The area was well covered this week. Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers and Am. Pipits were the most common species reported. At Lemoine Point on Saturday there was a Nashville and a Blackpoll Warbler. In the west end of the city there was a pair of Common Ravens on Monday and 2 Merlins on Tuesday. A build-up of ducks has begun in Elevator Bay with several Am. Wigeon and about 50 Greater Scaup seen a week ago.
Outside the city the Wilton Creek near Morven had both yellowlegs and a Pectoral Sandpiper yesterday. Bedford Mills reported a Common Loon, a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Winter Wren and a Red-breasted Nuthatch among others. Near Camden East today there was a Merlin, A Sharp-shinned Hawk, an Am. Bittern, 3 Common Ravens that were almost in the stratosphere and what I thought was unusual behaviour; a Pileated Woodpecker eating wild grapes. Near Elginburg they had a Nashville Warbler last Thursday, a Gray Catbird and an Am. Bittern on Saturday, an E. Phoebe on Monday and a Lincoln's Sparrow on Tuesday. Highlights from Amherst Island include 3 Merlins and six species of warbler including 3 N. Parula last Thursday, 3 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows on Saturday, 31 Common Loons, 2 Horned Grebes, nine species of shorebird including 55 Semipalmated Plover and 1 Hudsonian Godwit, as well as a Sedge Wren, and 75 Am. Pipits on Sunday. On Wolfe Island, which is getting better coverage this fall, there was an off-course Forster's Tern and 4 Cackling Geese last Thursday and by yesterday the goose numbers had increased markedly; 6300 Canada, 11 Snow (white) and 11 Cackling. Raptor numbers were good as well today with five species represented, among them 2 Peregrine Falcons. There were also some impressive numbers of passerines on Wolfe: 25 Dark-eyed Juncos, 60 Song Sparrows, 300+ Tree Swallows, and over 800 Am. Pipits. Prince Edward Point is within the Kingston 50 km circle so I will note any sightings from there since Terry Sprague has discontinued his Prince Edward County report. On Tuesday the highlights were an Orange-crowned Warbler, a House Wren, 3 White-winged Scoter, 5 Merlin, 250 Turkey Vultures and a juvenile White Ibis. I would normally put in a whole raft of adjectives here but words fail me. That is one hell of a good bird! 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/
