Yesterday at noon there were two adult Bald Eagles flying together at the west end of Ravenshoe Rd. in Keswick. They could be the possible nesters Peter Wukasch has posted about. They were not far from the active heronry situated north of Ravenshoe behind the orange farm buildings. Also present along Ravenshoe Rd. W. were some dabbling ducks in the flooded fields - about 20 Pintail and 6 Ring-necks to be exact - and a Northern Harrier. Furher east along Ravenshoe (past Woodbine Ave.) there were over a thousand Canada Geese; scattered among them were a few Northern Shovelers, GW Teal, and Pintail. The vernal ponds along Bathurst St. N. near Holland Landing are mostly dried up now but there were still a few Green-winged Teal and one Tundra Swan on the west side of the road yesterday morning. Another vernal pond that has been productive this spring is on the NW corner of Weston Rd. and 15th Sdrd. west of King City. On Saturday Craig Corcoran had the first Greater Yellowlegs of the year for this region; it lingered at the pond until Monday. Just west of this location Craig also had the first Eastern Meadowlarks I have heard about locally; they showed up on March 22 along with a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. With the north part of Cook's Bay still sporting a thin layer of ice stretching up toward the channel by Snake Island, the open water in the south part of the bay is now hosting thousands of ducks. Most are Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye and C. Merganser, but there were also Red-breasted and Hooded Mergs (12 of the latter close to shore), and many American Wigeon present yesterday afternoon. (I scoped these birds from Young's Harbour Park where Walter Dr. meets Lake Drive S. in Keswick, approx. 1.5 km north of Ravenshoe.) Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is north of Toronto and south of Barrie. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
