With the arrival of some southbound shorebirds I’ve decided it's time to come off my summer OntBirds hiatus and begin posting observations from the Kingston region once again. In addition to the excitement of returning shorebirds, the best bird of the past week was a lone FORSTER'S TERN at Wolfe Island.
City of Kingston A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen from the Wolfe Island Ferry dock. Amherst Island Highlights from the island were 1 AMERICAN WIGEON, 4 GREATER SCAUP, COMMON and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, AMERICAN BITTERN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, both YELLOWLEGS, SEMIPALMATED, LEAST and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. The best shorebirding on Amherst is traditionally to be found on the Kingston Field Naturalists' (KFN) property on the island's east end. You must be a member of the KFN (or be accompanied by a member) to access this private nature reserve. Amherstview Sewage Lagoons There was excellent shorebirding at the lagoons. KILLDEER, both YELLOWLEGS, SOLITARY, LEAST, SEMIPALMATED, PECTORAL, STILT and SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (both Atlantic and Prairie ssp) and WILSON’S PHALAROPE were all reported. Other waterbirds at the lagoons included 20+ BONAPARTE’S GULLS, 2 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, 1 GADWALL, 1 AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, LESSER SCAUP, RING-NECKED DUCK, HOODED MERGANSER and GREEN HERON. You must be a member of the KFN to access the lagoons. Opinicon Road BARRED OWLS and EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILLS were heard nightly. A RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was at Queen’s University Biological Station. Although locating them can be challenging at this time of year, the usual Opinicon Road specialty birds are still around; check the area near Skycroft Campground, the Old Bedford Road and the Lindsay Lake Trail. Wolfe Island A FORSTER’S TERN flew directly over the Wolfe Island Ferry last Saturday morning. An unusal species for the Kingston Region. A single COMMON TERN and many CASPIAN TERNS were also reported from the island. The island continued to host vast numbers of SWALLOWS (all six local species) and a copule of pairs of ORCHARD ORIOLES. Other Observations Charleston Lake hosted both COMMON and CASPIAN TERNS. One LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE was seen north of Newburg. Special Note on Captive-bred Loggerhead Shrikes Released in 2012 Wildlife Preservation Canada, in conjunction with other partners and under the direction of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team, is releasing captive-bred juvenile Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes near Carden and Napanee in 2012. Releases began on July 14th, and will continue into August. If you would like to participate in the program by monitoring movements of newly-released birds at the release site, please contact WPC's Napanee-area tech at 613-893-2961. All birds being released this year have a yellow band over silver on their left leg, and two other colour bands on their right. WPC appreciates any help that can be provided in tracking the movements of this cohort once they have 'flown the coop'. Please call in sightings of these shrikes (or others) toll-free to 1-800-956-6608. If you would like to read more about the Napanee captive releases, please read WPC's most recent blog available at http://wildlifepreservation.ca/blog. Thank you to those who contributed observations this week. All bird sightings reported to me are included in the Kingston Field Naturalists’s long term records database which has over 60 years of observations on file and is an invaluable conservation resource. Mark -- Mark Andrew Conboy Operations & Research Assistant and Outreach Coordinator Queen’s University Biological Station 280 Queen's University Road Elgin, Ontario, Canada K0G 1E0 phone: 613-359-5629 fax: 613-359-6558 email: [email protected] or [email protected] QUBS website: http://www.queensu.ca/qubs/index.html QUBS blog: http://opinicon.wordpress.com/ QUBS flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qubsoutreach/ _______________________________________________ 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/
