The KFN did their annual fall roundup within the Kingston 50 km circle last weekend and tallied a respectable 126 species. Since the circle includes some of Prince Edward County I'll try not to repeat those sightings already mentioned in Terry Sprague's report. In total we had 29 species of waterfowl including 640 Tundra Swan, 3 Snow Geese, a Brant and the Eurasian Wigeon which is still at Dupont. The Ross's Goose was missed on the weekend but refound on Monday.
Shorebirds were few in number: 22 Dunlin, 7 Am. Woodcock, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Greater and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Killdeer were tallied on the weekend. Another 3 Greater Yellowlegs were on Amherst Island on Tuesday. Hawk and owl numbers so far are quite good and if they hold it could be an interesting winter. Amherst has had high counts of 20 Long-eared, 2 Short-eared, and 3 Saw-whet Owls as well as 5 Rough-legged and 7 Red-tailed Hawks, 14 N. Harriers, and 4 Am. Kestrels. A Golden Eagle was seen there on Saturday and an Osprey was at Rockport yesterday. Other signs of winter included 350 Snow Buntings and 4 N. Shrikes. A few species are lingering: Palm and Black-throated Blue Warblers were seen on the weekend and a second Black-throated Blue was on Unity Road on Tuesday. A Chipping and a White-crowned sparrow were near Elginburg and another White-crowned was near Camden East this week. One of the highlights of the roundup was a huge flock (10,000?) of male Red-winged Blackbirds in a cornfield south of Napanee. The birds were very active with large groups lifting into the air then settling back down.(Quite a sight). We managed to pick out a few female red-wings, some grackles, cowbirds, and a single Brewer's Blackbird. Interestingly there were no Rusty Blackbirds. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
