Large flocks of waterfowl seem to be the order of the week. There were 500 Ring-necked Ducks in the Cataraqui River last Saturday and a large mixed flock off the bar at Amherst Island yesterday. It contained an estimated 2500 Greater Scaup as well as 600 Red-breasted Mergansers, 120 Bufflehead and 60 Common Goldeneye. There were also 20 N. Pintail, 12 Redheads and a pair of Snow Geese. Eight Hooded Mergansers fished in the partially frozen pond behind the dike on the KFN property. In Elevator Bay, the Eurasian Wigeon has returned and there were also 2 Ruddy Ducks.
Shorebirds are in short supply; the bar on Amherst had 2 Black-bellied Plover, 5 Dunlin and 2 Greater Yellowlegs. There were 4 Killdeer at Millhaven and several more amidst a few thousand Canada Geese beside a large pond south of Napanee. The Wilton Creek at Morven has very high water and no shorebirds. The only report from the lagoons noted 250 Bonaparte's Gulls. Raptors got little mention this week (they all went through Prince Edward County), but there was a Peregrine Falcon on the Queen's campus a week ago and Sharp-shinned Hawks have been buzzing feeders in Camden East and Bedford Mills. There is some movement of both Pine Siskin and Purple Finch but no large numbers locally. There were 15 Cedar Waxwings at Bedford Mills last Monday; these have been scarce this fall, unlike the several thousand Am. Robins at Camden East yesterday. This is surely an indication that there are lots of berries and bodes well for the winter. Lingering passerines include Chipping Sparrows at feeders in Camden East and near Elginburg on Wednesday and a Savannah Sparrow and an E. Phoebe on Amherst yesterday. The KFN does their annual Fall Round-up this weekend; so with 24 hours of concentrated birding we'll have a good overview of the Kingston area as we go into winter. 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
