There have not been any outstanding sightings locally but there is enough activity that I thought I should restart this column as the fall season begins. A few unexpected waterfowl lingered into the summer; a Brant and a White-winged Scoter on Amherst Island until July 3rd and 2 Common Goldeneye in the Amherstview Sewage Lagoons on July 22nd. Early arrivals include a Redhead and a Hooded Merganser on Amherst as well as another Hooded, a Bufflehead and a Lesser Scaup in the lagoons on August 10th. Other unusual birds during the summer included a pair of Tufted Titmice at Elginburg and a Wilson's Phalarope on Wolfe Island in mid June, 3 Evening Grosbeaks at Cartwright's Point on July 22nd and the recurrence of Prairie Warblers on the Canoe Lake Road after an absence of many years.
Great Egrets have put in several appearances; one in the Moscow marsh on July 2nd, another on Amherst on August 3rd, then 4 on the Orser Road on August 15th. The last was in the Wilton Creek at Morven on the 17th and 18th of August. None of these were banded. Three Common Nighthawk concentrations have been reported; several on Gardiner's Road, August 8th, a dozen at the lagoons on the 13th and a smaller group near Camden East on the 17th. Warbler movement has barely started; many Kingston birders concentrate on Prince Edward Point this time of year and closer to the city the only reports so far are Canada on the 7th, Chestnut-sided on the 13th, both at Elginburg, and a Mourning on Wolfe on the 14th. To show that fall is really on the way I was emailed a photo of a half-red, half-green Scarlet Tanager taken in Frontenac Park. All the rain has meant that many local ponds and creeks are too deep for shorebirds. There were none on Wolfe this week and the water behind the dyke on Amherst leaves very little habitat exposed. The lagoons are more promising but nothing unusual has shown up yet. Here is a short chronology of shorebird arrivals; Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, and Short-billed Dowitcher on July 3rd, Solitary Sandpiper on July 15th, Semipalmated Sandpiper on July 27th, Semipalmated Plover on August 5th, and Baird's Sandpiper on August 10th. Upland Sandpipers were present on Amherst at least until the10th.Given the dearth of local habitat it's probably a good thing that the KFN has planned a field trip to Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Sunday August 31st. 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
