Hi All, Norm Murr & I did a south Durham & Markham 1/2 day, some of the more interesting sightings were:
Scarborough/Pickering Townline Rd - 1 Greater White-fronted (careful of the "barnyard" goose that has the white feathering at the base of the bill, but is much too large for a White-fronted), 3 Snow (white phase) and 5 Cackling Geese amongst 2,000+ Canada & 1,000+ Mallard. Also here were 2 fly-over Rusty Blackbirds. Just east of this spot on Finch was our first of 3 Northern Shrikes on the day. Second Marsh, Oshawa (most of marsh frozen) - 57 Northern Pintail, a few Northern Shoveler and a few Bonaparte's Gulls on Lake Ontario and also 9 Common Loon. Pringle Creek / Whitby Harbour - 3 Dunlin, 2 Killdeer, 47 Mute Swan, 1 D-C Cormorant, 1 N Pintail. Cranberry Marsh - the 1st year Golden-crowned Sparrow continues, we also had 3 Rough-legged Hawks (all light phase). 2 Northern Shrikes, 1 each at North & South Walkways. Markham - just NE of 9th Line & 16th Ave (thanks Ron P) - a large flock of gulls loafing in a man-made pond in a new housing development with 2 Lesser Black-backed (1Ad, 1 first yr), 3 Glaucous (1Ad, 2 first yr), 1 Iceland (2nd yr), 1 Thayer's (Adult), 20+ Great Black-backed, 2,000+ Herring and 1,000+ Ring-billed Gulls! A good day of birding! Cheers & good birding, Frank Pinilla Toronto, ON DIRECTIONS Scarborough/Pickering townline marsh - from Hwy 401 in Pickering, exit at White's Road, go north to Finch Ave, turn west/left until you reach Scarborough Pickering Townline, turn right/north and stop just south of Railway tracks (active line), you can see the marsh, on the left, from the road. Second Marsh - exit Hwy 401 at Harmony Rd / Bloor St in Oshawa, go through lights to the south, turn left on Colonel Sam Drive and follow to GM Building, park and walk down. Pringle Creek / Whitby Hrbr - exit 401 at Brock St (Hwy 12) in Whitby, go south until you see the creek running under the road, continue south for a parking lot to overlook the mouth of the harbour. Cranberry Marsh - follow Victoria St west from Brock St until you get to Hall's Road, which is just west of Lynde Shores CA, turn left/south until you see the two parking areas for each of the North & South walkways. 9th Line & 16th Ave Housing Development - go north on 9th line from 16th Ave in Markham until the next set of lights north and turn east at this new road, the man-made pond is about 200m along this unnamed road. ************* Frank Pinilla Toronto, ON e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
