It hasn't been an outstanding summer locally bird-wise or weather-wise but there have been a few highlights. Great Egrets put on their best showing in recent memory with up to five in a marsh on Taylor-Kidd Blvd. west of Kingston and seven last Sunday on the KFN property on Amherst Island. Two Brant seem to have over-summered; they were on Snake Island on July 11th and on Amherst July 26th. A pair of Peregrine Falcons fledged two young on a downtown Kingston high-rise and Bald Eagles were seen regularly in the Landon Bay area east of Gananoque. Two McGill University researchers found three breeding pairs as well as two singleton Short-eared Owls on Amherst Island. The Loggerhead Shrike recovery work continues in the Napanee Plain. This summer had nine breeding pairs, the same as last year. This field work produced some other interesting sightings: 150+ Grasshopper Sparrows, 6 Sedge Wrens in three locations, Vesper and Clay-colored Sparrows (in lower numbers than previous years), good numbers of Black-billed Cuckoos, and Purple Finch nesting in the ubiquitous Red Cedars. Other noteworthy sightings included 8 Clay-colored sparrows on Amherst June 30th, 2 Evening Grosbeaks near Elginburg on July 12th, and 40 Common Terns on Snake Island on July 22nd. There have been only two reports of Red-headed Woodpeckers all summer; one on Wolfe Island from June 14-18 and another at Bath on July 1st.
The fall migration started with both yellowlegs on Amherst on July 8th. The Wilton Creek near Morven has been the most productive shorebird spot locally, with lots of yellowlegs, Spotted, Least, Solitary and Semipalmated Sandpipers, as well as Pectoral Sandpiper arriving on July 19th and Short-billed Dowitcher on July 29th. There was some warbler movement noted north of the city at Bedford Mills on August 20th; !0 species including Canada and Mourning along with 3 species of vireo. Whip-poor-wills were still calling as well. The Amherstview sewage lagoon, on August 23rd, had 8 species of waterfowl including 2 N. Pintail and a Common Goldeneye, 8 different shorebirds including 4 Pectoral Sandpipers and 21 Bonaparte's Gulls. That same day on Amherst there was a movement of 300+ Bobolinks plus a Baird's Sandpiper and an early Red-throated Loon. This Wednesday things improved on Amherst. In a small muddy spot at the south end of the ponds behind the dike was a group of 10 species of shorebird, mostly Lesser Yellowlegs, but on careful inspection (the vegetation is quite thick) also contained a Baird's Sandpiper and a Red Knot. The gravel bar had only a few Killdeer and a single Black-bellied Plover. The most spectacular observation was a two hour flight of Common Nighthawks near Picadilly (north of Verona) last Saturday afternoon. It was conservatively estimated at over a thousand birds. 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/
