Raptor numbers on Amherst continue to be quite good: 15 Rough-legged, 9 Red-tailed, 6 N. Harriers, and 2 Am. Kestrels as well as 2 Snowy Owls were tallied on a field trip last Sunday. The Owl Woods yielded 4 N. Saw-whet and 5 Long-eared Owls. (The Owl Woods will be closed to the public until Dec. 6th.) There were also singleton Snowy Owls on Salmon and Pigeon Islands on Wednesday. There seems to be some congregating of Bald Eagles north of the city; there were 4 at Sand Lake and 2 at Davis Lock on Tuesday. And just to show that birds are where you find them, there was a Merlin downtown (Princess and Wellington) on Monday. A trip to Wolfe Island earlier in the week found virtually no raptors.
Waterfowl sightings of note: the Eurasian Wigeon was still in Elevator Bay and there was a Cackling Goose on the penitentiary property last Sunday. There has been a marked increase in the number of Tundra Swans in Elevator Bay; almost everyone who drives into work via Front Road has commented. Also a couple of strangely marked geese (probably with some domestic ancestry) are grazing with the Canadas on the lawn at Dupont. The only shorebirds mentioned were 3 Purple Sandpipers on Snake Island on Wednesday. Three Red-bellied Woodpeckers were seen in the city limits this week and the number of Tree Sparrows at local feeders is increasing but very slowly. Late migrants included 3 Am. Robins at Bedford Mills, an E. Phoebe at Elginburg, and a N. Flicker on Amherst I. on Sunday, 2 Red-winged Blackbirds at Bedford Mills on Monday and an E. Bluebird on the Florida Road on Tuesday. The winter finch picture has become bleak. Scattered reports of a few Pine Siskins and Purple Finches and two Evening Grosbeaks at Bedford Mills are all I have. 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
