What a glorious week weatherwise and not so bad in the migration department either. Common Loons and Osprey have moved onto the back lakes in spite of the fact that they are not yet completely free of ice. Double-crested Cormorants are back in numbers and the Bonaparte's Gull migration is in full swing; over a thousand flew along the south shore of Amherst Island at noon last Monday. There was a Mute Swan in the Cataraqui River at the start of the week but most of the ducks there seem to have moved on.
Many birds have come in in large numbers this week: Brown Creepers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, N. Flicker, both kinglets, Tree Swallows, as well as Swamp, Savannah, and Fox Sparrows. In smaller numbers we have tallied Hermit Thrushes, Barn Swallows, Winter Wrens, and White-throated, Chipping, Field and Vesper Sparrows. The first local E. Towhee was on Amherst last Saturday as was a Rough-winged Swallow. There was a Brown Thrasher in Amherstview yesterday. There were Barred, Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls in the Owl Woods this week and both Barred and Great Horned are calling north of the city. There were 2 Bald Eagles at Chaffey's Lock on Wednesday and there are numerous Red-shouldered Hawks back on territory. Both islands continue to have abundant raptors and a few observers have noted that it is a particularly good year for Am. Kestrels. At least 2 Loggerhead Shrikes are back in the area north of Napanee. The warbler migration has started, albeit slowly, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, the first at Elginburg on the 12th and a Pine Warbler at the Queen's Biological Station yesterday. Coming in with the warblers are those finches that kept going last fall; there was a Pine Siskin at Bedford Mills on Monday, 2 Purple Finches off Montreal Street on Monday and another at Bedford Mills on Thursday. Lingering winter birds include Tree Sparrows, a few Common Redpolls, 2 Evening Grosbeaks at Bedford Mills on Tuesday and 18 Bohemian Waxwings on the Opinicon Road on Wednesday. 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
