A Saturday spent in the "Burhamgrim Triangle" (Burlington, Hamilton, and Grimsby) - great as it was - left me wanting to see what new arrivals had reached York region, so I spent several hours catching up today. Raoul Hendricks and I crossed paths at the Cawthra Mulock reserve in Newmarket this morning and observed one male EASTERN BLUEBIRD, an OSPREY, two EASTERN PHOEBES, several SONG SPARROWS, and a rather late NORTHERN SHRIKE. Raoul also noted a N. SHOVELER on Miller Sdrd. just west of Bathurst. The bluebird was a seasonal first for me but both Marion (Newmarket) and Al Johnson (Stouffville) observed single males earlier in the week. Al also observed two TREE SWALLOWS, a pair of HOODED MERGANERS, a Great Blue Heron, and a single male WOOD DUCK at his pond on Bethesda Sdrd. this week. Raoul had a TREE SWALLOW at the reserve on Friday while I had my first one today at the mouth of the Black River east of Jackson's Point. There were also 16 Cm. Mergansers, a Phoebe, 2 Cm. Goldeneye, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk at the latter location. I was hoping for Bald Eagles but observed only one bald beagle. It was being walked by its owner and did not appear fierce. While Lake Simcoe was 95% frozen all the way from Keswick over to Sibbald Pt., the fields at the north end of Bathurst St. near Holland Landing are now totally flooded. The majority of waterfowl - and there are still a few thousand - have mainly congregated in an area north of Hochreiter Rd. and over a km west of Bathurst. They are hard to identify because of distance, heat shimmer, and difficult access. Hochreiter Rd. would normally be the ticket in, but it is a tow-truck driver's dream right now. John Watson wisely parked his car and walked in from Bathurst today. The long trek westward in mushy snow and boot-sucking mud yielded 1000+ Canada Geese, 7 TUNDRA SWANS, 500+ N. PINTAIL, 32 RING-NECKED DUCKS, 500+ Mallards, 12 REDHEADS, and 13 CM. MERGANSERS. Without a scope, John was unable to identify many of the waterfowl farther out. Scoping the same group from Bathurst later in the day, I could only make out silhouettes. When I finally gave up and scoped the horizon eastward I observed my second OSPREY of the day hovering in the air over what I assume was an open section of the East Holland River. Several kms. further to the east I had two NORTHERN HARRIERS (one adult male and one juvenile) at the top of 2nd Concession (north of Holborn and Queensville Sdrd.) around 2:30. Ron Fleming, Newmarket DIRECTIONS: York Region is just north of Toronto and south of Lake Simcoe. The north end of Bathurst Street is accessed by taking Yonge St. north from Newmarket. About halfway between Newmarket and Bradford there is a stoplight indicating Bathurst St. North. Turn right, then a quick left. Bathurst crosses the RR tracks then runs straight north. Take it to all the way up to the flooded fields north of Queensville Sdrd. and Albert's marina. Hochreiter Rd. is directly west of the road into Albert's Marina but a vehicle could easily get stuck along this quagmire of a lane. Walking in from Bathurst would probably be safer. Note that there is also a long dike that runs east from Bathurst a few kms north of Hochreiter as well. I have walked it in past years but it is weed-choked and the ground is very uneven in parts (watch for erosion on the outside edges too). Either way, a scope is highly recommended. Too bad the waterfowl couldn't take a shine to the flooded sections right beside Bathurst!
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