The best birds of the week were all from Amherst Island: three NELSON'S SPARROWS and even more notable were the (needless to say) early appearance of 2 white-winged gull species at the same location on the same day. Widespread migrants included CANADA GOOSE, a few EASTERN PHOEBES and BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, both KINGLETS, GREY-CHEEKED, SWASINSON'S and HERMIT THRUSHES, AMERICAN PIPIT, PALM and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, SONG, SWAMP, WHITE-THROATED and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS as well as DARK-EYED JUNCO. Warbler and shorebird numbers have mostly dropped off with a few exceptions. Finch numbers and diversity are fairly low with only a few AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, PINE SISKINS and PURPLE FINCHES reported.
City of Kingston Water birds at Elevator Bay (aka Cataraqui Bay) included WOOD DUCK, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, RING-NECKED DUCK, REDHEAD, LESSER SCAUP, PIED-BILLED GREBE, AMERICAN COOT and CASPIAN TERN. Birds along the lower Cataraqui River included one each of GRAY CATBIRD, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. Amherst Island The two best birds of the week were the ICELAND and GLAUCOUS GULLS seen and photographed on Oct 1. Not bad for so early in the season. Also present on the island this past week were AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, NORTHERN SHOVELER, COMMON MERGANSER, GREATER SCAUP, REDHEAD, 40 COMMON LOONS, 1 AMERICAN BITTERN, 1 MERLIN, 1 duck-hunting PEREGRINE FALCON, 17 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 1 SANDERLING, 1 YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, 2 EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES, 2 MARSH WRENS, 10 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 1 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, EASTERN TOWHEE, 3 NELSON'S, 1 VESPER and 2 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, 1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD, 2 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, PURPLE FINCH and PINE SISKIN. Odessa Area A GREAT HORNED OWL, a WINTER WREN, 8 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 3 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS, 2 CHIPPING SPARROWS and 3 PURPLE FINCHES were near Odessa. Opinicon Road and area The 6 PIED-BILLED GREBES at Chaffey's Lock was an unusually high number for that location. GREAT HORNED and BARRED OWLS were at Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS). A pair of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES were regular visitors to the QUBS feeders all week. Three RED-NECKED GREBES, 1 NORTHERN HARRIER and 1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK were seen at Sand Lake. Prince Edward Point Notable birds reported from the Point this past week included MUTE SWAN, 1 OSPREY, 3 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 MERLIN, 2 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, EASTERN TOWHEE and 3 PINE SISKINS. Other Observations There was a COOPER'S HAWK and a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER near Keelerville. Good numbers of COMMON LOONS are staging on some of the Rideau Lakes including the 25 seen from Westport on Upper Rideau Lake. A late OSPREY was also at Westport. Two FOX SPARROWS, 1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD and 3 PURPLE FINCHES were on Petworth Road. A NORTHERN PARULA was at Elginburg. 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/ _______________________________________________ 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/
