It has been an interesting week of new arrivals. Five Tundra Swans were on Wolfe Island last Sunday, along with 9 Snow Geese, 400 Redheads and a single Long-tailed Duck. By Wednesday the number of Snow Geese had increased to 28 and yesterday there was a single white Snow Goose in a flock of Canadas south of Napanee. Other sightings of note: 21 Common Loons and 12 Horned Grebes off Amherst Island last Saturday, and 300+ Red-breasted Mergansers on Amherst and Wolfe on the 13th and 17th respectively. Hawk numbers have been good this week; 48 Red-tailed Hawks, 43 N. Harriers and 100 Turkey Vultures were tallied on Wolfe on Wednesday. The first Rough-legged Hawk of the fall was found on Wolfe last Sunday. There was a Merlin on Amherst and a Peregrine near Elginburg; both reported on Tuesday. Owl numbers are nothing to get excited about yet; singletons of Barred, Short-eared, and Saw-whet and a few Long-eared were reported. (NOTE-The Owl woods on Amherst will be closed to the public from Nov 24 to Dec 9 because of deer hunting). Shorebird migration is waning with only seven species reported: Am. Woodcock, Wilson's Snipe, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Dunlin, Greater Yellowlegs, and Pectoral Sandpiper. The passerine migration, despite the mild weather, took on a distinctly winter flavour this week. Pine Siskins were widely reported, although not in large numbers and Purple Finches are widespread. Am. Pipits are still moving through in large numbers. There have been only a couple of reports of Rusty Blackbirds; 4 on Wolfe and 6 near Camden East last weekend. Four Fox Sparrows were on Amherst on the 16th as were the first three Tree Sparrows of the fall. A Northern Shrike was seen near Amherstview yesterday.
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
