After three months of checking every single white object in the vegetable fields south of Bradford and only discovering pails, posts, bags, boxes, and milk cartons, I recently gave up searching for Snowy Owls in the flats west of Newmarket. There have been three very accomodating Snowies up in Keswick all winter anyway. Frank Pinella drove up there today and found one of them perched atop the last barn on the north side of Ravenshoe Road (the orange and white metal one just east of Yonge St.). The promise of Horned Larks - not Snowy Owls - drew me back to the Bradford Marsh today. Ian Morton had informed me about three larks which he'd observed along Jane Street last Sunday in a futile search for Snow Buntings, but when I drive over there on holiday Monday I found - of course - only Snow Buntings (60+, in fact). This afternoon I tried for the larks again and happened upon a mixed flock of both Horned Larks and Snow Buntings (about 40 birds in a 15:25 ratio, respectively) on the north side of Strawberry Lane. Ironically, as I was scoping the fields to look for more larks, I found my first and only Snowy Owl for the "Bradford Marsh" this season. The bird was an adult male - almost pure white -sitting on the ground about 200 metres directly north of house #250 (green emergency sign). Scoping from the big open stretch east of the house, the bird could be seen fairly easily. He was just west of two big white pails and in the background was a ratty-looking red house with a lot of shingles missing (and a Canada flag flying proudly out front). Frank Pinella was also in this area today and observed a flock of 30 Snow Buntings along Woodchopper's Lane, which runs parallel to Hwy. 9 (but about 3 kms north). Frank's most interesting find of the day was back up in Keswick, where a flock of 100+ Bohemian Waxwings was feeding on juniper berries just east of Bruce St. along the north side of Ravenshoe Rd. This flock may or may not have included the group of 50 that Keith Dunn had Wednesday in the north end of Keswick (Queensway north of Old Homestead Rd.). For the record, Keith also had some Horned Larks along Ravenshoe Road this morning. Odds 'n Sods: Yesterday afternoon, just east of Hwy. 400 on Davis Drive/Hwy. 9, a pair of Cooper's hawks crossed the road together near Cardinal Golf Course. Later the same day well east of Newmarket, I had a small flock of Common Redpolls (10-12 birds) feeding in the trees of a rural yard on the west side of McCowan Road about halfway between Davis Drive and Vivian Road. Also on Saturday, Frank Pinella had a female Pileated Woodpecker at his feeder in northwest Richmond Hill (McLeod's Landing neighbourhood). On Monday Walter Hyde observed a dozen American Robins along Park Road in Keswick and 15 Cedar Waxwings along Old Homestead Road. Chris Dunn has continued to find Pine Grosbeaks in central Newmarket during his walks to work along Bolton Avenue north of Davis Drive (near South Lake Hospital). Ron Fleming, Newmarket For more specific directions to any of the places mentioned here, please e-mail privately. _______________________________________________ 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
