It has been an excellent week for birds locally. To start, there were two Surf Scoters in the Amherstview sewage lagoons last Friday. Four more were seen off the west end of Amherst Island Oct. 3rd and three White-winged Scoters did a fly-by at the east end the same day. Two Ruddy Ducks showed up in the lagoons on Tuesday and were still present yesterday. Some impressive concentrations have started to build up: 25 Shovelers in the lagoons, 40 Coots and 125 American Wigeon in the Cataraqui River, and thousands of Canada Geese on the penitentiary property. Two good birds were found amongst the Canadas; a blue phase Snow Goose on Tuesday and a Cackling Goose Thursday.
Shorebirds are still dominating the local birding activity. The Hudsonian Godwit remained at the lagoons until Wednesday accompanied by two Stilt and a Baird's Sandpiper along with several Yellowlegs. The KFN property on Amherst Island had six Dunlin and a Red-necked Phalarope last Saturday and on Tuesday, six Black-bellied Plover, one Golden Plover, a White-rumped Sandpiper and a Long-billed Dowitcher. A few warblers are still about; a Palm and a Tennessee were seen in the Bayridge area last Friday, an Orange-crowned was in the Owl Woods Tuesday and a Black-throated Blue and a Nashville were found there yesterday. Sparrows are all over the place; a Lincoln's was in the Owl woods on Tuesday, a Nelson's Sharp-tailed at the lagoons on Sunday and three more sharp-tails on Amherst Island on Tuesday. Dark-eyed Juncos were reported from Bayridge on the 29th, Wolfe Island on the 1st, and Amherst Island on the 5th. Four Lapland Longspurs were among dozens of American Pipits on Amherst on Tuesday. There has been some raptor activity of late. With good shorebird habitat one expects some predators; a Peregrine was at the lagoons last Friday and a Merlin on Amherst Island on Tuesday. Last Sunday two Barred Owls were near the Queen's Biology Station at Chaffey's Lock and a Screech Owl was calling at Enterprise. Other sightings this week include an American Bittern and a Sora on Amherst, Sept. 30th and Oct. 3rd respectively, 10 Rusty Blackbirds in a mixed flock with Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles at Camden East, another 25 on Amherst Island on Tuesday and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the Owl woods that same day. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
