No rarities to report from this past week. A few new migratory species were reported including VIRGINIA RAIL, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, but all in all, things seemed pretty quiet. We await the next warm spell to reinvigorate the spring migration.
City of Kingston The first VIRGINIA RAIL of the season was singing along Collin's Creek. COMMON RAVENS are actively nesting at Kingston Mills. Amherst Island Like everywhere else in the Kingston Region, there were very few reports from the island this past week. The only notable birds were 4 FOX SPARROWS in the Owl Woods. Bedford Mills Birds at Bedford Mills included 1 adult BALD EAGLE, 9 PINE SISKINS and 2 PURPLE FINCHES. Lindhurst The Lindhurst area had 1 TRUMPETER SWAN, 3 GREEN-WINGED TEALS, 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 1 COOPER'S HAWK, 5 AMERICAN KESTRELS, 1 YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, 3 NORTHERN SHRIKES and 10 TREE SWALLOWS among other species. Opinicon Road Waterbirds were the usual expected species including WOOD DUCK and HOODED MERGANSER actively prospecting for nest sites. Also present are good numbers of AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, RING-NECKED DUCK and COMMON MERGANSER. Up to 5 TRUMPETER SWANS could still be seen on Lake Opinicon from Chaffey's Lock and Sugarbush Island. COMMON LOON numbers continued to build throughout the countryside with most lakes having at least one or two birds by week's end. RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS were already incubating eggs on several nests. A NORTHERN HARRIER was along the road (uncommon on Opinicon Road). 2 MERLINS were displaying over Rabbit Island at Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS). At least one OSPREY had returned to Lake Opinicon. COMMON RAVENS were on a nest in Chaffey's Lock. A NORTHERN SHRIKE and a CHIPPING SPARROW were along Chaffey's Lock Road. A single PINE SISKIN and the occasional PURPLE FINCH had been visiting the feeders at QUBS. Other Sightings A MERLIN was at Westport. A BARRED OWL was along County Road 32 near South Lake (north of Gananoque). A RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was at Elginburg. The pine warbler previously seen at an Elginburg feeder hasn't made an appearance since Mar 3. Thank you to those who contributed observations this week. All bird sightings reported to me are included in the Kingston Field Naturalists’ long term records database which has over 60 years of observations on file and is an invaluable conservation resource. Mark -- Mark Andrew Conboy Operations & Research Assistant and Outreach Coordinator Queen’s University Biological Station 280 Queen's University Road Elgin, Ontario, Canada K0G 1E0 phone: 613-359-5629 fax: 613-359-6558 email: [email protected] or [email protected] QUBS website: http://www.queensu.ca/qubs/index.html QUBS blog: http://opinicon.wordpress.com/ QUBS flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qubsoutreach/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
