This is the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory Report for the week of May 04-10, courtesy of David Okines, bander in charge:
May is here and so are the birds, PEPTBO has its spring birding festival starting on the 12th and going to the 21st. Come down and see us (and the birds). Three GREAT BLUE HERONS flew over on the 10th. On the 5th 185 CANADA GEESE headed north and were followed on the 7th by at least a 1000 more, also that day there was a flock of 120 BRANT that also went north low over the lake. WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and LONG-TAILED DUCKS are still fairly plentiful offshore with up to a 1000 of the former and 250 of the later being present daily. BUFFLEHEAD numbers have dropped to about 3 and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS number up to about 60 just off the harbour. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK has been seen doing display flights over the area and the resident NORTHERN HARRIERS are being seen daily. The first BROAD-WINGED HAWKS arrived on the 6th, 6 of them and have occasionally been seen since. A GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS were seen on the 6th, A SPOTTED SANDPIPER arrived on the 5th, 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were seen around the harbour on the 7th and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER was at the end of the harbour on the following day. BONAPARTE’S GULLS have almost finished moving with them only being seen on the 4th. Two to four RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS are visiting the feeders every day. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen near the harbour on the 7th. The first YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER arrived on the 8th and 2-4 LEAST FLYCATCHERS are present daily. A few vireos are being seen and the first PHILADELPHIA arrived on the 7th and the first RED-EYED was seen on the 10th. BLUE JAY numbers are slowly picking up but no big movements have occurred yet. A BANK SWALLOW was seen on the 7th and up to 100 CLIFF SWALLOWS are building on the lighthouse. Both BROWN CREEPERS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS have just about finished moving and only about 1 a day of each have been seen. 5 VEERY were seen on the 9th as were 3 SWAINSON’S THRUSHES and 3 WOOD THRUSHES. Up to 20 GREY CATBIRDS a day are being seen and a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was found on the 5th. Twenty-five species of warblers were seen during the week. Highlights included a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER on the 6th, a GOLDEN-WINGED on the 7th, 4 TENNESSEES on the 10th. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were seen on the 5th and 6th. NASHVILLE WARBLERS numbered 20 on the 7th and 6 NORTHERN PARULAS were seen on the 8th. Up to 50 YELLOW WARBLERS a day are being seen or heard, it looks like it could be a good spring for CAPE MAY WARBLERS as they have been seen every day this week. Up to 125 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS a day are being seen as are up to 10 BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS. BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS are staring to put on a show with up to 5 a day showing themselves off. The first BAY-BREASTED WARBLER arrived on the 4th and have been seen on three dates since. Most of the AMERICAN REDSTARTS seen so far have been bright adult males. NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES and OVENBIRDS can be heard singing early in the morning and COMMON YELLOWTHROATS are increasing with a peak count of 10 on the 7th. A HOODED WARBLER showed itself to several birders in the Point Traverse woods on the 9th. The first WILSON’S WARBLER arrived on the 7th and another CANADA WARBLER was found on the 6th. SCARLET TANAGERS arrived on the 6th and have been seen daily since. An AMERICAN TREE SPARROW on the 7th is the latest date ever by 3 days. On the 4th the first LINCOLN’S SPARROW of the year arrived, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW numbers have been decreasing all week and only a handful can now be found. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS peaked at 120 on the 4th and most of the semi-resident banded birds left on the night of the 8th with only a handful being seen since. A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW of the GAMBELL’S race was retrapped twice during the week, DARK-EYED JUNCOS have dropped to 1 or 2 a day now. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS peaked at 30 this week on the 9th and INDIGO BUNTINGS arrived on the 7th. RUSTY BLACKBIRDS can still be found occasionally in the woods and 2 ORCHARD ORIOLES arrived in the apple trees on the other side of the harbour on the 6th and have been seen there occasionally since. A VIRGINIA RAIL was seen at the end of the harbour on the 9th. BEYOND PRINCE EDWARD POINT A total of 31 birders turned out for the first guided bird walk of the season at 8:00 a.m. this morning as part of the Spring Birding Festival at Prince Edward Point. Seen today in the Point Traverse Woods on this guided walk were several SCARLET TANAGERS, INDIGO BUNTING, WOOD PEWEE, LEAST and GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, WOOD THRUSH, RUSTY BLACKBIRDS and 16 species of warblers. The Festival continues through May 21st. There was a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW singing west of Sprague Road on Big Island. A PEREGRINE FALCON showed up again at Macaulay Mountain yesterday. Daily bird sightings can be seen on the Quinte Area Bird Report at http://www.naturestuff.net . News from the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory can be seen on their website at http://www.peptbo.ca . Terry Sprague Prince Edward County [email protected] www.naturestuff.net _______________________________________________ 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/
