[Ontbirds]Quinte Area Bird Report for week ending December 13, 2007

[Terry Sprague]

WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE 
WEEK ENDING  Thursday, December 13, 2007

As colder temperatures continues to seal up many of the popular focal points 
for waterfowl in the county, birders looking for species to add to their 
day's list have to make do with what is available on any given day. Open 
conditions in Long Reach not far from Adolphustown's Bass Cove on Saturday 
revealed an amazing 1100 LESSER SCAUP during a casual day of birding by 
members of the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists. Other alert observers 
the same day spotted 30 SNOW GEESE in flight  as they flew over Fry Road. 
Open conditions at Wellington Harbour yielded 64 MUTE SWANS,  "wall to wall" 
CANADA GEESE, 2 AMERICAN COOTS, a single REDHEAD and 2 HOODED MERGANSERS. 
However, in among them was a TRUMPETER SWAN. This bird, Number 044, was part 
of a release at Big Island in June of 2006. According to Harry Lumsden, in 
charge of the release, the bird high tailed it to the US where it was 
observed in early January in New York, before moving on to Connecticut in 
the spring, and reappearing at Rome, New York in late April. And now he's 
home - well, almost.  An estimated 1,500 LONG-TAILED DUCKS were noted at 
Point Traverse on Saturday. COMMON LOONS were seen at Lake-on-the-Mountain 
(1) on Saturday, and 3 at Consecon Lake, where 28 MUTE SWANS a swimmin' were 
also noted, along with a single BELTED KINGFISHER that flew by.

A RUDDY DUCK showed up in Weller's Bay at Barcovan on the 11th, and also 
present that day were 3 LESSER SCAUP, 2 HOODED MERGANSERS and 15 TUNDRA 
SWANS. The annual December TUNDRA SWAN population at South Bay and Smith's 
Bay meanwhile seems to be slow in building up, likely due to ice conditions 
forming much faster than in previous years. Probably no more than 60 are in 
the area (compared to 200 or so in past years), and 20 of these were seen 
last weekend in Prince Edward Bay across from the end of Kaiser Crossroad.

PINE GROSBEAKS across the region remain stable in numbers with little groups 
of six to a dozen being commonly encountered. COMMON REDPOLL numbers are 
building and a flock of over 80 was seen along North Big Island Road last 
weekend and similar sized flocks have been seen just north of the county 
line. About 100 have been visiting a feeder on Bradley Crossroad 
(Lake-on-the-Mountain), and another 100 at a Glenora Road feeder,  likely 
representing the highest number of this species at feeders thus far, with 
lesser numbers at other feeders.  And as the numbers build, so does the 
prospects of finding the less common HOARY REDPOLL among them. One was 
identified in a flock at 2800 County Road 1 and another was observed along 
George's Road east of Northport. SNOW BUNTING numbers have been similarly 
low this winter, although a flock of 100 turned up on Hull Road, just north 
of Picton early in the week. BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were sighted near Elmbrook 
during the week. A single LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen feeding happily with a 
half dozen HORNED LARKS in an open field west of Big Island's Caughey Road 
on Saturday. Three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were seen on Big Island in the space 
of an hour, on the 8th,  one of these a dark morph, at the north-western tip 
of the island.

Both COOPER'S HAWKS and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS continue to pillage local bird 
feeders, and the former is more or less a regular every other day at 23 
Sprague Road where it preys on unwary MOURNING DOVES. ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 
all light morph birds, have been reported across the region. One observer on 
Green Point Road near the Quinte Skyway Bridge was surprised during the week 
one day when he opened the door and found a RED-TAILED HAWK perched on a 
pergola between the house and the adjacent garage. A BALD EAGLE over 
Adolphus Reach was not unexpected during the week, but what surprising was 
an OSPREY that was seen as recently as December 12th, most commonly observed 
in the mid-morning hours, in the same area roughly across from Bongard Road.

