Winter is still very much with us and more is on the way. Open water and bare ground are very hard to find. Ducks are in only a few locations and Horned Larks are having a tough time as even the shoulders of the roads as not as exposed as they should be. There are a half dozen species of waterfowl at the Dupont lagoon and the Wolfe Islander ferry dock. Gadwall, Hooded Mergansers and Common Goldeneye are in the open water at Kingston Mills.
Raptor sightings included 1 Snowy Owl along with 50 Rough-legged Hawks on Wolfe Island last Friday. There was also a N. Harrier; these are usually a common winter raptor in the Kingston area but that has not been the case this year. There are still 2 Barred Owls on Howe Island. The city itself had a good selection this week: An immature Bald Eagle along the waterfront, a Merlin in City Park, and both a Red-tailed and a Cooper's Hawk on the Queen's campus. Unusual winter lingerers include a Red-bellied Woodpecker as well as a trio of Rusty Blackbirds on Howe Island and another Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Cataraqui Conservation Area to add to the one at Bedford Mills. Raven activity seems to be on the increase; there were 5 at Lost Lake Bog on Saturday and another at Camden East on Monday. There are still large flocks of Common Redpolls, mixed with the odd Hoary, visiting local feeders. Four Pine Grosbeaks have been frequenting a Camden East feeder all week. Local signs of spring include a Golden-crowned Kinglet on Wolfe last Friday, an Eastern Bluebird at Kingston Mills and a very early Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the Lost Lake Bog on Saturday, an Am. Robin on Howe Island on Monday and another 6 near Glenburnie on Tuesday, and a lone Red-winged Blackbird at Camden East this morning. This made for an interesting juxtaposition with the Pine Grosbeaks. 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
