It's that time of year when those of us doing regional reports are a bit overwhelmed with all the new arrivals. Nevertheless I'll attempt to give a sense of the local scene. The first Killdeer reported was at Perth Road Village back on March 9th and an Am. Woodcock was on Amherst Island on the 13th. A Great Blue Heron was at Collin's Bay on Tuesday, a Winter Wren appeared in the city and a Brown Creeper was singing near Amherstview yesterday. Am. Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are widespread but there have been no sightings of Brown-headed Cowbirds or E. Meadowlarks as yet. The Cataraqui River was wide open last weekend and had lots of waterfowl including a female Canvasback on Saturday and a Common Loon and 3 Double-crested Cormorants on Sunday. The Kaiser X-road near Waupoos, always a hot spot for waterfowl and shorebirds in the spring, didn't disappoint. On Sunday there were 600 Snow Geese and by Wednesday this had grown to 800 with a Ross's Goose in the mix. There were also 2000 Canadas, 1200 Mallards and about 60 N. Pintails. Prince Edward Point had good numbers of Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Scoters and Red-breasted Mergansers. Tuesday and Thursday saw huge flights of Canada Geese riding the southwest winds. A lone Green-winged Teal was off Gananoque on Monday. Winter bird numbers are declining but several feeders are still seeing Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls. Am Goldfinches are starting to moult into breeding plumage. There was a mixed flock of Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings at Elginburg and 4 White-winged Crossbills were at Lemoine Point on Sunday. The Varied Thrush at Moscow was last seen on Saturday. It has been a good week for raptors. The first of many Turkey Vultures was reported from Charleston Lake last Friday and a trip to Amherst Island last weekend found Snowy and Long-eared Owls as well as a Gyrfalcon. The N. Hawk Owl near Sydenham was last seen on Sunday and Lemoine Point still has a couple of Barred Owls. The nesting Peregrine Falcons appear to have returned to the Princess Towers in downtown Kingston. The St. Lawrence River had excellent numbers of Bald Eagles on Monday; 6 off the Gananoque waterfront and another 12 visible from the Thousand Island Parkway. 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 [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
