Kingston Field Naturalists (KFN) maintains records in a 50km radius of MacDonald Park, Kingston. Birders already using eBird are encouraged to share their sightings with 'Kingston FN'. Alternatively, please email, phone or post records directly to me - contact details below. Note: some sightings may require review and remain unconfirmed unless stated otherwise.
Highlights: Despite the main passage of migrants being over, the Kingston region has continued to attract birds and birders alike with Parrott's Bay Conservation Area having not one but two regional rarities. Shorebird migration has been relatively slow but with birds currently moving through Presqu'ile, tomorrow's OFO trip to Opinicon Road and Amherst Island may produce some goodies. Highlights of the week include; LEAST BITTERN, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, BLACK TERN, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, CAROLINA WREN, WORM-EATING WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER and ORCHARD ORIOLE. City of Kingston Marshlands CA continues to attract an interesting variety of passage migrants. This morning, MOURNING WARBLER, singing ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and GREY-CHEEKED THRUSH were all to be found at the northern end of the trail. Also in the same area, SWAINSON'S THRUSHES are still to be found and both ALDER and WILLOW FLYCATCHERS appear to be on territory. A COMMON NIGHTHAWK was seen on the evening of 28th just north of Ambassador Marsh, where both the above thrush species were also seen. The 2 BLACKPOLL WARBLERS seen at Lemoine Point on 28th and a single bird at Invista on 26th were the only ones noted this week. A WILSON'S WARBLER was noted at CFB on 25th and a CAROLINA WREN was seen in the same general area, at Faircrest Blvd, on 26th. Returning to Invista, a pair of ORCHARD ORIOLES was seen on 26th but the Lemoine Point birds haven't been seen now for a couple of weeks. Amherst Island At the Martin Edwards Reserve, shorebird highlights include a single PECTORAL SANDPIPER on 25th and 2 RUDDY TURNSTONES on 26th. Reasonable numbers of DUNLIN have also been observed moving through over the week, along with LEAST and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. Two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were present on 25th and as many as 10 WILSON'S PHALAROPES were noted on 26th. GREAT EGRET, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, AMERICAN BITTERN and GREEN HERON have all been seen on various dates over the week. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, quite the find for the island, was seen on 25th. Halfway between Amherst Island and Kingston lie the (inaccessible) Brother Islands, where a survey last Monday tallied, amongst others, over 300 DUNLIN and a couple of RUDDY TURNSTONE. It would also appear that GREAT EGRETS may be attempting to nest on the islands. Further east on SALMON ISLAND, 88 DUNLIN, 5 RUDDY TURNSTONES, 3 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and a probable BAIRD'S SANDPIPER were all observed. Please note that you must be a member of the Kingston Field Naturalists (KFN) or be accompanied by a member to access the Martin Edwards Reserve. Amherstview Sewage Lagoons Just one BLACK TERN was noted during the week, on 29th. On the same day, 50 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS were also observed along with 8 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. LESSER SCAUP, NORTHERN SHOVELER and GADWALL all continue but things remain slow at the lagoons. Please that that you must be a member of KFN or otherwise obtain permission from the municipality to access the lagoons. Prince Edward Point/County Prince Edward Point continues to produce be fairly productive, though nothing unexpected has shown up over the last week. As noted last week, WILSON'S WARBLER, CANADA WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER and a decreasing number and variety of the commoner species have all been recorded. The 2 NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS continue to be seen along Long Point Road, but appear to be fairly mobile. The CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW, that has been present since 19th on Hill Top Rd, was still present as of last night. At Kaiser Crossroads, 14 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 100+ DUNLIN, 50 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 2 male NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and three AMERICAN WIGEON were seen on the 27th. Other Sightings Just west of Kingston, at Parrott's Bay Conservation Area, the KENTUCKY WARBLER, found on the morning of 20th, was joined by a WORM-EATING WARBLER on the 27th. Both birds remain as of today and, together with the Chuck-will's-widow in Prince Edward County, make for a good day out in Kingston area. The Kentucky Warbler has been relatively easy to see but very few people have actually seen the Worm-eating Warbler. Also seen during the week have been BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, SCARLET TANAGER, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, and PINE WARBLER. Elsewhere, a LEAST BITTERN was heard calling north of the city at Collin's Lake on 24th and a couple of BLACK TERNS have been present at Collin's Creek all week. SANDHILL CRANES continue to be reported near Elbow Lake and Florida Road. In order to minimise disturbance to wildlife and property, the KFN Executive will no longer be reporting owl sightings via the Internet. To maintain records for conservation purposes, sightings are welcomed through all the normal channels. As always, thanks to all those who submitted sightings over the last week. Mark. Mark D. Read 47 Ellerbeck Street, Unit 1, Kingston, Ontario K7L 4H7 Canada Mobile: +1 613 2171246 Email: [email protected] Blog: "Confessions of a Global Birder" http://markdread.blogspot.com <http://markdread.blogspot.com/> Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdread/ eBird Guidelines for Reporting Sensitive Species <http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1006789-guidelines-for-repor ting-sensitive-species> _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. 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