Sunday, February 5, 2012

February 5, 2012 Birding Wolfe Island and the Kingston area

The birding on Wolfe island was very good today with a total of 9 Snowy Owls. Again it was amazing  to see no snow cover, felt like spring time!  The hawk numbers were low but we saw 1 Cooper's Hawk, 1 Merlin, 1 American Kestrel, 8 Rough-legged Hawk, 6 Red-tailed Hawk, 8 Northern Harrier and 3 Bald Eagle. With the lake being wide open, water birds were not concentrated. Highlights included 1 Common Loon off the south shore of Wolfe Island. Back on the mainland at Elevator Bay there was a good concentration of ducks including Redhead, Canvasback, both Lesser and Great Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, and Hooded Merganser. Also in the area were 350+ Gadwall, 9 American Wigeon, 9 American Coot and 1 Belted Kingfisher.  


With no snow cover its hard to hide.  

Snowy Owl in flight. 

A Snowy Owl, living in harmony? 

Bald Eagles continue to increase across eastern Ontario. 

The Northern Shrike is a regular winter visitor to eastern Ontario.

The Merlin is a rare winter resident in eastern Ontario. 

In the Kingston area the Gadwall can sometimes be one of the most common puddle ducks during the winter months.

A male Common Merganser  in flight.

1 comment:

A couple of newer paintings 2019 said...

If we were to go to Wolfe Island, are these birds available to be seen by the average person or do you need special permission to go where they are? I would love to see some snowy owls. Haven't seen any since they were down by Casselman a few years back. And a Merlin, wow!