WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, October 23, 2008 We begin our Quinte Area Bird Report at Prince Edward Point where a RED-THROATED LOON was seen on the 17th. Twenty-five COMMON LOONS were seen the next day as were 20 HORNED GREBES and 6 RED-NECKED GREBES. The DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANTS roosting on the shoal typically number less than a hundred now but 500 were seen on the 18th. A GREAT BLUE HERON was in the harbour on the 22nd. A few small groups of CANADA GEESE are going over and a flock of 27 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE that flew over were seen by two separate observers on the 22nd. Four NORTHERN PINTAIL have joined the MALLARDS in the harbour while offshore up to 5000 GREATER SCAUP can be seen daily as can up to 150 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS. The first BUFFLEHEAD of the fall was seen on the 22nd and the first LONG-TAILED DUCK was seen on the 18th and 17 were present on the 20th. Raptor activity has slowed down but a female PEREGRINE FALCON flew past on the 18th. Five BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER were seen on the beach on the 19th and 8 flew past on the 22nd. A DUNLIN was noted on the 5th as well. An EASTERN SCREECH-OWL was banded on the 19th, a BARRED OWL was seen on the 23rd and a SHORT-EARED OWL was seen along Babylon Road on the 18th. NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS are few in numbers at the moment and 82 have been banded during the week. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen along Babylon Road on the 18th. Two BLUE-HEADED VIREOS were banded on the 23rd and were the first for 5 days signaling an end to these birds for the fall. AMERICAN CROWS (25) were present on the 19th and 14 HORNED LARKS flew over in a flock on the 19th. WINTER WRENS, BROWN CREEPERS and both KINGLETS have been creeping through all week but no big numbers of them have been counted. An EASTERN BLUEBIRD was noted on the 18th and 15-20 HERMIT THRUSHES are being seen daily. AMERICAN ROBINS have been moving and 110 flew over on the 17th followed by 180 on the 18th. A late NASHVILLE WARBLER was trapped on the 18th and a late BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER was banded on the 17th. A young male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER has been retrapped most days during the week and few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS have been seen this week. A late COMMON YELLOWTHROAT was seen on the 17th. The first AMERICAN TREE SPARROW of the fall was banded on the 17th and a FOX SPARROW was caught on the 20th. Up to ten banded WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS are hanging around the Observatory and up to 50 DARK-EYED JUNCOS are around as well. A few RUSTY BLACKBIRDS are going over and peaked at 50 on the 18th and 46 on the 19th. COMMON GRACKLES (550) flew past on the 22nd and 11 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS went over on the 18th. PURPLE FINCHES are moving and peaked at 100 on the 18th. The last bird of note for the week was a CACKLING GOOSE mixed in with a flock of 14 CANADA GEESE on the 19th. A few observations elsewhere in the County parallel those seen at Prince Edward Point in the past week. Although the first BUFFLEHEAD at Prince Edward Point was seen on the 22nd, three appeared three days earlier in the Bay of Quinte just south of Massassauga. These were joined by several MALLARDS, 9 MUTE SWANS and several DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. One sharp observer, a person out commercial fishing of all things, watched intently as a flock of several thousand DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS streamed down the Long Reach (Bay of Quinte) apparently herded by an approaching tug boat. This person's interest and patience paid off for in amongst them was a single GREAT CORMORANT. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time, as it was for a motorist driving Highway 62 over the Sawguin Creek south of Belleville when a late GREAT EGRET flew over. Two residents walking along Gorsline Road on the 18th found the season's first NORTHERN SHRIKE to match the individual found the same day at Prince Edward Point. Singles here and singles there, certainly in sharp contrast to "thousands" of EUROPEAN STARLINGS, COMMON GRACKLES and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS that have been covering many backyards as well as agricultural fields this past week - highs of 2000 estimated by a observer on Tripp Road, the same number passing over Picton yesterday, and a thousand, mostly juvenile birds, at Allisonville. Impressive numbers too on Muscote Bay when 100 to 150 HOODED MERGANSERS turned up there today. Also present on Muscote Bay have been 6 LESSER SCAUP, 100 more unidentified scaup farther out, and 4 AMERICAN WIGEON. A walk along the Millennium Trail in the Picton area on Sunday, produced 25 AMERICAN PIPITS happily feasting in a freshly manured field. Eight YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were still present at Horse Point where they were seen cavorting in the water between the rocks on shore. A motorist driving along Sprague Road was forced to stop as a group of six WILD TURKEYS casually walked across the road and disappeared, one by one, into a growth of reed canary grass. At Sheba's Island, two observers there watched a couple of TURKEY VULTURES being harassed by a gull, and two Carnrike Road residents near Consecon decided to remove two failing ornamental trees from their yard and discovered a robin's nest in one of them that wasn't quite abandoned yet. Inside was a LEOPARD FROG. Signs of the bird feeder season were reflected in the appearance of 15 PINE SISKINS at a Fry Road feeder on the 18th which were still around the following day, along with a male and female PURPLE FINCH. COMMON RAVENS, BLUE-HEADED VIREO and EASTERN TOWHEE were all present at Cape Vesey on the 12th, and a BARRED OWL was present there some weeks earlier. And here is a term I bet you haven't heard very often. One person reported a "brace" of RUFFED GROUSE. What is a brace? The term comes from an Old French word meaning "an arm", or a "pair of arms." So anything that was used as an arm came to be called a brace; hence, the common term in dentistry and carpentry But because brace originally meant "a pair of arms", brace could also be used to mean "a pair,". If you shot a couple of grouse out on the moors, you are said to have shot "a brace of grouse," therefore meaning a score of two. So, there you go - your trivia for this week. And on that note, that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to David Okines of the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, Kathleen Rankine, Chris Grooms, Kathy Felkar & Mike Burge, Joanne Dewey, Dennis & Joan Godfrey, Brian Durell, Brock Burr, John & Margaret Moore, Bill Leet, Henri Garand, Wayne McNulty, Myrna Wood and Doris Lane for their contributions to this week's report. This report will be updated on Thursday, October 30th, but sightings can be e-mailed any time before the Wednesday night deadline. Featured photo on the Main Birding Page was submitted by Dennis & Joan Godfrey of the frog in the robin's nest. Photos in the online edition of the Quinte Area Bird Report include a GREAT EGRET by Susan Shipman and PINE SISKINS at a feeder by Dirk deBoer. - Terry Sprague Prince Edward County [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. 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