Amherst Island - Owls - Mon, 31 Dec 2001

I spent a very brief time in the woods today.  The conditions were not
good with the trees heavily laden with the recent snows and the sun
constantly in one's eyes with the result that only 1 SAW-WHET OWL was
found, that one in the Pines.  I did not find the one that usually
inhabits the Cedars but it could easily have been overlooked.  I saw
enough though to know that there has not yet been any significant change

in the owl population yet.  Still, this is the time of year when things
may start to improve now that winter is finally here with us.

I did get a good look at the NORTHERN GOSHAWK for the first time today
as it sat along the south end of the deciduous woods for quite a while.
Previously I had seen it only twice and only enough to be relatively
sure of the identity.  It is an immature bird, my guess would be a male
but I don't see enough of these to make any more than an uneducated
guess.

Lots of other hawks too, especially RED-TAILED, ROUGH-LEGGED and
KESTRELS, along with a few NORTHERN HARRIERS, all of which may be seen
on the drive to the woods.  There's lots of SNOWY OWLS too, there were
at least 3 today on the KFN property at the east end of the Island seen
from the road and a couple more on the drive around the end and one just

north of the Owl Woods itself.

Amherst Island is 16 km west of Kingston.  Take exit # 593 from Highway
401, proceed south on County Road  #4 (formerly Highway 133) to
Millhaven on Lake Ontario - the ferry dock is 200m west on Hwy 33 (Bath
Road).   A round-trip costs $5.00.  The ferry leaves every hour on the
half-hour from 6:30 am onward.

To get to the "Owl Woods" after getting off the ferry:  take the first
left (east), drive 3 km along the north shore road (Front Road) to the
first southbound road called Marshall 40-foot Road (directly across the
road from the 2320 sign).  Proceed 1.3 km south to the S-curve.  Walk
north-east on the trails.  (Beware of killer Chickadees - Bring
sunflower seeds for hand feeding if at all possible!)

Alex. Scott
Bath
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - Disaster in the Owl Woods - Sat, 24 Nov 2001

Disaster, albeit a natural one, struck the Owl Woods this week.  A
large, and now very well fed, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, first seen on Wednesday,
has apparently taken up residence in the Owl Woods, perhaps putting paid
to any hope of a good owl season, for the near term at least.

Several people coming out of the Owl Woods today just as I was going in,
reported seeing no owls today.  I did manage to find 2 SAW-WHET OWLS,
one well buried in the Cedars of the Cedar Woods, and a second in the
cedars just east of the Pine Woods, both of which seem to have set up
wintering territories now. But there was no sign of any of the regular
LONG-EARED OWLS that have been present all fall.  There were however the
fresh remains of 3 LONG-EAREDS scattered thoughout the Pines bringing to
4 the number of LONG-EARED kills this week.  There was also a pile of
SAW-WHET feathers in the area where there had been 5 SAW-WHET OWLS on
Wednesday.

It kind of gives you a sense of loss when a pile of feathers is all that
remains of a number of owls you've become familiar with for a time over
the winter.  Still, once the food supply diminishes to a certain point,
probably the GOSHAWK will move on and, hopefully, the wintering
population of owls will gradually build up again.

The NORTHERN GOSHAWK was perched just on the fringe of the Pine Woods
for a time this afternoon, and there was also a NORTHERN SHRIKE just to
the west of the woods.

Hopefully better news in the days to come.  We'll keep you informed.

Alex. Scott
Bath
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island Owls - Oct 24 - Sat, 27 Oct 2001

Despite unfavourable conditions with light rain, there must have been a
fairly significant movement of NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS overnight.  There
were 5 in a small, several hundred square foot area of the Cedars where
only 1 was found yesterday, and a really cursory, incomplete search of
the Pines due to the onset of heavy rain found 3 of the 4 that were
there yesterday.  That's the largest number so far, and may be setting
up for a good flight on the weekend.  The late month peak normally
results in 18-20 being found for a day or two near the end of October.

