Amherst Island

 February 18, 2021

We left home at 6:15 am with the intention of catching the 8:30 ferry to the island.  We fired up Android Auto and told it we wanted to go to Amherst Island.  Horrors, it showed us a half hour late arriving for the ferry.  Resigned, we carried on.  Then it suddenly dawned on us that the projected arrival time included the ferry crossing; we were ok.  There was not much traffic, and we made good time. At Kingston, we saw the Trumpeter Swans as we crossed the canal.  We also spotted a couple of Red-tailed Hawks as we breezed by on Hwy 401.

We arrived at the ferry dock with 10 minutes to spare, but there was a huge crowd waiting including a giant truck ahead of us.  It looked like we would not get on, but we did squeeze on at the back, with the truck beside us.  They were not charging the fee because of COVID-19, but we also had to stay in our car.

While driving off onto the island, we saw a familiar car - Tony and Nina (wearing masks)were on the same trip with a client in her own vehicle.  We stopped at the washroom and went to say hello to our friends.  Tony had already scoped a couple of Bald Eagles along the shore.

We drove into Stella and turned left on Front Road.  We started seeing raptors immediately.  Up ahead there was a large truck and some cars stopped for a Snowy Owl, which was so close that we did not see it at first.

Further along, we spotted a perched Rough-legged Hawk on one side and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on the other.  Then a male Northern Harrier flew right in front of us.

There were many starlings and Blue Jays.

As we turned onto Lower Forty Foot and continued towards the Martin Edwards Reserve, we continued to see many Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers.

A Peregrine Falcon was perched on a distant Osprey platform.

We turned onto the South Shore Road and stopped beside Tony's car at Marshall Forty Foot Road (unopen in winter).  There was nobody in sight, but enough footprints in the snow convinced us not to bother with our snowshoes.  It is over a km hike to Owl Woods turnoff, and we saw a number of harriers on the way in.

It is another km on the actual trail into the woods.  We met a group coming out who reported a Barred Owl.  Barbara photographed some common birds near the feeders, which were devoid of seed!

As we neared the famous Owl Woods, we could see Nina's tracks going in to check every tree for small owls, apparently without luck.  Meanwhile, Tony was on the other side of the field checking the pines for Saw-whets.  We entered the woods and heard their voices.  Nina showed us where they had located a Barred Owl, which we could have missed.

We went over to the fenced area to look for Long-eared Owls, but could not see any.  By this time, the others had left, and we did too after checking Tony's area for Saw-whets. I recall Tony saying a few years ago that the Barred Owls will eat the small owls, so that we had little chance of seeing any.  We stopped for a break and a sandwich at the feeders, and fed the hungry chickadees.

On the way back to the car, we saw fewer raptors, but several Common Ravens.

We were pretty tired and sore by the time we got to the car.  But we soon forgot that when we saw some large flocks of Common Goldeneyes and Mute Swans in the lake nearby.

It was time to cruise the roads. We started with Long Point Road where we got a nice Bald Eagle perched as well as some Common Redpolls and a small flock of Snow Buntings.

At this point, we had not decided on which ferry to take, so we went straight to Concession 2.  It did not disappoint, as we saw several more harriers.

We came to a house with feeders and immediately spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker and other goodies.

A little further along, we had our first flock of Wild Turkeys.

Then we saw a car stopped, and a guy with a scope out.  Bingo.  He had two perched Short-eared Owls!  It was a great find, and we thanked him profusely. 

Barbara wandered further down the road and discovered a "wild cat" in a tree.

We returned via Front Road, and decided to let the 4 pm ferry go.  We had another juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a wire that did not spook when we came near.

  

We went instead to Third Concession Rd., and were rewarded with another Snowy Owl.

We returned on Concession 2 and saw a dog that had caught a rabbit.

It was time to head for Front Road east of Stella to see if there were any Short-eared Owls flying over the fields. YES.  Tony & Nina were doing the same as us.

We got our shots and headed for the 5 pm ferry with 5 minutes to spare.  We were low on gas, so asked the attendant who directed us to Bath for a fill up.  Then it was off for the 2-hour drive home.  We were very happy with our sightings for the day on Amherst Island.