WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, March 15, 2007 All it took was a few days of warm weather. Both COMMON GRACKLES and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are back in full force, with the first arrivals taking place about the first of the week. The harbinger of spring, the KILLDEER made its first appearance in Prince Edward County on March 10th, and individuals have shown up elsewhere in the county and Trenton areas. It's quite unnecessary to provide AMERICAN ROBIN sightings as these familiar signs of spring are absolutely everywhere right now. A GREAT BLUE HERON was seen flying over the Bay of Quinte on Green Point Road yesterday, and the first EASTERN MEADOWLARK of the spring showed up this afternoon, at Edward Drive west of Consecon, and another was seen this afternoon near Blue Heron Lane, east of Waupoos. With the warmer weather, popular waterfowl viewing areas are starting to open up. The famous Kaiser Crossroad Cornfields east of Cape Vesey had only CANADA GEESE on the 10th, but only four days later the population had increased to include a number of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS , MALLARDS and a pair of NORTHERN PINTAILS. This afternoon, the site produced even more birds with 80 TUNDRA SWANS present, over 1,000 CANADA GEESE, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARDS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS and about 50 NORTHERN PINTAILS. The latter species is apt to increase to close to 500 once the conditions there become more inviting. Also showing some promise this week was the Glendon Green Boat Launch at Log Cabin Point in East Lake. This end of the Outlet River can feature an amazing variety of waterfowl once the ice gives way to warming temperatures. All three species of swans were present from Sunday through Tuesday. An interesting discovery about two TRUMPETER SWANS there - wing tag numbers 952 and 861, appeared to be birds from the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre at Midland. Meanwhile, many of the 26 TRUMPETER SWANS that were released at Big Island and Huff's Island in June of last year, have given up their Canadian citizenship, and have turned up in New York waters. Six of them were seen north of Utica, and one was hit by a car at the Irondequoit wetland near Rochester. Not exactly what we had in mind when we thought about establishing a breeding population of TRUMPETER SWANS in Prince Edward County. Other waterfowl species in East Lake were COMMON GOLDENEYES, COMMON MERGANSERS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, MALLARDS, AMERICAN BLACKS, CANADA GEESE and 2 HOODED MERGANSERS. A HORNED GREBE was seen in the Outlet River. This afternoon, there were hundreds of GREATER SCAUP, REDHEADS and at least one CANVASBACK, and one GREEN-WINGED TEAL. The entrance to the boat launch is located exactly 1.2 km east of the four-way stop near the main Sandbanks Park entrance, or .9 km from the Outlet Bridge if heading west along County Road 18. The amount of water at Wellington Harbour just keeps expanding with correspondingly higher numbers of waterfowl occupying the space. The usuals can be found here comprising at least a dozen species, and yesterday, there were 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 20 REDHEADS, 15 RING-NECKED DUCKS, and 3 AMERICAN COOTS in with the numbers. The best viewing is from the government wharf, located at the east end of the village beside the LCBO and the Sandbanks Bar and Grill. On Saturday, Prince Edward Bay in the vicinity of the Kaiser Crossroad was black with thousands of ducks in open leads. Representing the bulk of the population were GREATER SCAUP at 6,500, and 1,100 COMMON GOLDENEYES. The count of TUNDRA SWANS was over 100, and with them were about a half dozen MUTE SWANS, CANADA GEESE, 100 REDHEADS, LONG-TAILED DUCKS, BUFFLEHEADS, COMMON MERGANSERS, just to name a few. COMMON GOLDENEYE and LESSER SCAUP were seen off Cape Vesey on Tuesday. The Fox Pond near Tremur Lake, off Wooler Road, contained 15 HOODED MERGANSERS yesterday with over half being drakes in top plumage. A somewhat desperate COMMON GOLDENEYE was seen out on the Bay of Quinte off Grape Island yesterday in a puddle formed above the ice surface. Less fortunate was a RED-NECKED GREBE on Monday that turned up in a backyard patio on Moneymore Road southeast of Tweed. Although cared for, the bird died a short time later. BALD EAGLES continue to turn up sporadically, mainly along the Prince Edward Bay part of the county. A NORTHERN HARRIER continues to be seen along South Big Island Road where it has been all winter, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen on Wesley Acres Road on the 14th. RED-TAILED HAWKS near Milford and the Prince Edward Point area and a COOPER'S HAWK at Belleville round out the raptors for the week, along with a NORTHERN SHRIKE seen along Highway 49 on Tuesday. Another was seen along nearby Fish Lake Road almost the same day, perhaps the same bird. PILEATED WOODPECKERS during the week were seen along Fry Road and another along Glenora Road. One PILEATED WOODPECKER in a woods along Edward Drive attracted the attention of a landowner there who first saw sawdust and shavings around the base of the tree as he was driving by and thought someone was cutting down his trees, and then on closer inspection, noted the work on the tree directly above.Two RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, 4 HAIRY WOODPECKERS and 6 DOWNY WOODPECKERS remain among the clientel at a feeder at 11787 Highway 33 east of Picton, despite patronage at most feeding stations taking a plunge with the arrival of warmer weather. About 25 HOUSE FINCHES, 15 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, 25 BLUE JAYS and now, 35 COMMON GRACKLES, keep this popular and dependable feeder humming. One feeder in Belleville still has 32 MOURNING DOVES among its regular guests, and a South Bay feeder had 40 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS arrive yesterday. The HARRIS'S SPARROW at 2800 County Road was last seen March 7th. NORTHERN FLICKERS were seen at two locations during the week - along Mitchells Crossroad, and also in the Prince Edward Point area, both on Saturday. A YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER appeared briefly at one South Bay feeder on Sunday, obviously a wintering individual. At Rock Crossroad, east of Waupoos, on Saturday, 2 COMMON RAVENS were seen in an aerial dispute with a number of COMMON CROWS. One story from Kingston told of a person sitting at her computer when she heard a thump at the window. Seeing a crow-sized form recover and fly off, it wasn't long before the loud noise was repeated. The bird was a LONG-EARED OWL and the attraction was a cage on top of the computer desk hutch that contained a number of pet mice, which apparently caught the owl's attention ! The owl watched the mice from a post in the backyard allowing the owner, Rebekha Jeffries, to step outside and snap the photo that appears with this report in the online version on the NatureStuff website. Also featured in this week's online version of the Quinte Area Bird Report is a photo by David Bree of the two TRUMPETER SWANS in the Outlet River at East Lake. This is a condensed version of the Quinte Area Bird Report, containing only the significant sightings for Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. The full version can be found on the NatureStuff website, under BIRDING from the Main Menu. Terry Sprague Prince Edward County tsprague@kos.net www.naturestuff.net