There seemed to be an increase of LONG-EARED OWLS too although it's hard
to know about them for sure.  There were at least a half a dozen in the
Cedars and a few more in the Pines.

Alex. Scott
Bath
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island Owls - October 23 - Fri, 26 Oct 2001

   
Still no signs of a major flight to the Island, but the numbers of
SAW-WHET OWLS continues to slowly increase.  Today a fairly complete
search turned up 6, 1 in the Cedar Woods and 5 in the Pines.  Still no
sign of any BOREAL OWLS though although 1 was seen in nearby Prince
Edward Point during owl banding.

We saw only 4 LONG-EARED OWLS today, all singles, but all were very
cooperative and remained on their roosts.

Alex. Scott
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island Owls - October 20 - Fri, 26 Oct 2001

   
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS continue to move through the Owl Woods in small
numbers.. Saturday saw a seasonal high of 5, up from 3 on Thursday.
There were 3 in the Cedar Woods, 1 in the Pines, and an additional one
in the deep shrubbery that would never have been spotted except for
those ever watchful Chickadee helpers of mine.

Still about the same number of LONG-EARED OWLS.  There were at least 7
or 8 in the Pines but it's difficult to know for sure once some of them
start to move around despite your best efforts.

No other species yet except for the resident GREAT HORNED OWLS that are
occasionally seen or heard in the vicinity.

Alex. Scott
Bath
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - Thu, 4 Oct 2001

   
Thursday, October 4th., 2001
 
I spotted a spectacular dark phase Roughlegged Hawk hovering over the
fields on the north side of the third concession at 12:00 noon.
 
Janet Scott
jiscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - Sat, 28 Jul 2001

Karen and I were on the KFN property on Amherst Island Wednesday.  There
were several hundred shorebirds, mostly in the mudflat remains of the
first pond and a few at the bar and 16 or 17 species of shorebirds were
represented including KILLDEER, SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER (6), GREATER
YELLOWLEGS (1), LESSER YELLOWLEGS (10-12), SPOTTED SANDPIPER, UPLAND
SANDPIPER, RUDDY TURNSTONE (1), LEAST SANDPIPER (20),  SEMI-PALMATED
SANDPIPER (@100), WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (5-6), BAIRDS SANDPIPER (1),
PECTORAL SANDPIPER (8), STILT SANDPIPER (10), SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (3
or 4), WILSON'S PHALAROPE (2) and several SNIPE.

There was also another DOWITCHER which may have been a LONG-BILLED but
it was in breeding plumage and I couldn't get a positive identifying
feature on it, nor did it call unfortuately when it flew off.

Also in the ponds was another small family of WOOD DUCK, this time with
2 females and 4 fairly recent young.

The OSPREY family have managed to raise 3 young again this year, at
least 2 of which are already flying about although none leave the nest
yet for any length of time.

There were somewhere close to 100 BLACK TERNS on the gravel bar in
various plumage.  There were also 2 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS in the
willows at the bar.

Alex. Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - BOREAL OWLS Continue to Increase - Wed, 21 Mar 2001

The BOREAL OWL population continues to increase somewhat mirroring the 1996 season. The numbers seem just slightly smaller than the corresponding dates of that year. That year the numbers fluctuated from 2 to 4 much like this year but reached 5 on March 2nd and after a slight dip in mid-March, the numbers increased to 6 on March 16 and to 7 on March 18, after which the numbers stabilized at 7 until they began to gradually disappear about March 28th, disappearing one by one until the last one left after April 20th. So, we're probably pretty close to the peak number now although some may remain until early April. It will be interesting to see what happens from here on in.

The SAW-WHET OWL population seems to have declined a little with only 4 yesterday and 5 today and several of the regular roosts now seem to have been abandoned. This is pretty much in keeping with past years experience with some of the locals moving out and new ones moving in. There seems to be a wave that comes in in late March and another in early April.

The LONG-EARED OWL population seems stable at the moment. We didn't see any SHORT-EARED OWLS today but there was still at least 1 SNOWY OWL just south of the village near the Fire Hall.

