A good week in the Kingston area just got a whole lot better. There was good movement of warblers and vireos north of the city all week and shorebirds on Amherst Island have been better than average. However, they have all been upstaged by a Northern Wheatear found at noon today on Wolfe Island by a pair of New York State birders. (see previous post) Two Merlins put in an appearance, one on Amherst last Friday and another at Little Cataraqui on Tuesday. Also, on Amherst the number of Black-crowned Night-Herons jumped from the normal 3 - 5 to a very impressive 18 at sunset last Wednesday. There was an excellent variety of puddle ducks (up to 8 species) and good numbers of shorebirds including a Whimbrel on the 7th, several Dunlin on the 8th, and on Sunday ten species of shorebird including 12 Greater Yellowlegs and 4 Ruddy Turnstones. The passerine migration noted over 20 warbler and 4 vireo species. Also of note were a Pine Siskin and 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches at Elginburg and 2 Purple Finches at Bedford Mills. There was a significant night flight over Kingston in the wee hours of Sept. 9th including many unidentified warblers, a few thousand SwainsonÂ’s and a couple of hundred Gray-cheeked Thrushes.
Cheers, Peter Good Kingston Field Naturalists 613-378-6605 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm
