WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA for Sunday, March 07, 2004
A few more migrants have taken advantage of the warmer weather this past week. There were numerous reports of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS from Tuesday on, and COMMON GRACKLES staged their appearance as well during the week with individuals being seen at Stirling, Big Island, South Bay and Bongard Road area in Prince Edward County, and scatterings of them elsewhere. There were a few very early female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS on West Lake Road and South Bay on Tuesday. More KILLDEER have arrived too with reports coming in from Point Petre and Kaiser Crossroad, and one on Tracey Park Drive in Belleville on Thursday. And everybody has AMERICAN ROBINS. Mostly though, it's been waterfowl. The flooded fields along Kaiser Crossroad bear watching if the warming trend continues over the next few days. Already there are 4 NORTHERN PINTAILS, MALLARDS, BLACK DUCKS and CANADA GEESE. With Prince Edward Bay now thawed all the way to the northeast side of Waupoos Island it will not be long before South Bay and Smith's Bay are once again full of waterfowl. The first minor migration of LONG-TAILED DUCKS occured on the night of February 29th, and large movements have occured every night since. A huge flock of 8,000 was seen off The Rock (Cape Vesey) today; however, they are difficult to see and a spotting scope is necessary. Large flocks of scaup can be seen in Prince Edward Bay from Kaiser Crossroad to the end of Cressy Lakeside Road. Large numbers of scaup turned up on Tuesday around Cressy and on Saturday in Petticoat Bay at the end of Brewer's Lane. REDHEADS are mixed in with birds in Petticoat Bay as well as in the large flock of scaup at the end of Cressy Lakeside Road. COMMON GOLDENEYE are still present in large numbers but appear now to be paired and courtship displays have decreased a bit from last week. The rock bar near Kaiser Crossroad appears to be a favourite spot for CANADA GEESE with about 900 birds there today. Only 100 were seen a day earlier. Waterfowl elsewhere included 7 RING-NECKED DUCKS and 2 GADWALL at the Kaiser Road rock bar on Tuesday, and 4 HOODED MERGANSERS in Black River near Milford. At the end of Brewer's Lane, there was an astonishing 14,000 scaup, mostly GREATERS. The end of Duetta Road and Point Petre had only small numbers of COMMON GOLDENEYE, LONG-TAILED DUCKS and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. At Point Petre on Thursday, there was a RED-NECKED GREBE and a flock of REDHEADS. And the best find was a female KING EIDER in the Prince Edward Point Harbour on February 28th. There were 9 TUNDRA SWANS reported from Cressy Lakeside Road today. The flock of 150 CEDAR WAXWINGS continues to hang out near the corner of Massassauga Road and Sunrise Drive. With the flock are a few BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS. With the arrival of warmer weather, many of the RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and COMMON GRACKLES reported during the week were at feeders, where numbers of regular clients has dropped significantly. A feeder east of Lake-on-the-Mountain has been host to three PINE SISKINS, and most feeder operators have reported an increase in numbers of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. Other interesting sightings during the week incluided a COOPER'S HAWK in west Napanee, and adult BALD EAGLE on Adolphus Reach, with another BALD EAGLE seen southeast of Peterborough. Two COMMON RAVENS were seen east of Waupoos, possibly the same two that turned up on the Christmas Bird Count near there in December. And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to Joel Ellis, Susan Withers, Rick Clow, Albert Boisvert, Fred Chandler, Matt Holder, Doris Lane, Jess Chambers, Joe Victor and Michael Schummer for their contributions to this week's report. This report also appears on the Birding page at www.naturestuff.net. This report will be updated by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 14th. Bird sightings must be in by 6:00 p.m. Sunday evening to be included in the next report. Good winter birding. Terry Sprague Picton, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
