WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE
WEEK ENDING Thursday, January 12, 2006
It surely must be spring as the snow has melted, the ditches are flowing,
the birds are singing, and apparently revved up to commence household
duties. At least, that seems to be the case for a pair of ROCK PIGEONS along
County Road 19 west of the village of Ameliasburgh who successfully hatched
two eggs in a shed this week. Mother and kids are doing fine. Elsewhere,
BELTED KINGFISHERS are turning up everywhere; there are 2 at Wellington
Harbour, one was seen near the former Lower Trent Conservation office in
Trenton on the 9th, and others have been seen at Picton's Marsh Creek and
Cressy. A BROWN THRASHER appeared at 642 Elmbrook Road on the 8th, a
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT continues to feed with the ducks at Wellington
Harbour, and a GREAT BLUE HERON was seen staking the waters of the Trent
River in Trenton today. There are still 2 TUNDRA SWANS with the over 50 MUTE
SWANS at Wellington, and other TUNDRA SWANS were present this week at
Waupoos (49) and the Prince Edward Point area (27). A YELLOW-HEADED
BLACKBIRD continues to travel with numbers of other blackbirds two
kilometres west of Carrying Place and was last seen yesterday. Adding to the
spring like conditions have been flocks of EUROPEAN STARLINGS, AMERICAN
CROWS and just today, a flock of 60 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS that descended on
a feeding area at 23 Sprague Road.
Of course, with the milder weather, waterfowl viewing conditions have
improved. A few ducks were present today at Belleville's Norris Whitney
Bridge as the ice there surrenders to the warm temperatures, but it is
Wellers Bay at Barcovan that has become the spot to be for waterfowl
enthusiasts, especially if you are fond of MUTE SWANS with over 300 counted
there one day early this month among the 14 species of waterfowl present.
The Lake Ontario Mid-Winter Waterfowl Inventory, conducted on the weekend,
resulted in some interesting species and numbers along the Prince Edward
County shoreline. Birders covering the shoreline along the southwestern part
of the county counted 669 MALLARDS among the 12 species of waterfowl they
found, while birders along the southeastern shores found 559 in the Waupoos
area and 740 along the Prince Edward Point shorelines. As might be
predicted, LONG-TAILED DUCK numbers fared well with over 2,100 being found
along the southwestern shoreline, and 25,600 counted in the Prince Edward
Point area. Other species represented by high numbers in that area included
GREATER SCAUP at 14,250 and over 3,500 REDHEADS. A BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was
found in the Prince Edward Point Harbour. Wellington Harbour, always able to
come up with a nice selection, especially if ice conditions force the birds
closer to the government wharf, had upwards of a dozen species of waterfowl
over the week including both MUTE and TUNDRA SWANS, COMMON MERGANSER,
BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE and MALLARD (60), just to name a few. A pair of
HOODED MERGANSERS was reported on the Moira River on Moira Road north of
Belleville.
After a long and painful wait, a few PINE GROSBEAKS are finally starting to
show up in the county. Individuals were seen this week along Northport Road
and at a feeder just west of Picton. A dozen were seen on the 9th in the
Prince Edward Point area, and a few appeared at a feeder in Flinton this
week, north of Highway 7. Also increasing are COMMON REDPOLLS with feeders
along Salem Road, Northport Road and Bloomfield being newly reported
locations for the appearance of these northern finches, along with a flock
of 30 at Thomasburg, and a dependable flock of at least 40 at a feeder along
Glenora Road. This feeder at 11787 Highway 33 is a constant flurry of no
fewer than 200 birds per day, including the above redpolls, and 80 PINE
SISKINS, 40 HOUSE FINCHES and 40 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. The owner welcomes
birders, and donations of feed are always welcome!
Despite the spring conditions, a SNOWY OWL was seen on Royal Road on
December 24th according to a resident there, and a surprise visit by a GREAT
GRAY OWL took place on January 5th on Preston Road south of Madoc and west
of Highway 62. A few scattered flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS continue to be seen
in the county, but nothing compared to the huge flocks that occurred during
December. An interesting observation by a Royal Road resident involved a
lone BLUE JAY that merrily carried off dead mice as fast as the resident
could carry them from his barn and lay them on a roadside rail fence for
whoever might want them.
Eagles??? They just keep increasing to the point where they are now
appearing in flocks. A high of 9 were seen at one time on the ice in
Adolphus Reach in the Cressy area on the 10th. And groups of 6 to 8 at the
Glenora Ferry crossing have been reported on several occasions. Two BALD
EAGLES were also seen this week between Stocco and Thomasburg. A MERLIN was
seen on the 8th between Wellington and Ameliasburgh, and on the 9th there
was one in Trenton.
Other noteworthy sightings include a CAROLINA WREN that can still be found
at Glen Ross on the hillside opposite Civic Address 651 Glen Ross Road. The
COMMON RAVEN in the Elmbrook area still wanders around and was seen one day
along County Road 5, and on the 8th it was seen along Elmbrook Road.
And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area.
Our thanks to Dennis Marisett, John Charlton, Ron Weir, Albert Boisvert,
Marion Price-Jones, Roy Rorabeck, Cheryl Anderson, Gail Westbrook, Peter Van
Der Gulik, Joanne Dewey, Elaine Tausenfreund, Paul Wallace, Jim Pedersen,
Donald McClure, Nancy Smitts, Trudy Kitchen, Doug McRae, Silvia Botnick,
Brian Durell, Henri Garand, Peter Marshall, Gerry & Linda O'Brien, Frank
Artes & Carolyn Barnes, Nick Quickert and Nels Banting for their
contributions to this week's report. This report will be updated on
Thursday, January 19th. Bird sightings may be forwarded to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
any time before the Thursday 6:00 p.m. deadline. This report also appears
for a period of seven days on the NatureStuff website, under BIRDING, where
this week's featured photo of a MERLIN was contributed by Nick Quickert &
Nels Banting.
Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.naturestuff.net
