The best bird of the week was an immature GOLDEN EAGLE seen flying over Perth Road Village on the 19th. The arrival of early spring migrants continued, but perhaps due to the cold and sometimes snowy weather there were no big surprises among them. Widespread migrants included TURKEY VULTURE, AMERICAN ROBIN, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, and a few SONG SPARROWS. EASTERN MEADOWLARKS were also starting to show up and CEDAR WAXWINGS seemed to be a little more common than they were earlier in the winter.
City of Kingston The Cataraqui River had a good diversity of waterbirds including MUTE SWAN, TUNDRA SWAN, WOOD DUCK, GADWALL, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, both SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, HOODED and COMMON MERGANSER, 2 RUDDY DUCKS, 1 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. A BALD EAGLE was also seen along the river. A MERLIN was at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. Amherst Island The expected waterbirds were present as were NORTHERN HARRIER, RED-TAILED and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 3 SNOWY OWLS, 2 BARRED OWLS, RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and AMERICAN KESTREL. Howe Island Loads of waterfowl, including 250 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, attracted 10 BALD EAGLES to the island. Also of note was a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. Opinicon Road Waterbirds at Chaffey's Lock included 15 TRUMPETER SWANS, RING-NECKED DUCK, COMMON GOLDENEYE, HOODED and COMMON MERGANSERS, 1 AMERICAN COOT and 1 GREAT BLUE HERON. The waterbirds at the lock station continued to attract BALD EAGLES in good numbers. A NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen just east of the village. The long-staying CAROLINA WREN was seen yet again near the Chaffey's Lock community hall. A NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL was calling at Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) on the 16th. A southern HOARY REDPOLL male continued to visit the QUBS feeders with 60+ COMMON REDPOLLS. Other Observations Collin's Creek is not often visited by birders but can be fantastic for waterfowl in spring and fall, especially when explored by canoe. As the melting ice freed up habitat there was GADWALL, RING-NECKED DUCK and HOODED MERGANSER on the creek. A blue SNOW GOOSE was anong the waterfowl east of Sandhurst Shores. Two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS were seen over Sydenham Road near Loughborough Lake. An AMERICAN WOODCOCK was near Napanee. A BELTED KINGFISHER was at the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre near Inverary. There were 4 PINE SISINS at a Sydenham feeder. Thanks to all those who submitted observations this past week. 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: 613-533-6617 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/
