There has been little change in the birds in the Owl Woods; a Barred, a
Long-eared, up to 3 N. Saw-whets and the Boreal. However there is growing
concern about the huge numbers of birders and photographers and their impact on
the owls. These are nocturnal creatures and need the daytime to rest and
conserve their energy. Any disturbance increases their energy consumption and
stresses them, especially in this very cold weather. Please avoid any noise,
especially squeakers, flash and getting too close to the birds.
Still on Amherst, there are lots of hawks and up to 3 Snowy Owls. Elsewhere
there were Barred Owls at Lemoine Pt. and near Battersea, Bald Eagles at
Glenora, Bedford Mills and most abundantly on Wolfe Island and probably along
any ice edge at this end of Lake Ontario or down through the Thousand Islands.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk visited Bedford Mills on the 24th and 26th and a N.
Goshawk made a brief visit to a Camden East feeder last Sunday.
There were seven species of duck as well as Am. Coot at the Dupont lagoon
earlier in the week, lots of swans, both Mute and Tundra, on Wolfe, and large
numbers of Gadwall off the south shore of Amherst.
Other uncommon winter birds included Belted Kingfishers at Collin's Bay and
Chaffey's Lock, a N. Flicker and a Pileated Woodpecker at Bedford Mills, a
White-throated Sparrow at Battersea and a lone Pine Siskin that showed up three
times this week at Bedford Mills.
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 information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
