Always bring your binoculars with you. While running some errands late this afternoon, I came upon two decent winter sightings. Firstly, there was a Northern Shrike sitting in a tree on the west side of Yonge Street, just north of Savage Road. I've seen this bird on a few other occasions in the exact same spot over the past two months, so I assume he's been wintering here in north Aurora/south Newmarket, taking advantage of the many rodents being disturbed by the construction going on southwest of Mulock Drive. There is a Saberwood Homes sales office on the west side of Yonge Street; the bird shows up in a tree above that little office from time to time.
Circling back from south Aurora, I took Bathurst back to Newmarket and watched a small raptor cross Bathurst Street.. I took for granted that it would be either a Sharpie or a Cooper's, since both species do show up to patrol the feeders here, but then I noticed how purely falcon-shaped it was. I pulled over, got it in my binos and watched it fly across the golf course (Aurora Highlands?) west of Bathurst. It was not a kestrel - too dark, too strong and direct in flight, not to mention banded in the tail. A pleasant surprise for someone just out to buy hockey tape! Ron Fleming, Newmarket "Ronald J. Fleming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
