This afternoon (Feb. 4) I birded around the St. Rose and St. Isidore area. An
hour's birding yielded a total of 34 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. The longspurs were
usually in threes and fours within large flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS, but I came
across a single flock of seventeen longspurs along Concession 19. Associated
with this flock were four HORNED LARKS. Of course, snow buntings numbered
easily in the hundreds in scattered flocks throughout the area. Also of note
was a juvenile ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK near the corner of Concession 21 and St. Rose
Road. Unfortunately I did not come across any SNOWY OWLS that usually frequent
this area in the winter. It may be worth mentioning there is a lot of drifting
snow along the concessions, so be careful when driving.
One last interesting sighting occurred while on the way to the area mentioned
above. Near the overpass of 8th Line Road on the 417 heading east, I noticed a
NORTHERN SHRIKE perched atop a tall tree along the highway. Not two minutes
later, I saw another NORTHERN SHRIKE overlooking a large open field near exit
88.
Good birding!
Pat
DIRECTIONS: The St. Rose / St. Isidore area can be reached by taking Hwy 417
eastward to exit 58. Turn left onto Hwy 138 and follow, turning right onto
Concession 20. Any of the long concessions here are fair game for the species
mentioned above.
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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/
