The Kingston area was not left out of the Hurricane Sandy birding bonanza, though we didn't experience the same kind of rarity fall out as the folks at the western end of Lake Ontario. You can find details below. Finch numbers continued to be good with EVENING GROSBEAK, PINE SISKIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH making up the bulk of reports. A few PURPLE FINCHES and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were also observed. Widely reported waterbirds were CANADA GOOSE, AMERICAN WIGEON, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, GREATER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, all three MERGANSERS, AMERICAN COOT and BONAPARTE'S GULL. Widespread land bird migrants included GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, HERMIT THRUSH, AMERICAN PIPIT, HORNED LARK, DARK-EYED JUNCO, FOX, WHITE-CROWNED, SONG and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, RUSTY and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD and COMMON GRACKLE. SNOW BUNTING and AMERICAN TREE SPARROW also became common across the region.
City of Kingston A NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen on MaAdoos Lane. A COOPER'S HAWK was on Dalton Avenue. Birds seen off Paterson Park included 450 BRANT, 15 GADWALL, an AMERICAN BLACK DUCK X MALLARD HYBRID, 1 BLACK SCOTER, 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 150 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, 25 COMMON LOONS and 35 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS in the park itself. Amherst Island A POMARINE or PARASITIC JAEGER was seen off the island's south shore. Seven WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, LONG-TAILED DUCK, 50+ COMMON LOONS, HORNED GREBE, NORTHERN HARRIER, RED-TAILED HAWK, at least 5 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 7 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, 1 DUNLIN, 2 AMERICAN WOODCOCKS, 1 BELTED KINGFISHER, 2 NORTHERN FLICKERS, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, 1 AMERICAN KESTREL, 1 NORTHERN SHRIKE, 2 COMMON RAVENS, 1 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, 5 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 1 WINTER WREN, 10 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, 1 FIELD SPARROW, 6 SWAMP SPARROWS, 1 EASTERN MEADOWLARK and 8 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were all reported from the island. Wolfe Island Five BLACK SCOTERS, 18 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 1 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 3 PURPLE SANDPIPERS, 1 DUNLIN and 6 AMERICAN WOODCOCKS were all reported from Bear Point. A LITTLE GULL was seen from the ferry. Birds reported from the island's north shore included 19 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, 12 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, a KILLDEER and another DUNLIN. Other species reported included LONG-TAILED DUCK, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, 3 CANVASBACKS, HORNED GREBE, 1 COOPER'S HAWK, 1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 3 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 2 AMERICAN KESTRELS and 6 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Other Observations Some 600 BRANT were off Simcoe Island. Bedford Mill's had a COOPER'S HAWK and a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. A MERLIN was near Inverary. There was a PEREGRINE FALCON and 2 RED-NECKED GREBES on Sand Lake. A CHIPPING SPARROW was near Wilton. A GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 2 KILLDEER were near Bath. Thanks to all those who sent observations this past week. 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/
