[Ontbirds] York Region Update
Cold temperatures have made for a slower-than-normal migration in this area north of Toronto but local birders have still managed to find a few interesting birds. TUNDRA SWANS were first reported by Bruce Brydon on March 11 when 75 of them showed up in the fields west of Bathurst in NW Holland Landing. They were not seen in the days following, however, and may even have done a reverse migration given the fact that there was no open water to be found. This weekend Angela Daust observed about 100 of them in King City along Dufferin St. in the northwest part of town. Yesterday I had eight more in the fields along Ravenshoe Road near Keswick. Four pairs of HOODED MERGANSERS were swimming among Mallards and Canada Geese in the Holland Marsh canal southeast of Bradford on March 15 accompanied by ten COMMON GOLDENEYE who later showed up at the Bradford bridge (where Pumphouse Road meets Canal Road). Also present at that location last Saturday (March 16) was an early PIED BILLED GREBE and a BELTED KINGFISHER. When I dipped on SNOWY OWLS during the week of March Break (March 11-17) I assumed they had moved northward but Patty Gale found one along Ravenshoe Road March 18th. She also had a NORTHERN HARRIER, a BALD EAGLE, and a flock of SNOW BUNTINGS. A small flock of the latter (25 to be exact) were seen there by Bruce Brydon on Friday. I drove the Ravenshoe Road area with my dog Samwise yesterday and found two SNOWY OWLS, one on the east side of Yonge Street and one on the west. I also had a NORTHERN SHRIKE, a BALD EAGLE, and my first KILLDEER of the spring. In the Holland Marsh vegetable fields south of Bradford I had one more SNOWY OWL yesterday - it was at the dead end of Emma Road, which runs west from Dufferin St. COMMON REDPOLLS continue to show up in numbers at Newmarket feeders; Kevin Shackleton had close to a hundred in his yard this weekend. Another notable backyard sighting was a trio of PINE GROSBEAKS that visited Mike Van den Tillart's feeders on St. Patrick's Day. (None were green.) While hiking the Nokkaida Trail in north Newmarket on March 21, John Watson had a NORTHERN SHRIKE. Just north of Newmarket Bruce Brydon observed two TURKEY VULTURES and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK on Friday. Kevin Shackleton had another accipiter - a COOPER'S HAWK - fly past his office window on Leslie Street in west Newmarket. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region lies directly north of Toronto, about halfway to Barrie. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
[Ontbirds] York Region Update/ Addendum
The flooded fields on the west side of Bathurst St. N. in Holland Landing had 70+ TUNDRA SWANS and 10 SNOW GEESE at 7:45 this morning. Also present were four N. SHOVELERS (4), approx. 40 N. PINTAIL, and three GREEN-WINGED TEAL. A NORTHERN FLICKER was active along the Dufferin Street roadside north of Hwy. 9 (and south of Miller Sdrd.) when I was there around 8:30. I did not find much else in "the marsh" but there was a male AMERICAN KESTREL along Tornado Drive which I believe is the same one observed several times throughout the winter. On Wednesday Glenn Steplock checked a rookery in Richmond Hill for returning GREAT BLUE HERONS and counted 20 of them already on territory! Peter Wukasch had the first PIED BILLED GREBE of the season (at least that I'm aware of) the same day - it was in the canal at the corner of Pumphouse Rd. and Graham Sdrd. in the Holland Marsh vegetable fields near Bradford. In Stoufville Jack Walker had a dozen BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS in his yard yesterday as well as a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD that has been present for at least a few weeks. A walk along the Oak Ridges Trail on the west side of Seneca College's King City campus this afternoon yielded PINE SISKINS (8), an early EASTERN PHOEBE, a mixed flock of BC Chickadees and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS (approx. six of each), several migrating TURKEY VULTURES, three singing BROWN CREEPERS, and - in the mainly thawed lake there - six CM. GOLDENEYE, four BUFFLEHEAD, and a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is directly north of Toronto, on the south/southeast side of Lake Simcoe. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
[Ontbirds] York Region Update: Eagles, Accipiters, Shrikes.
