A trip out to Long Point today with my wife Carol and friend Linda Wright
yielded the following highlights:
Fishers Glen: Red-bellied Woodpeckers
Turkey Point: Bald Eagle (sub-adult).
Long Point, including Old Cut Field Station:
Numerous Brown Creepers (I've never seen so many),
Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Towhees, Hermit Thrush, Flickers, Winter Wren,
numerous Golden-crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrows Killdeer, Turkey Vultures and
Tree Swallows, Horned Larks, Fox Sparrows, Sandhill Cranes (2 adult, 1
juvenile), 17 Tundra Swans (on Concession A), Coopers Hawk, Northern Harrier.
Among the many Bonaparte's Gulls in various stages of molt, we saw one that was
in full adult plumage.
At the Fisherville Owl Preserve, we saw only one Short-eared Owl during the
hour or so (5pm to 6pm) we spent searching along the area on Conc. 6, where 10
were present last week.
Also had two Rough-legged Hawks and a Kestrel along this road, plus a welcome
Eastern Meadowlark.
Ducks: Wood, Ring-necked, Northern Shovellers, Scaup, American Widgeon,
Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, American Coots, Bufflehead, Common Merganser.
NB. The numbers of ducks were down significantly from a week ago.
Not seen by us at Old Cut, but seen by others: American Woodcock,
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Carolina Wren, Saw-whet Owl.
DIRECTIONS (per Ron Fleming's post):
The quickest way to get to Long Point is to take Hwy. 403 west past Hamilton,
then Hwy. 24 south all the way down to Lake Erie. Take note that the exit for
Hwy. 24 North comes much earlier than the exit for Hwy. 24 South if you are
coming from the east. Once you are through the town of Simcoe (which has at
least 3 Tim Horton's), look for the signs leading to Fisher's Glen, Normandale,
Turkey Point, Port Rowan and Long Point. You can do a pleasant lakeshore
drive, casually birding along the way if you have the time to. If you are on a
schedule, go directly to Long Point, where the biggest concentration of birds
is.
Travelling east from Long Point (again, if you have time), stay on Front
Street/Lakeshore (it goes by both names, depending on where you are at). You
can follow this to Normandale, then you have to do a little hairpin turn that
takes you up a small hill to Fisher's Glen. Take the first right and when you
go down the small hill to where the Ruffed Grouse sign is, start looking and
listening for birds - there is a short but good stretch along this section.
Turn left and go up the hill to find Front Street again, then follow it to
Radical Road and take it right into Port Dover (though a visit at the lake in
Port Ryerse can be good).
To get to Fisherville you can follow #6 north from Port Dover to #3, then take
a right on 3 and follow it to Balmoral. Turn south on Regional Road 53 and
drive down to Concession Road 6. Turn left (east) and start looking for hawks
and owls, especially around house # 343 and eastward.
From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Apr 2 04:59:57 2005
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Sat, 02 Apr 2005 05:08:42 EST
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 05:08:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Roger Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Snow Geese (east of Ottawa) - Correction
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Hi Ontbirders,
My posting yesterday referred to "Thursday, 1 April". It should have read
"Friday, 1 April". My apologies for any confusion.
Roger Clark (Ottawa)
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Report sightings of bill-marked Lesser Scaup
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Posting for Bill Crins
Subject: WI DNR News - March 29, 2005 -
Waterfowl researchers and wildlife biologists from the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources are asking the public's help in reporting sightings of
specially marked ducks, known as either Lesser Scaup or bluebills.
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/scaup.htm
---
Mark Cranford
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Sat, 02 Apr 2005 11:17:52 EST
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 11:17:52 -0500 (EST)
From: RON FLEMING <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Numerous Waterfowl north of Newmarket
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Although a mix of slashing rain and snow from the northeast made conditions
less than ideal from a human standpoint this morning, there was a great deal of
bird activity - especially waterfowl movement - north and west of Newmarket.
In the flooded cornfields at the north end of Bathurst Street there were over
1000 Canada Geese (I was not convinced of seeing any Cackling Geese in the
distant flocks today, though there were some smaller individuals...Lessers?).
There were well over 300 NORTHERN PINTAIL (which may be a gross underestimation
as groups of 10 and 20 were constantly flying in and out of the main group), at
least 500 MALLARD, 40 AMERICAN WIGEON, 50 BLACK DUCK, 30 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 6
RING-NECKED DUCK, 6 REDHEAD, 8 WOOD DUCK, and 25 TUNDRA SWANS.
The birds were fairly easy to scope from Bathurst Street itself, but a drive
down Hochreiter Road offered better views (plus the pleasant sound of at least
two BROWN CREEPERS singing in the trees by the roadside on the way down this
mucky lane). There was also a flock of 12 CEDAR WAXWINGS feeding on berries by
the roadside.
There were waterfowl moving in the air the whole time I was in this area
(usually huddled like a paratrooper about to jump from the open side door of my
van). There was so much movement, at times it felt like a mini-Long Point. A
longer, more thorough search through the flocks might have yielded other
species than those listed here, but even the use of my van as a shelter did not
stop the damp chill from getting into my bones, so I didn't stay for very long.
At one point when I was looking west from Bathurst, a male NORTHERN HARRIER
sailed low over my van and out into the fields going westward, causing a stir
among the grackles and red-winged blackbirds also present in the cornrows.
Near the western end of nearby Hochreiter Road there were two more NORTHERN
HARRIERS hunting together on the south side of the road, one an adult female,
the other a juvenile male.
A few kms southwest of this location I observed my first SONG SPARROW of the
spring, a pair of BUFFLEHEAD, six pairs of HOODED MERGANSERS and ten pairs of
COMMON MERGANSERS at the junction of Canal Road and Pumphouse Road, which is
the southeast corner of Bradford.
Early yesterday evening, while helping a friend move from his apartment along
Davis Drive in Newmarket, there were several GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS calling in
the trees near us as we loaded furniture (something to take my mind off the
fact that I am getting too old to be helping people move anymore).
Ron Fleming, Newmarket
Newmarket is directly north of Toronto, halfway between that metropolis and
Barrie, between the North-south lines of Hwys. 404 and 400. The section of
Bathurst Street described above is actually on the western edge of Holland
Landing and the eastern edge of Bradford. It is accessible by turning north
from Yonge Street on the stretch of road that runs north out of Newmarket
toward Bradford. There is a stoplight that indicates Bathurst Street north.
As soon as you turn at the light, Bathurst takes a quick jog left (west) then
crosses the railway tracks and straightens out northward. By driving past
Queensville Sdrd. and past the Albert's Marina Road (which is across from the
aforementioned Hochreiter Road), you can easily see the flooded fields on the
west side of the road. A scope definitely helps for identifying the sometimes
distant waterfowl. There is a heronry at the edge of the woods that sits on
the western horizon down the hill from Bradford. There should be Great Blue
Herons there any day now. These flooded fields are can be very good for
observing waterfowl during spring migration.
Hochreiter Road can be a bit dicey to drive on during bad weather conditions;
it is a single lane and you can only turn around when you get to the house at
the far end of it, which is a good km or more down the road.
Canal Road can be reached by going back to Yonge Street and turning right
(west). Before you get to Bradford proper (a Tim Horton's will be coming up on
the north side of the road), turn left (south) as soon as you cross the low
bridge at the Holland River. The road immediately jogs and crosses another,
smaller bridge where there is a stop sign. To the left is Pumphouse Road, to
the right is Canal Road, which basically circles the "Holland Marsh" vegetable
fields.
