Today a group of Queens bio grads (myself, Martin Mallet and Vanya Rohwer) decided to take advantage of the lack of snow to scour Wolfe Is. for Snowy Owls and any other surprises. The highlight was 5 Snowy Owls ranging from an extremely dark young female to a virtually unmarked male. All these birds were present in a very restricted geographic area, the 'block' formed by Hwy 95, Reed's Bay Rd, 5th Line and Baseline Rd and the area immediately surrounding it. Given that it was a couple of hours before we even reached this area, observers should not expect Snowy Owls to be 'everywhere' despite the high numbers present.
Other raptors included ~40 Rough-legged Hawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 American Kestrels, 5+ Northern Harriers (interestingly, all in the exact same locale as the owls) and 3 Bald Eagles (2 adult birds on the north shore of Reed's Bay and a first-basic over the ferry dock island-side). We also had 3 Northern Shrikes, most of which were on 7th Line. Another highlight was a male Ring-Necked Pheasant at the south end of 5th Line which afforded the best views I have ever had of the species by far. Waterfowl outside the usual suspects included a surprising number of Tundra Swans (48 in the bay at the foot of 7th Line, 2 at Reed's Bay, 23 flying just east of Reed's Bay and ~15 more along the north shore at the townsite), 3 Gadwall (Reed's Bay), ~8 Northern Pintail and 1 female Hooded Merganser (off the north end of 7th Line). Passerine levels were shockingly low with ~20 distant Horned Larks being the lone field-dwelling examples. Similarly, mammal numbers were in great contrast to the usual high numbers of deer and coyote - a lone muskrat and a freshly dead (shot?) Red Fox the only ones seen. Directions: Wolfe Island is accessed by a free ferry which departs from downtown Kingston (on the waterfront at the intersection of Barrack and Ontario). The area normally the most productive for raptors is the bulk of the island which lies to the west of 8th Line. Good birding, Chris Kimber Dept. of Biology Queen's University Kingston, ON _______________________________________________ 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/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