Over the last 24 hours I have been contacted regarding some noteworthy raptor sightings for birders in the GTA. Of particular interest: Lorena Campbell had the good fortune of observing and photographing a gathering of up to eight Bald Eagles this afternoon as she drove along Lake Drive near Willow Beach (specifically where Lake Dr. meets Kennedy Rd. between Keswick and Jackson's Point) Her photos can be viewed on the Simcoe Nature Board, which is a very informative website administered by Bob Bowles for naturalists in the Lake Simcoe Area. The eagles may linger as long as the carcass remains but once that food source is gone they will no doubt be off to the next easy meal. I was pleased to observe a brawny female Cooper's Hawk slicing her way through the backyards of Sawmill Creek Drive in southwest Newmarket while driving to work this morning but was "out-accipitered" by Mike Van den Tillaart who started the day with a Sharp-shinned Hawk strafing his feeders then had the rarer treat of observing a Northern Goshawk along Warahtah Avenue later. Irving Himel redeemed owling fortunes along Ravenshoe Rd. in southwest Keswick with the news that he had a Snowy Owl there on Sunday. Frank Pinella e-mailed me to mention that he had three different Northern Shrikes within five minutes of each other in north Richmond Hill the same day. (...Hate to bring this up, Frank, but ball fans will no doubt remind you that three shrikes means yer out.) Many thanks to those who sent messages to update birding news in this area. If anyone finds a Rough-legged Hawk in York region, please e-mail privately. Once again they have shown up early in the winter then apparently moved on. Ron Fleming, Newmarket ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
[Ontbirds]York Region Update
Winter doesn't appear ready to relinquish its icy grip quite yet, but a few spring migrants are still pushing their way through the snowflakes to get here. Back on March 4th, Michael Biro had the first RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD of the spring in York Region (east Richmond Hill) while Al Johnston observed one on his property west of Stouffville on March 8th. On Sunday, March 9th, Joan Love observed York's first two TURKEY VULTURES of the year as they tilted usteadily northward over the intersection of Hwys. 27 and 9 near Schomberg. Two light-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were observed by Jack and Connie Walker at Buttonville airport the same day. Rough-legs have been scarce in York region this winter with only a few being seen before Christmas and none after that. These two at Buttonville are likely moving through the region on their way north. Another interesting raptor this week was a MERLIN observed (and photographed) by Keith Dunn along Ravenshoe Road in southwest Keswick Wednesday morning. While some birds move in, others move out. The last report of a SNOWY OWL that I have heard about was Monday. It was seen by Keith Dunn along the same stretch of Ravenshoe as the Merlin (i.e. in the agricultural flats south of Cook's Bay). The two Snowies observed by Chris Dunn west of Newmarket last weekend have not been reported since. SNOW BUNTINGS are still being observed here but they, too, appear to be moving out of the area. Conversely, HORNED LARKS are showing up in many locations. On King Road between Dufferin and Keele Streets (north of Hwy. 9) yesterday there were 70+ Horned Larks (praticola race with the paler faces) feeding near the roadside across from house #150. There was a group of about 10 SNOW BUNTINGS with them. At the north end of Bathurst Street above Queensville Sdrd. a group of 12 buntings and about 20 larks has been feeding together all week. On Wednesday an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE was still lingering in that same area (specifically along the roadway that runs east into the Holland River Marina). The bird was putting on a nice display of hovering, looking for all the world like a little grey-&-white kestrel in action. In this very good year for winter finches, some species are still around. Keith Dunn has continued to happen upon groups of PINE GROSBEAKS in Keswick and Chris Dunn has done likewise in north-central Newmarket. I had a small flock of 8 while XC skiing in the North Tract east of McCowan and north of Vivian Rd. last Sunday. COMMON REDPOLLS have been harder to find over the past month, but Frank Pinella had a flock of about 30 visiting his feeder this week. BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS have been very hard to track in terms of reliable locations, but I had some dumb luck with them on two occasions this week. On Monday morning while driving the backroads, I pulled over on Keele St. to let my dog have a short walk. While getting out of the van I noticed a bird fly up from the bushes beside me. It was a waxwing, by the look of it. I got my binoculars out and realized that - by sheer coincidence - I had pulled over right next to a flock of 25 Bohemian Waxwings! They were feeding on berries where Woodchopper's Lane meets Keele, just south of the bridge and north of the Maximum 80 kph sign. Ironically, when I returned to the same location the next day I found a flock of 40 Cedar Waxwings - there was not a Bohemian among them. On Wednesday afternoon I stopped along Bethesda Sdrd. to look at a large group of AMERICAN ROBINS (50+) drinking water from the ruts in the road near the entrance to the Lake St. George Outdoor Ed. Centre. They were soon joined by a mixed flock of Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, coming down from the roadside conifers in twos and threes to sip water. Some of the other waxwings were eating snow from the tree branches, presumably to hydrate as well. Since the ponds and lakes here are still mostly frozen there have been few waterfowl reported as of yet, but Keith Dunn observed five TRUMPETER SWANS in a small section of open water on the east side of Dufferin just south of Hwy. 9 Monday afternoon. On Tuesday Al Johnston had 24 Black Ducks and a Mute Swan visiting an open patch of water at his pond on Bethesda Road west of McCowan. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is north of Toronto and south of Lake Simcoe. For more specific directions to any of the places listed mentioned above, please reply to sender. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
