The KFN did their annual Christmas count last Sunday under less than ideal conditions (the strong winds hampered both listening in the woods and looking out over the water) and the initial tally was about 85 species. When observations come in from feeder watchers this may increase a bit. Highlights included the Eurasian Wigeon, a Black Scoter, a Virginia Rail, many Bald Eagles, a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Peregrine Falcon, several Snowy Owls, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, E. Bluebirds, an E. Towhee and Lapland Longspurs.
Amherst Island continues to be the local hotspot. High owl counts for the week were 1 Great-horned, 4 Snowy, 2 dozen (+/-) Long-eared, 14 Short-eared, 4 Boreal and 4 N. Saw-whet. Other good birds in the Owl Woods include up to 3 Hermit Thrushes, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, a N. Flicker and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Kinglets and creepers were also reported at Heritage Park in Bath along with a few Red-breasted Nuthatches. There was also a small flurry of finches this week; White-winged Crossbills in Bath and on Amherst, Purple Finch in Camden East, a Red-crossbill and 2 Pine Siskins on Amherst, and small flocks of Common Redpolls at Elginburg and on Amherst. A raptor survey was done on Wolfe on Wednesday and tallied 13 Snowy and 9 Short-eared Owls. There were lots of Am. Kestrels but few large hawks, unlike Amherst ,where the vole population continues to feed large numbers of N. Harriers and Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks. The only new bird seen this week was a male Barrow's Goldeneye found on Tuesday with a flock of Common Goldeneye out the Bath Road west of the city. 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
