Wednesday, July 1, 2009

June 30, 2009 Birding Amherst Island

On June 30th, spent part of the day birding Amherst Island. There was lots of bird activity on the island including 1 Brant, likely summering, on the KFN property along with 1 Wilson's Phalarope, 2 American Bittern and 1 recently dead male White-winged Scoter. There were 500+ Tree Swallows along the fence lines and 8 Northern Harrier along various roads. We had a small colony of 8 Clay-coloured Sparrows south of the "Owl Woods" and numerous Willow Flycatcher, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee and Field Sparrow. There weren’t any south-bound shorebirds but so far I've had 1 Lesser Yellowlegs (June 27) Ottawa and 1 Solitary Sandpiper (June 28) St.Albert.


Good birding
Bruce


Directions:Amherst Island: Located 18 km. west of Kingston. Exit off Hwy. 401 at exit 593 (County Rd. 4, Camden East) and drive south to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 100 metres until you see the sign for the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry (20 minute trip) leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $8.00 Canadian round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. There are restrooms on the ferry, and at the island ferry dock. The East End K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island on the east side of the Lower Forty Foot Road.

Because of liability issues, visitors to the Kingston Field Naturalists'
property at the east end of Amherst Island MUST be accompanied by a KFN
member. For KFN contact
information or how to become a member, please visit
http://kingstonfieldnaturalists.org/ ."


A Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage.

The Wilson's Snipe, formerly Common Snipe resting on a hay roll.

A downy Killdeer on the K.F.N. Property.

Tree Swallows were a common sight along the fence lines.

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