Slowly but surely, birds are starting to get that zugenruhe, as the German
scientists call it (or "Urge for Leaving", as Joni Mitchell sang it). Even up
here north of Toronto the cast of characters is slowly beginning to change. In
many local fields that I checked today, Horned Larks had replaced Snow
Buntings. Out of seven stops with birds moving about in field habitat, six
yielded larks and only one yielded buntings. The larks that I got a good look
at were the prairie race (praticola), sporting yellow chins and white faces.
Their tinkling songs were a pleasure to hear.
Another welcome addition to the open fields west of Newmarket today was a
pair of Snowy Owls. Snowies were conspicuously absent from the south Holland
Marsh this winter - the two I observed today were the first ones reported in
the Bradford area since November, a far cry from last year's nyctea-rich
winter.
One of the owls was a female/juvenile type (fairly heavily barred) sitting on
the ground about 300 metres NNE of house #345 on Strawberry Lane. The other
was a pure white male - also sitting on the ground - about 100 m SSW of house
#289 Tornado Drive. This latter bird was almost directly south of the old GMC
pickup truck that is half-buried in snow near the blue utility building on the
south side of the road. As a reference point in the otherwise featureless
fields, there was a small group of wooden crates in an L-shape sitting against
a backdrop of two long grey buildings (waaay back by a few kms). The time was
2:00 p.m. I also had a male American Kestrel fly by in this area.
The top end of Bathurst Street (north of Queensville Sdrd.) yielded nothing,
nor did the north end of 2nd Concession, but the west end of Ravenshoe Road in
southwest Keswick had a dozen Snow Buntings near house #444 and, farther west
near Yonge, the palest light morph Rough-legged Hawk I have seen. The
on-again/off-again Snowy Owl that haunts the bare strip of Yonge Street south
of Ravenshoe has been seen as recently as this morning by Keith Dunn. The bird
was on top of one of the poles at the roadside beside the only building out
there on the south end of Yonge. Despite numerous attempts I, personally, have
not had luck with this bird since Dec. 16(!) but Keith and his nephew Chris
have seen it on several occasions. Keith suggests that an early morning visit
- before the snowmobiles get zooming around the perimeter of the fields - seems
to be the best time to look for this bird.
Yesterday, while returning from Toronto, I observed 28 Wild Turkeys in a
field on the east side of Jane Street, about 3 kms north of King Road (which
runs eastward into King City from nearby Hwy. 400). Last Monday (Feb. 19)
Keith Dunn had male turkeys displaying in a field just east of Keswick and, on
Feb. 15, he had a Brown-headed Cowbird at his feeder in Keswick.
Lastly, I should mention that the eagle species seen in the general vicinity
of Lemonville (east of Aurora) earlier this month sounds as if it was, indeed,
a Golden Eagle. Apart from my own fleeting glimpse of the bird on Feb. 11 and
my hockey buddy's much better view on Feb. 10 a resident farmer informed Dave
Probert (whom I had phoned to do some local sleuthing) that he had, indeed,
been seeing a huge bird of prey near his property, a bird that he felt was a
golden eagle, not a bald. I have searched for the bird four times since Feb.
11 but have not been able to find it. It was seen in the general vicinity of
Lemonville, which is just south of Bloomington Road on McCowan. Bloomington
sits on a ridge that offers good views to the south, but it is a busy road.
Ron Fleming, Newmarket
The Bradford Marsh area is just west of Newmarket. It is most easily
accessed by driving north on Hwy. 400 and taking the Canal Road exit a few kms
north of Hwy. 9. Turn right (east) on Canal Road and follow it about 4 kms to
Tornado Drive, then turn right. Once you cross Hazel St. you will see the blue
"garage" coming up on your right.
Ravenshoe Road can be reached by travelling north on Leslie Street, past
Newmarket and Queensville to the south end of Keswick. Turn left (west) at the
lights, go down the hill past the baseball diamonds, and keep going into the
vegetable fields. Yonge Street runs south from Ravenshoe near the western end
of that road.
From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Feb 25 18:49:35 2007
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From: "Todd Pepper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:49:23 -0500
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Subject: [Ontbirds]Northern Mockingbird - Leamington
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At least one of the resident Northern Mockingbirds has survived the =
recent cold snap and freezing rain. It was seen today scavenging for the =
last of the Mountain Ash berries.
The Mockingbird is generally seen in the residential area of Leamington =
bounded by Oak Street on the north, Sherk Street on the East, Ellison =
Avenue on the South and Cardinal Carter Secondary School to the west.
Todd Pepper
Leamington, Ontario
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From: "Terry Sprague" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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cc: Nancy Fox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Ontbirds]Harris's Sparrow update, Prince Edward County
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Ron & Nancy Fox, owners of the bird feeder at 2800 C.R. 1 in Prince Edward
County where a Harris's sparrow showed up yesterday, has asked me to update
everyone on the parking for those who wish to search for the bird. Rather
than park on the shoulder of the road, as suggested in the previous e-mail,
there are parking areas provided beside the driveway as you enter, or just
west of the driveway a few metres where another area has been cleared.
Directions: If entering the county from the west, take the Wooler Road exit
and follow Highway 33 south to Consecon, then take County Road 1 (Scoharie
Road) east for about 15 km to Civic Address #2800. If coming from Picton,
take Main Street (Highway 33) west out of Picton and turn right onto County
Road 1 and follow to #2800, just a few kilometres west of Highway 62.
Terry Sprague
