The Prince Edward County Birding Festival is running this week, until Sunday, May 16th. Guided bird walks along trails in the Point Traverse Woods (Prince Edward Point) every morning at 8:00 a.m., Art of Flight show, banding demonstrations and workshops. Details at www.peptbo.ca
After some 21 days, the five HARLEQUIN DUCKS are showing no signs of moving on. In fact, today there were two males and five females near the banding station, and by 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, their numbers had burgeoned to an incredible nine, comprising six females and three males! I think this now constitutes a raft of HARLEQUINS! Except for the HARLEQUINS, the birding continues to be so poor at Prince Edward Point this week that even the resident sharp-shinned hawk has lost interest in the few migrants that are present. Today, there were 13 species of warblers present, with singles of NORTHERN PARULA, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, CHESTNUT-SIDED, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, YELLOW-RUMPED and a TENNESSEE being among the species tallied on the 8:00 a.m. hike. A GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER was present at 7:30 this morning just west of the Point Traverse Trails. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS continue to be well distributed throughout the area, and scattered numbers of LONG-TAILED DUCKS are still present on Prince Edward Bay. Visiting birders from Barrie, Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec continue to be optimistic.
To reach Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, take Main Street from the east end of downtown Picton, down the "Town Hill", and turn immediately right onto Union Street (directly across from Tip of the Bay Motel). Follow Union Street out of Picton (becomes County Road 8) for 2.5 km, and at the junction in the highway, follow County Road 17. Take County Road 17 for 6.5 km and look for the Black River Cheese sign, and turn left onto County Road 16 and follow for 1 km to the Stop sign at County Road 13. Follow County Road 13 past Black River Cheese for 23.6 km to the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area (County Road 13 eventually becomes Long Point Road). Follow Long Point Road until you begin passing the Point Traverse Woods and trails on the left and the Observatory a half kilometre farther along.
Terry Sprague [email protected] www.naturestuff.net _______________________________________________ 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/
