The pair of BALD EAGLES that Peter Wukasch mentioned in a recent post were readily observed (through a scope) by looking north from the western stretch of Ravenshoe Road in south Keswick at 4:30 this afternoon. One was perched on a large nest while the other was circling over the mouth of the nearby West Holland River. As Peter noted, the eagles are surrounded by Great Blue Herons and do, indeed, seem like "hired muscle" for the heronry. They can be also observed from the other side of the river by driving to the eastern end of Line 13 north of Bradford. For the record, a local landowner in a big black pickup truck made it very clear to me that he doesn't like bird-watchers so anyone who visits the Ravenshoe Road area be sure to stay on public property (i.e, Ravenshoe and Yonge only - don't venture north or south along the dike trails. I had a late NORTHERN SHRIKE along Ravenshoe and, at the south end of Yonge Street, my personal-earliest-ever OSPREY in York Region (I've never had one in March before). It flew southward along the river then perched on a nesting platform that is at the very northern end of Bathurst Street. At this same location (the dead end of Yonge St. that runs down from Ravenshoe) I had the pleasure to watch three NORTHERN HARRIERS (2 adult males and an immature bird) doing their spectacular flight displays. The south end of Cook's Bay is hosting literally hundreds of ducks right now but by the time I found a good vantage point to scope them from the sun was low enough to make many of them silhouettes. I was able to identify numerous NORTHERN PINTAILS, COMMON MERGANSERS, some AMERICAN WIGEONS and my first BLUE-WINGED TEAL of the year (3 drakes and a hen flying together). In the Holland Marsh vegetable fields south of Bradford I had my earliest-ever TREE SWALLOW today. At the Cawthra Mulock Reserve I found my first EASTERN PHOEBES (2) and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS (2) of the season and, at the entrance to Silver Lakes Golf Course in north Holland Landing, two WOOD DUCKS (flying over) and my first Mourning Cloak butterfly of the spring. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is north of Toronto and south of Lake Simcoe. _______________________________________________ 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/
