Hi Ontbirders. I apologize for this late report but I have been away from a computer for more than a week. In case it is still there, on May 27 in the morning, my wife Judy and I observed a male Harlequin Duck along Lake Ontario in the 'Beaches' area of Toronto. It was seen standing and swimming about 20 feet from the sandy beach where there is a row of small rocks parallel to the beach. It was mingling with a flock of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls that were perched along the rocks. Sorry I couldn't get this out earlier. Peter Hall Directions: From downtown Toronto follow Queen Street East until it reaches the trendy "Beaches' area. Turn right (south toward the water) at Wineva Avenue and follow it until the end at the beach area. The bird was just off the beach at this point. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Jun 7 19:42:59 2007 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from heracles.kos.net (heracles.kos.net [64.201.45.10]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id C4D156348C for <[email protected]>; Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:42:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 14051 invoked from network); 7 Jun 2007 23:42:58 -0000 X-Mail-Scanner: Scanned by qSheff-II-2.1-r1 (http://www.enderunix.org/qsheff/) Received: from unknown (HELO D3ZD7M31) (64.201.47.133) by heracles.kos.net with SMTP; 7 Jun 2007 23:42:57 -0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontbirds" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:43:00 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 Subject: [Ontbirds]Quinte Area Bird Report for the week ending June 07, 2007 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:42:59 -0000
WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, June 07, 2007 As the spring migration draws to a close in Prince Edward County, the birding trails at Prince Edward Point and Point Traverse are quickly becoming overgrown with mats of invading Swallowwort and Dame's Rocket. However, on Monday, there was still a fair bit of activity in the Point Traverse Woods. a GREAT HORNED OWL was flushed from the trees as the area was explored for any signs of remaining birdlife. Both GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS and EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES called from the trees, along with RED-EYED and WARBLING VIREO, EASTERN TOWHEE, LEAST and WILLOW FLYCATCHER, and one ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS and plenty of YELLOW WARBLERS were still present, and one CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER was heard singing. Some of the more interesting sightings to come in during the week included 15 RUDDY TURNSTONES on Wellington Beach June 2nd and 2 TRUMPETER SWANS in Sawguin Creek near Fenwood Gardens, perhaps two of the birds that were released in Prince Edward County a year ago, although the birds were too distant for the wing tags to be readable. A LEAST BITTERN was heard singing from a wetland near Stirling during the week, where other birds of interest there included INDIGO BUNTING, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and BROWN THRASHER. A BELTED KINGFISHER at Muscote Bay, 3 calling VIRGINIA RAILS in a treed swamp at Mitchells Crossroad and a 1st year male ORCHARD ORIOLE at 23 Sprague Road were also noted during the week. Bird feeders around the area continue to bustle with the usual clientel, with many still reporting visitation from ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS. There are no fewer than 8 coming to a feeder along Glenora Road this week where other guests included 2 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, 4 DOWNY WOODPECKERS, 3 HAIRY WOODPECKERS and an assortment of other regulars. DOWNY WOODPECKERS are also coming to summer feeders west of Trenton where a PILEATED WOODPECKER also made an appearance. A pair of BROWN THRASHERS, nesting at 23 Sprague Road, are regulars at a feeder there and a female PURPLE FINCH was reported at a feeder at Thurlow. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS have moved on, and the last individual coming to a feeder on Barker Street in Picton left a week ago. OSPREYS are in the news again as two late pairs are constructing nests in the county - one on the Telus Tower at Fish Lake, and another doing a rather poor job at nest construction on a utility pole at the corner of Welbank's Road and Kelly Road where on Monday there was more material on the roadside than on the pole itself. MUTE SWANS are seen across the county as their breeding population continues to burgeon. A pair was seen across from the water filtration plant at Picton Harbour during the week and a pair has been seen in Muscote Bay feeding near shore. >From the bizarre sightings department comes these two stories. In Belleville, a resident of the McNabb Towers who two years ago had a peregrine falcon choose her air conditioning unit on the 9th floor on which to eviscerate pigeons obtained from the downtown area, had her attention drawn to yet another interesting observation. A GREAT BLUE HERON in the nearby Moira River that flows past the apartment complex, was seen experiencing difficulty gaining control over an uncooperative prey that looked like it might be either an eel or a very large water snake. The prey was so large and heavy, the heron struggled to keep its head erect while it tried to coax the reluctant prey head first down its throat. As the tail finally disappeared out of sight, the heron swished its beak in the water in some sort of post meal ceremony. "The whole exercise was quite a sight, although a little bit disgusting," commented the observer. In Picton, a shopper there at the Castle Building Centre watched with morbid fascination as an employee flung a WILD TURKEY onto the weigh scales, normally used to weigh nails and screws. Despite the size difference between the weigh scales and the wild turkey, the bird, he said, was fully cooperative, being quite dead. This is a condensed version of the Quinte Area Bird Report, containing only the significant sightings for Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. The full version can be found on the NatureStuff website, under BIRDING from the Main Menu. Terry Sprague Prince Edward County [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net