[Ontbirds]York Region Update
Snowy Owls are continuing to be seen along Ravenshoe Road in southwest Keswick. Keith Dunn had two on Monday afternoon: one of them on top of the orange barn near the west end of Ravenshoe Rd. and another on the west side of Yonge Street near the white trailer about a km south of Ravenshoe. There are at least three Snowies wintering in this area but they do not always sit right out in the open (though you may luck into a conspicuously perched bird from time to time). Birders who bring spotting scopes and some patience have a higher chance of seeing them. Snow Buntings are being observed regularly along Ravenshoe Rd., though often in smaller groups. West of Newmarket a large flock (approx. 100 birds) has shown up sporadically on the south side of Hwy. 9 at the horse ranch between Jane Street and Hwy. 400, especially when there is fresh hay and manure in the field. Note, however, that this latter location is NOT the safest of places to stop since traffic is almost always busy along Hwy. 9. By turning north on Jane Street and driving toward the T-intersection at Woodchopper's Lane it of often possible to find smaller groups of Snow Buntings in the fields in a safer, more leisurely fashion. Horned Larks have not shown up yet in this area but should be returning soon to give their tinkly spring vocalizations. Something to watch and listen for - They are usually the first "spring" arrivals. Northern Shrikes have established winter hunting territories in several places across the region. Regular sightings (i.e. birds occurring for at least 3 weeks in the same location) of "local" individuals are being made at Phyllis Rawlinson Park on Leslie Street in northeast Richmond Hill, Bond Lake Arena in Oak Ridges, Tornado Drive in the Bradford Marsh, and George Richardson Park in northeast Newmarket. This has been a good winter for Northern Shrike with many other observations being made across York Region. Pine Grosbeaks continue to show up in many locations, especially in yards and parks with fruit-bearing trees. A pair of Bohemian Waxwings has been travelling with a flock of Cedar Waxwings for at least a week in the general vicinity of Major McKenzie Drive and Islington Avenue in Kleinburg. A much larger flock seems to come and go randomly in Keswick. This morning I observed three Trumpeter Swans flying west across Bathurst Street in Aurora, likely individuals from around Harry Lumsden's pond just north of Wellington Road. Harry has been actively involved in the tagging and reintroduction of Trumpeters to this area for many years. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is directly 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 instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
[Ontbirds]York Region Update
The most notable birds in York Region over the past week have been SNOWY OWL and BALD EAGLE. Keith Dunn had a female/juvenile Snowy on Ravenshoe again this past Saturday (he first found what is probably the same bird on Jan. 5), then Bruce Brydon found an adult male along Ravenshoe Road on Sunday. As his message to me says: "For the first time I found it on one of those giant irrigation structures. I have never seen them use those for perches. It was on the first one on the north side. However, it left and flew to a hydro pole directly north of the Yonge St./Ravenshoe corner." The section of Ravenshoe Road described above runs west along the southern border of Keswick. It is as far west as you can go without ending up in the Holland River. On nearby Lake Simcoe, Bruce also had 50 Common Mergansers, 25 Common Goldeneye, 2 Bufflehead and 1 Bonaparte's Gull at Jackson's Point harbour on Sunday. There was no open water last week but now, once you pass Snake Island, the lake is mostly open off shore. Lorena Campbell has had good luck with Bald Eagles along the southern shore of Lake Simcoe recently, photographing at least three different birds - two immatures and one adult. These birds were seen on January 9th, 11th and 12th. Lorena's photos can be seen on the Simcoe Nature Board (easy to Google and find). The best way to search for eagles in this area is to follow Lake Drive north of Keswick and follow the scenic route all the way to Sibbald Point, stopping to scan the lake at various lookouts. On Saturday at the David Dunlop Observatory in Richmond Hill, Martin Chen had a flock of approximately 50 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS. Also on Saturday, Denise Potter had a small flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS visit her feeder on Pugsley Avenue just north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill. This species came through in late autumn and has been very hard to find ever since, so Denise's sighting is encouraging. On Jan. 10th Norm Murr had 11 PURPLE FINCHES at a feeder on Bridgeport St. at Mill St. and 2 PINE GROSBEAKS along Lucas St. at Benson Ave., both locations being in Richmond Hill. Gene and Charlene Denzel also had PINE GROSBEAKS (15) while hiking at Bindertwine Park in Kleinburg on the weekend. The birds were in the company of 30 Cedar Waxwings. On Sunday, Bruce Brydon had 2 COMMON RAVENS fly over him at the top end of the 2nd Concession north of the Holborn Rd. both of them croaking away. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is north of Toronto. It runs south from Lake Simcoe. If you need any more specific directions than those shown above, reply to sender. ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
