Hi all, For the past three days there has been several large groups of Snow Buntings along the Wheatley Road (Cty Rd 1) Most of the groups are approximately 50 birds. There are also large groups of Horned Larks scattered along as well as a few Lapland Longspurs moulting into breeding plumage.
There has also been a good movement of Northern Harriers across the area as well. From Chatham to Leamington this afternoon I saw 11, mostly males. Brett Groves Leamington, Ontario Directions: From the 401 at Tilbury, drive into the middle of town and turn south at the lights. Go through town; once south of Tilbury you are on the Wheatley Road. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Feb 25 21:33:21 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from pop-a065d19.pas.sa.earthlink.net (pop-a065d19.pas.sa.earthlink.net [207.217.121.253]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BC0A563AE0 for <[email protected]>; Fri, 25 Feb 2005 21:33:21 -0500 (EST) Received: from dialup-4.157.47.9.dial1.boston1.level3.net ([4.157.47.9] helo=earthlink.net) by pop-a065d19.pas.sa.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1D4rom-0006Qf-00 for [email protected]; Fri, 25 Feb 2005 18:36:32 -0800 Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 21:37:44 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v552) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed From: Brett Ewald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.552) Subject: [Ontbirds]Amherst Is, Wolfe Is., Cape Vincent X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 02:33:22 -0000 An exciting and productive tour for owls, raptors, and other winter birds covered the areas of Wolfe Island (2/19), Amherst Island (2/20), and Enterprise (2/20) in Ontario and the Cape Vincent and Point Peninsula areas in NY (2/21). Highlights included: Bald Eagle - 6 [2 along Rt. 2 near Kingston (2/19), 3 along the river at Ivy Lea, and 1 3rd year bird on Point Peninsula (2/21)] Northern Harrier - 1 (Amherst Island) Red-tailed Hawk - 20 Rough-legged Hawk - 14 (7 Dark Morph, 7 Light Morph - all were adults that were able to be aged; all in NY - most along Mason Rd. near Clayton and the rest south of Point Peninsula along Rt. 12E and 180) American Kestrel - 1 male (Wolfe Island) Ruffed Grouse - 8 (feeding on tree buds along Rt. 14 east of Enterprise) Wild Turkey - 30+ (1 group on Wolfe Island, another group south of Enterprise) Snowy Owl - 5 (3 on Wolfe Island - 2 immature males, 1 adult female; 2 on the east end of Amherst Island) Great Gray Owl - 8 (2 along Rt. 6 south of Enterprise, 1 further south along Huffman Rd., and 5 along Rt. 14 east of Enterprise) Boreal Owl - 2 ( Owl Woods on Amherst Island - 1 in a cedar just past the feeders and 1 in the cedars at the opening to the Jack Pines - the one near the feeders is a lightly marked bird, lacking the black on the forehead, has a pale tip and base to the bill, but a darker middle, and is fairly heavily streaked below - with the bill partly tucked in, this bird is reminiscent of a large Saw-whet) Northern Shrike - 2 (1 on Long Swamp Rd. southeast of Enterprise, 1 adult on Rt. 12 east of Clayton, NY) Common Raven - 1 (along Rt. 2 east of Kingston) Snow Bunting - 500+ (most on Wolfe Island) The northern owls definitely stole the show, providing great looks, including a Snowy Owl flying right in front of the sunset and Great Gray Owls catching a vole, as well as coughing up a pellet. The Ruffed Grouse and large number of Snow Buntings were also impressive. Surprising was the lack of hawks in all three "regular" places - Amherst Island, Wolfe Island, and Point Peninsula. Brett Ewald Lakeshore Nature Tours (716) 628-8226 http://www.LakeshoreNatureTours.com To reach Amherst Island take exit 593 south off highway 401. Follow this road to its end at the lake turning right to the ferry about 100 m. west. Ferry goes on the 1/2 hour from here and returns on the hour from the island at a cost of $5.00 return. After debarking the ferry there is a map of the island. Turn left at the stop sign and then right just over 3 km. from "town". Road is across from house #2320. Continuing along the road from "town" takes you to the KFN site at the end of Lower Forty Foot Road. Enterprise can be reached by taking Exit 593 off 401 - head north on Rt. 4 to Rt. 14 and go east. Wolfe Island can be reached by free ferry off of Rt. 2 in downtown Kingston. The most productive areas are the roads on the western half of the island.
