Ontbirders, While doing some fieldwork near Kincardine today, I counted 12 flocks of White-winged Crossbills [totalling 475 birds] flying over my position, over the course of two hours. All these flocks were heading NE and following a very narrow band of movement, with almost every flock passing over nearly the same point. My observation site was the intersection of Sideroad 30 S and Concession 9. Note- this location is in the middle of cropland, with no real habitat adjacent, suggesting the true numbers of birds involved is vast and extensive as I would expect that a great many other flocks passed by unseen. On Oct 30, in the same area, I recorded similar numbers of Crossbills, although all those birds were heading W or SW. Perhaps these birds had reached a western limit [the agricultural barrens of the SW would look pretty bleak for Crossbills] and were retracing.[?] Other local birds of note included a single Brant and 5 Cackling Geese with 2500 Canada Geese, just north [200 m] of Sideroad 10 on Concession 7. Most of the geese are in a cattle pasture and a small farm pond nearby. Along the lake, 27 Red-throated Loons passed Point Clark on Nov 11 and 350 Common Redpolls were near MacGregor Point on the same day, with smaller numbers of Redpolls noted near Kincardine on Nov.12. Cheers, James Holdsworth. _______________________________________________ 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