There were also 2 early TREE SWALLOWS flying around the ferry dock on the Millhaven side

Alex. Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - BOREAL OWLS Continue to Increase - Wed, 14 Mar 2001

A short and very incomplete search of the Owl Woods today turned up 4 BOREAL OWLS and 8 SAW-WHET OWLS in just over an hour. We didn't have time to search the Cedar Woods at all nor most of the Pines. Our search was pretty much limited to the main section of the Pines along the eastern margin. We did stop to take a quick look in the white Cedars where the big female BOREAL has frequented but again there was no sign of her. Quite likely she has moved off then as she is clearly none of the present 4. Three of the BOREALS we found today were either in or close to the perches they have used for the past several weeks. The fourth was well off to the west of the woods in a spruce tree. All but one of the SAW-WHET OWLS were likewise close to the locations they were found on the past weekend so all in all the population seems pretty stable at the moment.

There were still good numbers of LONG-EARED OWLS in the Pines too. We found only 1 SNOWY OWL as we drove most of the Island. It was very windy today and even a lot of the hawks were staying down on the ground but it does seem likely that the numbers of SNOWYS is dwindling. There were no SHORT-EARED OWLS in evidence either but we did find one roosting in a spruce stand on the west end of the Island on the 2nd Concession.

The waters along the south shore have opened up and there were lots of ducks, mostly COMMON GOLDEN-EYE with fewer numbers of BUFFLEHEAD, GREATER SCAUP and COMMON MERGANSER. Other species seen today included RED-TAILED HAWK, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, NORTHERN HARRIER, KESTREL, NORTHERN SHRIKE, RING-NECKED PHEASANT, HORNED LARKS, SNOW BUNTINGS and TREE SPARROWS.

Many thanks to John Klymko and his dad Greg for providing our transport to and around the Island today.

Alex. Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - BOREAL OWLS-3 or 4? - Sun, 11 Mar 2001

Thanks to the Kroghs from Virginia we were able to get to Island for the first time in two weeks. It looks like the numbers are pretty much unchanged but there is some evidence of movement within the species. There were 3 BOREAL OWLS still, but again there was a new arrival, and as happened a couple of weeks ago, the big female usually found in the Cedars was not found on Saturday although it was reported to have been there the day before. "Big Momma" has a habit of disappearing for a day or two and then reappearing. If this pattern holds true there are probably now 4 BOREALS in the woods at this point. This is about the same time as in 1996 when the BOREALS began to increase until they reached the maximum of 7 on March 18 until the numbers began to deline on March 28 until the last one left on April 20.

There were 7 SAW-WHET OWLS located, the same number as all winter, but two of the regulars were not in or around their usual perches and two more were found in areas not usually used by the regulars. That, along with the increased numbers on several days is pretty good evidence that migration of this species is underway.

The LONG-EARED numbers seem pretty much unchanged. We were able to see and walk by at least 6 yesterday. The key there is seeing them first, being quiet and moving carefully around them.

There are still a few SHORT-EARED OWLS and SNOWY OWLS on the east end of the Island as well as good numbers of RED-TAILED and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and smaller numbers of other species including KESTREL and HARRIER. NORTHERN SHRIKES are still being seen reliably.

On a more humerous note, some wag has placed a plastic Great Horned Owl replica in one of the white cedar clumps frequented by "Big Momma" (no wonder she's not there!). Now known as bubo plasticus (or perhaps "Bubba"). For birders using GPS units, this is your lucky day... proceed to the exact tree using UTM co-ordinates: Easting 368060, Northing 4892450.

We're still without transportation so our offer of free passage and two tour guides to the Owl Woods for transportation to the Island still holds.

Alex. Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net
613 352 1075

Amherst Island - Mon, 26 Feb 2001

Greetings Gord

I was on Amherst Island on Saturday and Sunday (24 and 25/02) and saw the usuals (boreal, saw-whet and long-eared owls, with a juvenile snowy as a bonus), in spite of truly foul weather the morning of the 25th (freezing rain, high wind).