[Ontbirds]York Region Update
Not surprisingly, the sudden transition from wintry chills to summer-like balminess has ushered in a whole new group of migrants in the past 48 hours. Keith and Chris Dunn had some good spring arrivals in Keswick yesterday near the south end of Yonge Street where it meets the western stretches of the Holland Marsh (about 3kms south of Ravenshoe Rd.) Birds there included GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, the first SAVANNAH SPARROWs of the spring, and an early COMMON TERN. I checked the same location this morning and found only two Greater Yellowlegs remaining in the vernal ponds on the west side of Yonge, but added to the mix in that same vicinity were two AMERICAN PIPITs, several SWAMP SPARROWs, three CASPIAN TERNS, and six BARN SWALLOWs. Horned Larks were widespread in the vegetable fields and there were at least six NORTHERN HARRIERs hunting over the marshes on both sides of the Holland River. One male was doing a courtship display which included passing a mouse to his mate in mid-air after she had done several calls. There were three OSPREY in the area as well, one of them carrying nesting material back to the nesting platform west of where Yonge Street dead-ends at the marsh (just over the river where, I believe, Bathurst dead-ends north of Queensville Sdrd). Also today, Frank Pinella had a COMMON RAVEN at Stouffville Rd. & Leslie St. and, while searching in vain for the Eurasian Wigeon at Reesor Pond in Markham, he observed a single GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Keith Dunn has had both Snipe and Woodcock doing aerial displays north of the entrance to Silver Lakes Golf Course (Holland Landing) over the past three evenings. WOOD DUCKs continue to show up at the Holland Landing lagoons (presumably nesting there) and a very photogenic pair of HOODED MERGANSERs is still lingering at the pond in Scalon Creek C.A. in north Bradford. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is halfway between Barrie and Toronto. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Apr 21 22:03:17 2007 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: ontbirds@hwcn.org Received: from smtp.vianet.ca (smtp2.vianet.ca [209.91.128.42]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 1812763476 for ; Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:03:15 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 14279 invoked from network); 22 Apr 2007 02:03:14 - Received: from unknown (HELO ?209.91.149.28?) (209.91.149.28) by smtp.vianet.ca with SMTP; 22 Apr 2007 02:03:14 - User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/10.1.0.2006 Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:01:13 -0400 From: Ron Tozer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: ontbirds Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Subject: [Ontbirds]OFO Trip: Algonquin Park (21 April 2007) X-BeenThere: ontbirds@hwcn.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:03:17 - Forty-one OFO members and friends enjoyed a wonderful warm (22 degrees C.) birding trip in Algonquin Park today. As with previous OFO trips here, our primary goal was to find the boreal species that birders regularly seek in the Park. In the process, we were treated to a very pleasant day of birding, with 57 species being tallied by the group. A male and female Spruce Grouse were observed well by everyone north of the register box on Spruce Bog Boardwalk. This was a lifer for several people. A female Black-backed Woodpecker near Post 9 on that trail, and another of these often elusive woodpeckers on a utility pole at Cache Lake, were enjoyed by many members of the group, but missed by many others, unfortunately. Four or five Boreal Chickadees at the north end of Opeongo Road allowed fleeting views for most observers. As is often the case with this chickadee, they were often frustratingly well-hidden in the black spruce trees. Gray Jays were fed on Opeongo Road, near their nest where large young will be fledging very soon. Common Ravens often flew over for identification comparison with American Crows. Despite extensive searching of areas where American Three-toed Woodpeckers have been observed recently, we were unable to find one today; most of these boreal woodpeckers may have headed back north following the largest winter irruption on record in Algonquin Park. First observations of this spring in Algonquin today included Osprey (two), Sharp-shinned Hawk, Horned Lark (northern race), Vesper Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow. A rather early Barn Swallow at the West Gate was seen there first on Friday. Interestingly, there still have been no Tree Swallow sightings in Algonquin this spring, likely reflecting the increasing scarcity of this aerial forager here, plus the extensive mortality among migrant Tree Swallows that has occurred during cold weather this month. Thanks again to all those who attended. It was a magnificent day to be out birding. Ron
