More returnees

Sunday, 11th April was another glorious, though cool, spring day, bright with sunshine and brisk with a good breeze.

From the northern end of the 4th Line, 25 buteo hawks were visible, hunting over the small-rodent-riddled, dry fields. Most of these hawks were roughlegs, though at least four were redtails. Three harriers, including one adult male, were quartering over the fields beneath their broad-tailed cousins. A couple of turkey vultures soared high overhead.

I glimpsed a couple of Savannah sparrows, though neither was singing.

Later in the afternoon, along a marshy stretch of the northernmost 5th Line, I heard much singing by frogs. A male kestrel was perched on a line. At the corner of the 5th Line and the Base Line, there were plenty of little ground birds amongst the stubble. Approximately 100 (at least) of these small birds were Lapland longspurs, male and female, in breeding plumage; so lovely. Most of the other small birds were horned larks.

Twice during the week, raucous voices made me look intently skyward at, in each case, a pair of birds flying over the village: ravens and Caspian terns. Another voice lower down also caught my attention - a male cowbird. Later I spotted the female.

Slowed spring

Despite the rather cool weather, the birds are trickling back north. On Thursday, 1 April, three vultures were wheeling over the transportation vehicle depot in the early afternoon, and various individuals have been sighted before and since then.

The ferry moved back to the village dock on Saturday, 3 April, after the contest van finally sank into the lake beside the dock, on what was surely the last remaining bit of ice around the island, broken apart, no doubt, by the high winds that day, a wet and rather miserable day, followed by snow the next. On Monday, I noticed cormorants and a tern flying over the Marysville Bay.

Ed Taugher reports numerous ducks, including canvasbacks, redheads, and scaup, toward the foot of the island. I've heard the rather raucous voice of the flicker in the village, but have not yet seen this species this spring.

On the other hand, some northern birds are still here with us on the island. On Wed., 7 April, in the early afternoon, three roughlegged hawks, including one dark phase, were hunting near the junction of the Base Line and the 5th Line.

Has anyone seen a snowy owl during the past week?

Meadowlark Morning

Tuesday was another gorgeous spring day. The sky was clear and sunny before 7 am, and the air still and above-freezing.

While waiting for the 6:45am boat, I naturally decided a little birdwatching would be a wonderful way to start the day - and so it was. Almost immediately, the plaintive song of a meadowlark was heard. Conveniently, two individuals made themselves conspicuous through a chase. One then perched on a fencepost, breast toward the newly risen sun: the yellow practically glistened! Nancy Steele and I were treated to a total of four of these half-conspicuous, half-cryptic birds.

As I approached Gananoque around 9 am, by the way, six turkey vultures wheeled over the 401. They, like the Canada geese, seem to be in migration mode. Yesterday (Mon.) morning, as soon as it was vaguely light, flocks of these geese could be heard overhead in the village, voices no longer restless, but fully migratory.

In the afternoon (Tues.), back in Marysville, I heard the three-note piping of a Greater Yellowlegs.

Singing and soaring

What a gorgeous day! The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and a moderate breeze blew fresh from the north. The buteo hawks certainly seemed to be taking advantage of these conditions. Scanning the horizon from near the north end of the 4th Line at about noon, I could see a dozen buteos hunting or soaring high, most just within my field of view above the horizon. Turning around to face the lake and Kingston, I glimpsed two swallows swooping above the cliff edge.

Today another voice joined the cacophony of horned larks, redwinged blackbirds, and killdeer - that of the song sparrow! I later spotted a little flock of these birds feeding and singing along the Highway near the 5th Line, then heard another individual singing in the village. Last night, the singers in Marysville were herptilian - frogs! It must be spring!

The voice of the killdeer

After a really cold period of about a week, we've now had three warm days and nights. Of course, this warmth has been accompanied by greyness and wetness, and a fair amount of wind. Although the skies were predicted to clear in the afternoon Saturday, they remained grey.

A pair of kestrels made themselves visible, together, near the dump. The male's plumage was fresh and stunning. No one was feeding at the suet feeders at the 8th Line and the Highway. From there, today's route, in the earliest afternoon, was a slight variation on the usual - south along the 8th, west along Reed's Bay Road, north along the 5th, west along Highway 96, then by foot along the northernmost part of the 4th Line.

A total of at least 13 rough-legged hawks, three redtailed hawks, and three harriers (including what appeared to be a pair) were sighted. Most were hunting. At least four of these birds, on the 4th Line, appeared to be the same two pairs (light-light and light-dark) that I'd seen there last week. Two of the redtails were also seen here, and most likely were also members of the pair observed here last week.

Horned larks were present and singing along the route. A small flock of about three dozen snow buntings was spotted. A lone male was seen along the 4th Line. At least four killdeer were both seen and heard. By the way, my first encounter with this species was on Friday at noon in the village as I tended my garden. A pair was involved in a mating flight overhead.

A shrike was spotted near the radio towers, but from too great a distance for further identification. Not far away, and also at quite a distance, four tree swallows danced swiftly past.

Later, I checked to determine whether any snowy owls were still appearing around the northern end of the 4th Line late in the afternoon. No luck outward bound, as far as the old sewage lagoon. But on my way back northwards, I spotted one high atop one of the trees to the west of the line. It then flew to a fencepost along the road. This bird appeared to be the one which I'd seen first a week ago, quite near Highway 96. It has a dirtyish look around its tailfeathers, and a very small amount of flecking toward the bottom of its wings; otherwise it is quite white. At my approach, it flew off to the southeast. I continued northwards without caution but nearly immediately spotted another snowy owl atop a tree beside the road and braked to a halt. This individual was an adult female I had not seen before, noticeably, but not heavily, flecked behind, quite white atop her head and shoulders. She did not budge, even when I drove beneath her & stopped only a bit beyond the tree for a really good look. Unfortunately, Murphy's Law was in force, and I did not have a camera with me. These two birds must have just arrived in the area, just after 5pm.