The good birds at Chaffey's Lock (Trumpeter Swan, Wood Duck and Green-winged Teal) prompted a group to check out the other lock stations between there and Kingston. They found a Hooded Merganser at Kingston Mills and a Belted Kingfisher at Upper Brewer's. Almost all the locks had Canada Geese, Am. Black Ducks, Mallards and Common Goldeneye. The only other unusual waterfowl this week was a male N. Pintail in the Amherst ferry channel on Monday.
The Peregrine Falcon is still at Queen's and a N. Goshawk was seen in the same area last Sunday. Kingston's downtown pigeons must be having a rough winter. Cooper's Hawks were seen in Camden East and on Howe Island and Bald Eagles were reported from Bedford Mills, Tamworth and the Opinicon Road. Nobody reported a Boreal Owl from Amherst but the other raptors were still abundant. A quick trip to Wolfe Island yielded only two Snowy Owls and very few hawks. The finch picture remains much the same, dominated by large numbers of Pine Siskins (more than 40 at several feeders), with smaller numbers of Am. Goldfinch, Common Redpoll, and Purple Finch. Pine Grosbeaks were seen at Perth Road and Bedford Mills. White-winged Crossbill numbers are down this week with only a couple reported from Bedford Mills and Flinton; also from the pine plantations near Flinton , 16 Red Crossbills. Other noteworthy winter birds included flocks of Snow Buntings on Amherst and at Seeley's Bay, N. Shrikes at Bedford Mills and Amherst, Wild Turkeys on Wolfe Island and near Centreville, Am. Robins at Bedford Mills and Camden East, and Brown Creepers at Davis Lock and Bedford Mills. More unusual but now regular at their respective feeders are the White-crowned Sparrow at Elginburg, a White-throated Sparrow and Red-bellied Woodpecker in Barriefield and another Red-bellied, a Song Sparrow and up to 25 Rusty Blackbirds on Howe Island. Two N. Flickers were found well northwest of the city on Monday; one near Newburgh and the other near Centreville. There was also a small flock of 5 Eastern Bluebirds just to the northeast of Newburgh on Monday. 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 information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