The best part of the weekend was staying until the stars were peeking out on Saturday evening when boreal, saw-whet and long-eared were calling. It's that time of year, I guess. It was magical.

My main reason for corresponding is to correct a statement that several contributors to the Amherst site have made regarding hotel accomodation. One need not drive to Kingston. There is, in fact, a very comfortable little inn in the village of Millhaven, a thirty second drive from the Amherst Island ferry. They can be contacted by phone or fax at 1-613-352-7822 or by mail at R.R.#3 Bath, Ontario K0H 1G0 Canada. There are restaurants a short drive up the road in the village of Amherstview.

Cheers.

Peter Meisenheimer
33 Arthur St. N., Guelph, Ontario, Canada. N1E 4T7.
peter.meisenheimer@sympatico.ca

Amherst Island - BOREAL OWLS-2 or 3? - Sun, 18 Feb 2001

For the most part things are pretty much unchanged on Amherst Island. There are still 12-15 LONG-EARED OWLS and 6 or 7 SAW-WHET OWLS, mostly in the Pines.

We found 2 BOREAL OWLS still but there seems to have been at least one change. We found 1 BOREAL in the cedar tree on the eastern margin of the woods where it has been seen frequently. We found a second BOREAL OWL further south on the eastern edge of the Pines, but this is a noticeably smaller (male) owl, unlike the very large (female) we affectionately call "Big Momma" who has been a regular in the white cedar clumps near the south end of the Cedar Woods. Her we couldn't find today despite a careful search. There was a lot of new snow covering the trees today which changes the character of the usual perches a lot and which also makes it very easy to overlook an owl.

In the past these owls have been known to disappear for a time only to reappear a day or two later so it may be she's still there in which case there are again 3 BOREAL OWLS in the general area. That would not be surprising as past records indicate this is about the time we begin to see increasing numbers as some of these birds start heading north again. The major increase in numbers though seems to occur about a month from now in mid-March.

In the drive back from the woods along the east end and south shore to the ferry we saw 6 SNOWY OWLS without even stopping so there's still lots of them around, and of course still lots of RED-TAILS and ROUGH-LEGS with a few NORTHERN HARRIERS, KESTREL and NORTHERN SHRIKES.

Today the south shore was iced in so there wasn't much opportunity for observing ducks. CANVASBACKS and GREATER SCAUP are due to return about now with REDHEADS shortly thereafter.

Alex. Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net

Amherst Island - BOREAL OWLS - Wed, 07 Feb 2001

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

There appears to be no significant change in the owl population on
Amherst Island.  I did a fairly complete search of the Owl Woods today.
There were still 2 BOREAL OWLS, one in the Cedar Woods near the south
end in the same general area it's been for the past few weeks and one on
the east side of the Pines where it too has frequently been found.

There were at least 6 SAW-WHET OWLS.  Four of these are regulars in the
Pines.  On Saturday there were 3 in the Cedar Woods but only 2 were
found today, at least one of which is becoming a regular.

There were at least 12 LONG-EARED OWLS in the Pines, perhaps a few
more.  SHORT-EARED OWLS are still  being seen in the surrounding fields
and on the KFN property to the extreme east in the late afternoon.
SNOWY OWLS are still fairly numerous.  We also saw numerous RED-TAILED
HAWKS and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and the occasional NORTHERN SHRIKE.

At least one BROWN CREEPER is being seen regularly in the Pines too, and
1 ROBIN has been regular all winter.

Amherst Island is 16 km west of Kingston.  Take exit # 593 from Highway
401, proceed south on County Road  #4 (formerly Highway 133) to
Millhaven on Lake Ontario - the ferry dock is 200m west on Hwy 33 (Bath
Road).   A round-trip costs $3.50.  The ferry leaves every hour on the
half-hour from 7:30 am onward.  The first ferry leaves at 6:20 am and
the last one leaves the Island at 1:00 am.

Alex Scott
Karen Fleming
akscott@kos.net

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