WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, September 14, 2006 The easterly or south-easterly winds have made for a quiet week at Prince Edward Point. Eighty CANADA GEESE flew south on the 12th but rarely more than 15 were seen in each flock, a few raptors have started moving and there were 1 or 2 BALD EAGLES present from the 9th to the 12th, 18 NORTHERN HARRIERS were counted on the 8th mostly drifting over in groups of twos and threes. SHARP-SINNED HAWKS are also moving and peaked at 80 on the 11th although 20-30 a day are more usual, occasionally mixed in with them are the odd 1 or 2 COOPER'S HAWK. Five MERLINS were counted in the air at the same time on the 8th. CASPIAN TERNS are only being seen every three or four days now and should be gone completely soon. Three late CHIMNEY SWIFTS flew out over the lake on the 12th, and a few straggling flycatchers are still seen to be working their way through. Twenty RED-EYED VIREOS were present on the 9th and BLUE JAYS are still absent. A flock of 150 TREE SWALLOWS in the afternoon on the 10th started an evening passage of them, and 650 had been counted by late evening, all of them heading east over the lake at tree top height. The first WINTER WREN of the fall showed up on the 8th and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS are slowly moving through with up to five on several dates. Nineteen species of warbler were seen this week including on the 10th, four NORTHERN PARULAS, a YELLOW WARBLER, 40 MAGNOLIA WARBLERS. A CANADA WARBLER was seen on the 9th as were 30 BLACKPOLL WARBLERS and single CAPE MAY WARBLERS were seen on the 9th and 10th. A small passage of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS this week peaked at 50 on the 8th and a PURPLE FINCH was present on the 9th. Very few observations were made on the 13th and 14th due to the rain. Speaking of blackbirds and other species normally not embraced by everyone, a Trenton area resident relates a story of a sighting he made near the community of Smithfield, just west of Trenton. While enroute to an agricultural site there, he stopped to examine a strange plant he found growing along a corn field and noticed that the ground was teaming with millions of half grown crickets. On his return trip, the field had become invaded by a large flock of blackbirds, but also noted that a large component of the flock were EUROPEAN STARLINGS, estimated to be about 100 or more. The starlings concentrated along a laneway, and appeared to be scurrying about in some sort of feeding frenzy, while the RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and COMMON GRACKLES stayed in the corn. He watched them move along about 50 feet of laneway in about 10 minutes, later flying to some nearby trees. As he examined the site where the starlings had been feeding, to his amazement he did not see one cricket remaining. He comments that we all have starlings and dislike what they can do during the nesting season, but their value to the farmer must be enormous. Something to be considered the next time pesticides are thoughtlessly used. A large migrating flock of TREE SWALLOWS appeared at a farm near Tweed on the 13th, something we are apt to see occasionally this fall as migrating flocks from farther north continue to move through the area. At Sandbanks, shorebirds are still arriving and departing with both SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, LEAST SANDPIPERS and one BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER making up the numbers that appeared at the mouth of the Outlet River on the 12th. At Wellington Harbour, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER turned up there, getting close to a late date for this species for this area. LEAST SANDPIPERS were also seen, and an impressive flock of 25 KILLDEER turned up at an address along County Road 17 near Milford on the 13th. A few other interesting sightings over the past week included a good look by one Belleville resident of a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO as it flew out of a mountain ash tree and into another tree. A SNOW GOOSE was spotted at Sandbanks on the 13th, in with a flock of CANADA GEESE, and a GREEN HERON was seen at the Sandbanks near the Outlet, also on the 13th. For two days, one hummingbird feeder south of Oak Hill in the Stirling area has attracted a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, one species you might expect at a hummingbird feeder due to its food preferences, but not one that often uses these devices as a food source. This is a condensed version 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