With summer and winter all in one week you might think the birding would be interesting but migration came to a grinding halt and few new birds moved into the Kingston area. Common Loons have returned to some of the lakes north of the city, in many cases before the ice was all gone. Double-creasted Cormorants have arrived in numbers-300 on Snake Island last Friday.
The waterfowl migration is ebbing; a pair of American Wigeon at a Ducks Unlimited marsh near Camden East, 3 Blue-winged Teal off the Latimer Road and 14 Wood Ducks in a pond near Elginburg were of interest. Northern Flickers are now abundant and noisy and a Red-bellied Woodpecker was reported from the Gananoque area; a site that has not had them before. Wolfe Island had an excellent selection of raptors on Wednesday; 5 N. Harrier, 1 Sharp-shinned, 7 Red-tailed, and 17 Rough-legged Hawks, as well as 3 American Kestrels, 1 Merlin and a Snowy Owl. Sparrow migration has not yet swung into high gear. Tree Sparrows are still common and there was only one Chipping Sparrow and a single E. Towhee reported, both from Wolfe Island. A Field Sparrow found some comfort joining the Tree Sparrows and Juncos during last Monday's snowstorm at a feeder near Camden East. The most remarkable sighting was a Baltimore Oriole north of the city yesterday. The earliest ever for Kingston was April 11th back in 1966. However the forecast for this weekend is sunny and very warm so the oriole and no doubt lots of other migrants will feel right at home. Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613 378-6605
