Good evening fellow birders.
Today I was at Amherst Island with Carol and Ian Cannell and a beautiful day it was to be out and about, no wind to speak of, sunny and relatively warm. There is a 4" to 5" new snow cover on the Island but it was still easy going.
We started out by slowly driving to the KFN Property at the east end of the Island and on the way and at the KFN property we found the first of 10 N. Harriers, 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 13 Rough-legged Hawks and 5 A. Kestrels. We walked out onto the KFN Property finding 1 Snowy Owl on the way to the eastern tip and at and off the tip on a small island were 2 more Snowy Owls. Also off the tip we found the Eurasian Wigeon previously reported among the dozen or so A. Wigeons, a Great Blue Heron, and Ian spotted a N. Pintail on the east side of the tip. On the way back to the automobile we had a flock of 40+ Snow Buntings fly overhead and a small flock of 7 Green-winged Teal flew past.
We then continued on birding some of the roads before leaving the Island and along these roads we found 2 Ring-necked Pheasants, 9 E. Meadowlarks together on 2nd Concession Rd at Stella Rd, 2 Short-eared Owls and at the west end of 3rd Concession Rd another Snowy Owl.
We did not find any Owls in the Owl Woods but were told that 4 Long-eared Owls were seen by others and we did hear a Ring-necked Pheasant singing :-)).
A Caution if any of you are planning an Amherst Island trip this week. There was a deer cull going on over there with more hunters than Raptors through out. This may be only a one day hunt but I really don't know, but please be aware that the hunter may be present during the next few days. They are easy to spot in their fluorescent jackets but you may not be. The Owl Woods and KFN Property are not hunted but all other areas are. Just be sure not to wander in the woods, etc.away form the Owl Woods and KFN Property unless you know that the cull is over and even then respect the property rights of the islanders.
