The Brant flight of last weekend was the highlight of the week. Putting all the reports together over 8000 were seen from Amherst Island and although some of these might have been the same birds there were 1500 on the lake near Amherstview, 1000 over Camden East, and several flocks at the QUBS including one of 1200 birds. Fifty more were seen on Monday and yesterday only 4 grazed the mudflats on Amherst. The Eurasian Wigeon found on Amherst on Saturday was still present on Monday but has not been reported since.
Shorebird migration has really picked up. High counts for the week, all from the KFN property on Amherst, included 3 Black-bellied Plover on the24th and 29th, 15 Semipalmated Plover on the 29th, 3 Marbled Godwits on the 24th, 103 Short-billed Dowitcher on the 25th, 3 Red Knots and 5 Ruddy Turnstones on the 29th, a White- rumped Sandpiper on both the 23rd and 27th all mixed in with lots of Dunlin and Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Other good birds for the week: Alder and Willow flycatcher on the Owl Woods Road on Tuesday, Orchard Oriole on Amherst on the 25th and 27th, N. Mockingbird and Gray-cheeked Thrush on Amherst on Thursday, and two late White-crowned Sparrows one on the Florida Road on Sunday and another on Amherst on Monday. The warbler migration is ongoing, although more difficult to observe with all the leaves. There were Mourning and Canada at QUBS on Monday, Wilson's and Blackpoll on Amherst yesterday, and to date 4 Brewster's at QUBS this spring. Also there were some real rarities, at least for the Kingston area: a Yellow-throated Warbler at Perth Road Village last Saturday, a Yellow-breasted Chat in Marysville on Wolfe Island on Sunday and a Hooded Warbler on Amherst on Tuesday. The last bird to mention, also becoming a local rarity, was a Red-headed Woodpecker at QUBS on Monday. 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/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
