Typical fall waterfowl concentrations are building with good numbers and variety on Amherst Island and at the Amherstview sewage lagoons. There are thousands of ducks and geese in the Little Cataraqui River adjacent to the penitentiary property. Unusual sightings in unusual places included a Cackling Goose at Elginburg on Monday and 3 Surf Scoters on Buck Lake yesterday.
Hawk numbers have not been impressive as yet; a couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks at Eagle Lake and on Amherst, a Peregrine at the lagoons and 2 Rough-legged Hawks on Amherst; all reported last weekend. Shorebirds, with the exception of Killdeer, are way down. Amherst had a Pectoral Sandpiper and an Am. Golden Plover last Sunday and 3 Greater and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs were in the Wilton Creek near Morven on Wednesday. Owls, on the other hand, put on a good show this week. There were 2 Saw-whets in the Owl Woods last Friday, a Barred and a Great Horned were calling at Eagle Lake on Saturday, a Long-eared and an Eastern Screech owl were found on Amherst on Sunday and birders searching for Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows flushed a dozen Short-eared Owls on the KFN property on Monday. They were successful in finding the sharp-tails and estimate that maybe 10 or 12 were in the marshy area to the north and west of the dike on the KFN property. The only new passerine of note this week was Pine Siskin; a couple of reports indicate that the migration reported elsewhere in the province is also occurring locally. 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