Other sightings which added excitement during the week's birding forays 
around the area included an EASTERN MEADOWLARK along Babylon Road on 
Saturday, 3 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS east of Lake-on-the-Mountain, a WHITE-THROATED 
SPARROW at a Brighton feeder, and a NORTHERN FLICKER east of Elmbrook.

Business at most bird feeders now is brisk, and who better to experience 
this than the now famous operator along Glenora Road who joyously reports 
the 100 COMMON REDPOLLS (mentioned earlier in this report), as many AMERICAN 
GOLDFINCHES, 4 species of woodpeckers (6 each of HAIRY and DOWNY, 3 
RED-BELLIED and a PILEATED), a half dozen CEDAR WAXWINGS, 20 BLUE JAYS, 3 
PINE SISKINS, and smaller numbers of the normal feeder guests. Included in 
the overall list has been 12 WILD TURKEYS. With snow on the ground WILD 
TURKEYS are becoming more obvious now as they scrounge the fields of corn 
stubble. There were 32 west of Caughey Road at Big Island on Saturday, and 
smaller flocks have been noted at Demorestville, Ridge Road area, Sandbanks, 
Black River, Waupoos and South Bay. A bird feeder operator west of Consecon 
heard a noise this week and discovered that a BROWN CREEPER had hit a window 
and was splayed out on the deck which, after being warmed up in the house, 
recovered and flew off, this time, in the right direction. A NORTHERN SHRIKE 
in its exhuberance was not so lucky, and died when it crashed into a window 
at Lake-on-the-Mountain.  A BROWN THRASHER appeared at a feeder along 
Scoharie Road on December 2nd, and is now a regular. Over 20 DARK-EYED 
JUNCOS are regulars at a feeder on Picton's Low Street, and RED-BREASTED 
NUTHATCHES continue to be regulars in ones and twos at a number of locations 
across the county. Two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS that were regulars at a 23 Sprague 
Road feeder, have now crossed the Big Island Marsh and are now regulars at a 
feeder along County Road 15 (Northport Road). Another Big Island feeder near 
the west end of the island has between 80 and 100 SNOW BUNTINGS visiting 
briefly only a few metres from the house. Fifty AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES are 
flocking to a feeder along Ridge Road, and three PURPLE FINCHES are still 
around after an overall absence in recent weeks, and coming to a feeder in 
Trenton.

And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. 
Our thanks to Silvia Botnick, Jake DeVries, Mike Burge & Kathy Felkar, 
Rosemary Smith, Kay Camp, Jenny Goodall, Pamela Stagg, Margaret Kirk, Agneta 
Sand, Joanne Dewey, Dave Bell, John & Margaret Moore, Monica Mills, Ted 
Cullin, Cheryl Anderson, Chesia Livingston, Alfred Newnham, Doug McRae, 
Evelyn Sloane, Brian & Gloria Durell, Margaret Kirk, Don Chisholm, Donn 
Legate, John Charlton, and Henri Garand for their contributions to this 
week's report. This report will be updated on Thursday, December 20th, but 
sightings can be e-mailed any time before the 6:00 p.m. Thursday deadline. 
Featured photos this week in the online edition of the Quinte Area Bird 
Report include a photo by Terry Sprague of Tom Mikel and his assistant 
installing the eagle nest platform 70 feet up in a white pine, and a photo 
of both a Hairy & Downy Woodpecker at a feeder, courtesy of Kathleen 
Rankine. The photo on the Main Birding Page of the NatureStuff website of 
another view from the eagle nest platform is by Tom Mikel.

Terry Sprague
Prince Edward County
tsprague at kos.net
www.naturestuff.net


    .................................................................................
                    NatureStuff - Tours and Things
                      interpretive hikes, bus tours
                       kayaking & canoeing tours
                        seminars & presentations
                            www.naturestuff.net
                                 Terry Sprague
                             23 Sprague Road,
             R.R. # 1, Demorestville, Ontario  K0K 1W0
              613-476-5072 (home), 613-848-4549 (cell)