Greetings all, I took a group to Amherst Is. yesterday (Friday, 4 March). Birds of prey remain scarce with 1 Red-tailed, 3 Kestrels and a Merlin (just south of the owl woods) being the only diurnal raptors seen in four hours. We saw one Short-eared Owl flying around the KFN property but no Snowy Owls. In the owl woods itself there was one Boreal and one Great Gray. The Boreal (which was adamantly being identified as a Saw-whet by some) was sitting 3m up in a deciduous tree, about 100 m before the feeders. When we came back the bird had flown down to a fallen log and was sitting on the end of it, no more than a few inches off the ground! It was preening and awake but it sure seemed strange to see one like this. This bird was also interesting in that the bill appeared mostly dark, with only the very tip and part of the culmen ridge being bone coloured. The Great Gray was roosting in the Jack Pines. There were several more Great Grays south and east of Enterprise.
Cheers, Doug McRae Directions: Amherst is reached by taking Cty Rd. 4 south from Hwy. 401 toward Millhaven. Once at Lake Ontario, turn right and go west for 500m to the ferry dock.
