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Wildlife

(L to R) Olive-sided Flycatcher, Green Frog, Groundhog. Copyright Anthony Kaduck

The Kingston Study Area is home to an amazing variety of wildlife. Many KFN members regularly survey the wildlife, especially the birds, in the area surrounding the City of Kingston. Anyone can collect information on the species they observe. One way of doing that is to submit your observations to iNaturalist. For bird data, most birders send their observations to eBird. There is more information on eBird on the Birding in the Kingston Area page.

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a great place to upload and share your general observations – particularly those not covered below. Please visit the KFN iNaturalist Projects to view our ongoing and time-restricted (e.g. BioBlitzes) projects. Any observations you add to iNaturalist that meets the requirements will automatically be added to the appropriate project. The location of some Species at Risk is obscured by default, but you can also choose to obscure it for other reasons such as private property. You may also be interested in the NHIC Project. NHIC is the recognised body for the assimilation of Species at Risk data in Ontario.

Birding in the Kingston Area

Kingston sits astride the Atlantic Flyway, a major migration route. Millions of birds travel through the area enroute to their breeding grounds, and then return again in the autumn as they head back to their wintering areas. This makes the area one of Ontario’s premier birding destinations, and the KFN membership includes many keen birders. … Read more

Moths and Moth Watching in the Kingston Region

Moths are a fascinating group of insects that are gaining in popularity with naturalists across North America. This is at least partially thanks to an increase in resources, both online and in print, that bring identification out of the realm of professional entomologists. Moths and their caterpillars literally come in all sorts of colours and … Read more

Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata)

A list of all the Odonata species recorded in the Kingston Study Area is available as a Google Sheet: Odonata of the Kingston Study Area. Use the File menu to save a copy to your Google Sheets or download the sheet in a different format. Join or visit the KFN: Odonata project on iNaturalist. This … Read more

KFN Sensitive Sightings Policy

KFN encourages people to experience nature and does this partly by providing information about sightings of many species. In particular, notable bird sightings are reported in weekly summaries; members are also encouraged to report their sightings to eBird, “a real-time, online checklist program, that has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses … Read more

Butterflies of the Kingston Study Area

A list of all the butterfly species recorded in the Kingston Study Area is available as a Google Sheet: Butterflies of the Kingston Study Area. Use the File menu to save a copy to your Google Sheets or download the sheet in a different format. Join or visit the KFN: Butterfly project on iNaturalist. This collection project automatically … Read more

Wildlife in My Backyard Series

This series of articles by KFN member Sharon David describes how you can attract more wildlife to your backyard or property.

Avian Influenza Update, March 2, 2024

I’m glad to say that I’ve had no more reports of major die-offs like there … Read more

Avian Influenza Update, February 21, 2024

I’m pleased to say there was good news in the reports I received this week, … Read more

Part 2: Trees and Shrubs as Natural Food

by Sharon David Introduction In this article I will discuss the trees and shrubs that … Read more

Part 1: Attracting Winter Birds and Bird Feeding

by Sharon David and John McLaughlin Introduction In this article we discuss the different methods … Read more

Part 3a: Attracting Hummingbirds

by Sharon David Introduction In this part of Wildlife In My Backyard I will describe … Read more

Part 3b: Attracting Butterflies

by Sharon David Butterflies Some people may not be enthusiastic about attracting butterflies and all … Read more

Part 4. Nest Boxes and Shelves

by Sharon David Introduction Most backyards lack dead trees, also called snags, or damaged live … Read more