measured 27 inches in length with a depth of 24 inches. Another cavity in the same tree was 12 inches in length with a depth of 10 inches. The big mystery to the property owners is why this woodpecker would excavate an obviously healthy tree with little sign of insects present in the core? Another tree at Carrying Place was similarly excavated this week. A MERLIN turned up at a Trenton area backyard during the week, an immature BALD EAGLE was seen at Cape Vesey, and a NORTHERN GOSHAWK was just an interested "observer" near a feeder in the same backyard where the PILEATED WOODPECKER had worked on the tree near Tweed. Other feeders in the Quinte area had more routine guests, among them 100 COMMON REDPOLLS along County Road 1 northwest of Bloomfield, and another 100 at a feeder at Cape Vesey, and 60 at a feeder on Tripp Road. One feeder at Horse Point in the Massassauga area boasts 12 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, 10 DARK-EYED JUNCOS and 2 COMMON CROWS. No less impressive is the County Road 1 feeder that has 7 HAIRY WOODPECKERS and 5 DOWNY WOODPECKERS. Also present here, 30 HOUSE SPARROWS - something of a rarity at most feeders these days in the county. Few reports of waterfowl as many of the prime focal points are still pretty hard. In the open waters of Prince Edward Bay, there are thousands of ducks congregating according to one observer, but the best place to go this weekend is probably Log Cabin Point in East Lake at the headwaters of the Outlet River. Access is via County Road 18, exactly 1.2 km east of the 4-way stop (at the Sandbanks entrance). Three species of swans are present including upwards of 60 MUTE SWANS, and more than a dozen TUNDRA SWANS, and at least four tagged TRUMPETER SWANS, all of the latter initially released at Big Island and Huff's Island in June of 2006. The make-up of species there varies from day to day, but also present this week were CANADA GEESE, GREATER SCAUP, and COMMON GOLDENEYE. And if the presence of AMERICAN ROBINS means anything, there were numerous little gatherings of them across the county involving up to a couple dozen in each case. But winter is still here, evidenced by a flock of 200 SNOW BUNTINGS in a weedy field east of Wellers Bay. And feeders attract more than just birds. One address near Bloomfield had a FISHER dart by their property, perhaps attracted to the area by the activity, and hoof prints at a Low Street residence on the east side of Picton indicated that several WHITE-TAILED DEER had a midnight snack at the bird feeders there, followed by a water chaser from the heated bird bath! And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to Joanne Dewey, David Bree, Albert Boisvert, Bruce Parker, Sergio de Sousa, Gerry Fraiberg, Donna Fano, John Charlton, Donna Spencer, Nina Throop, Paul Taylor, Pamela Stagg, Ted Cullin, Nancy Fox, Rosemary Smith, Doris Lane, Chesia Livingston, Frank Artes & Carolyn Barnes, Myrna Wood, Kathleen Rankine, Cheryl Anderson, John & Janet Foster, Bruce Ripley, Brock Burr, Fred Chandler, Paul Thompson, John Vierira and Doug McRae for their contributions. This report will be updated on Thursday, March 6th, but sightings can be e-mailed any time before the 6:00 p.m. Thursday deadline. Featured photos in the online edition of the Quinte Area Bird Report include the amazing PILEATED WOODPECKER excavations at Tweed, and a BARRED OWL in flight near South Bay by John Vieira. Photo on the Main Birding Page of the NatureStuff website is by Donna Spencer of a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL perched on a snow shovel in the Belleville area. Terry Sprague Prince Edward County [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net _______________________________________________ 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
