A field trip organized by "The Backyard Birder" in Newmarket yielded some good winter birds today. Along Canal Road east of Hwy. 400 we had a female Purple Finch visiting a roadside property and an adult female Cooper's Hawk watching the feeders from across the canal. Soon afterward we rediscovered three of the White-crowned Sparrows (there are at least two adult birds and one immature) that are wintering along nearby Devald Road west of Day St. Following up on a tip from John Schemelefske, we tried for a Snowy Owl that he observed Wednesday along Hazel St. in the Holland Marsh but we were unable to relocate it (a trend that would repeat itself through the day with this species). North of Bradford in the general vicinity of Scanlon Creek we observed a lone coyote, had a fleeting glimpse at some Wild Turkeys near a forest edge along Yonge St., found our second Northern Shrike of the day, and watched a Sharp-shinned Hawk cross Artesian Industrial Pkwy in front of us. Hoping to find one of two Snowy Owls (a white adult male and a more heavily barred immature) that have wintered at the east end of Line 13, we only managed to acquire muddy wheel wells and running boards. The north end of Bathurst Street near Holland Landing did not yield any Snowy Owls either but as I prepared to jump off my van in frustration Stan pointed out a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk over the western fields and Linda found four Horned Larks on the east side of the road. Having agreed on a 1:00 p.m. finish due to afternoon commitments we did not have an opportunity to check Ravenshoe Road for Snowies so I am unaware of whether there are any still being observed in the Keswick area. For the record, we observed over a dozen Red-tailed Hawks (some of them doing courtship displays) during our travels. Many thanks to Nancy Colefield for organizing the trip and to Stan Long, Carol McKnight, Wilma & Brian Backus, Bob & Linda Hansen, Caleb, Anne, Phil and Maya for lending their keen eyes and enthusiasm to the day's proceedings. Ron Fleming, Newmarket Bradford, Newmarket and Holland Landing are directly north of Toronto, about halfway to 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/
