June 7, 11:00 am Birding - Kingston
This was our last birding trio for this visit. We drove north of Kingston to a section of the Cataraqui Trail. As soon as we left the car we saw a Black-billed Cuckoo, which as a LIFER for us. We saw the following birds today:
- Black-billed Cuckoo ( LIFER)
- Baltimore Oriole
- American Goldfinch
- Turkey Vulture
- Song Sparrow
- Common Yellowthroat
- Downy Woodpecker
- Great Blue Heron
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird (first for 2012)
We added 6 LIFERS to our totals during this visit, plus another 5 birds that were Canadian Lifers.
Black-billed Cuckoo
Downy Woodpeckers
June 6, 4:30 PM Birding - Kingston
The intent this morning was to do some birding on Amherst Island. However there was some construction at the ferry site so we decided to travel to Wolfe Island instead. We saw the following birds today:
- Great Egret (Canadian LIFER)
- Great Blue Heron
- Mallard
- Eastern Kingbird
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Song Sparrow
- Killdeer
- Bobolink
- Savannah Sparrow
- Mourning Dove
- Turkey Vulture
- Caspian Tern (new for 2012)
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Yellow Warbler
- Catbird
- Green Heron (Canadian LIFER)
- American Goldfinch
The special sighting for today was the Green Heron. We first heard it croak, then it flew right in front of us, and finally it landed in a tree and posed for us while we took some photos.
Green Heron
June 5, 4:00 PM Birding - Kingston
Today we hiked the 3 km Doe Lake Trail in Frontenac Provincial Park. We saw the following birds:
- Northern Flicker
- American Redstart
- Least Flycatcher
- Scarlet Tanager (first for 2012)
- Baltimore Oriole
- Yellow Warbler
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Loon
- Eastern Bluebird (LIFER for Canada)
Least Flycatcher feeding young
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Common Loon
Although the Scarlet Tanager was special (only the second time we had seen it) and the Common Loon was special as it was the first sighting on this lake (every lake should have a loon, or two), the surprise was the Eastern Bluebird (we had seen it previously in the USA but this was the first time we had seen it in Canada).
June 4, 4:00 PM Birding - Kingston
Although it was cool and overcast we went for a walk along the K-P trail this afternoon. We saw the following birds:
- American Redstart
- Gray Catbird
- Baltimore Oriole
- Common Yellowthroat
- Red-tailed Hawk (first for 2012)
This was also the first time that I had a good look at the Common Yellowthroat through binoculars. It is indeed a beautiful bird.