A joint field trip of the York-Simcoe Naturalists (out of Newmarket) and the Richmond Hill Naturalists on Saturday yielded a few interesting birds, the best one being the Snowy Owl reported earlier by Garth Baker. It was seen Saturday morning on the east side of Weston Road about half a km north of Major Mackenzie Drive; Ian Cannell searched for it today (Sunday, January 18) and did not find it but turned up a flock of Snow Buntings.
A juvenile Northern Shrike was seen at this location late Saturday and an adult of the same species was observed about 2 kms south of Rutherford Road on Huntington Road earlier the same day. We also had a flock of approx. 200 American Tree Sparrows and a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the east side of Huntington Rd., farther south in the vicinity of Langstaff Road. The often reliable "Snow Bunting fields" on McGillvray Road (about 1 km north of Rutherford Road) yesterday yielded a flock of 30+ Horned Larks instead (it was difficult to do an accurate count since they often wandered out of sight over a small rise in the field as they foraged along the ground). The field referred to is on the west side of McGillvray. This area also had three American Kestrels. Our search for the Northern Mockingbird and Long-eared Owls which had occurred with some reliability for two weeks in late December/early January at the Burrlington Outdoor Recreation Centre on Kirby Road in north Nashville/southwest Bolton yielded neither species on Saturday. The feeders on the west side of the old school house were busy with chickadees and juncos while a huge flock of approx. 350 European Starlings was being spooked a little further down the road by the prescence of an American Kestrel and a Red-tailed Hawk. This site is about halfway between the Cold Creek Road and Huntington Road, northwest of the town of Kleinburg. Northeast of Nobleton, a juvenile Northern Shrike and an adult Northern Shrike occurred within about 1.5 kms of each other on the 8th Concession of King, about 8 kms north of the King Road, which runs east-west between Bolton and King City. All of the areas described are in the west part of York Region, between Hwy. 400 and Hwy. 50. Ron Fleming, Newmarket "Ronald J. Fleming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
