Terrie Smithy and I did the run from Port Hope to Whitby this morning. We were briefly joined by Bill Stone, who succumbed early due to a promise to do chores - silly boy!
At Pt. Hope Harbour we had the 3 Harlequins [2 females & one male] and a first year Bald Eagle. At Welcome we saw the Northern hawk Owl and then successfully found the Harris' and 4 White-throated Sparrows on Kellogg Road. Of note were several footprints leading to the brush pile despite the clearly marked "No Trespassing" signs and the postings on OntBirds. Unless you have specific permission, pls respect property rights and the future access of other birders when you decide to trespass. At Newcastle, we saw two Cowbirds and a Rusty Blackbird at Marcus Lise's feeders and were lucky to find the three Cackling Geese in the harbour. Finally at Thickson's Woods we saw one Great Grey Owl - as usual sitting close to the business end of a camera - sadly this photographer seemed to think it necessary to stand in the middle of the small grassed area over which the owl was trying to hunt, rather than standing back with the rest of us! Directions: Harris' Sparrow: Exit 461 off 401 and go north 1 Km to the flashing red light. Turn left (west) here onto Hwy. 2 and go about 1 Km to Kellogg Road and turn right (north). Go about 3.5 Km past 4th Line and Massey Road until you come to a green gate on your right with a "No Trespassing" sign on it. Park here well off to the side. This is the area where the sparrow is being seen. Look for the large flock of sparrows and juncos. Northern Hawk Owl: The Owl was perched on the hydro wires just west of Kellogg Road on Hwy. 2 at house #3966. Harlequins: Port Harbour is located at the foot of Hwy 28 where the large boats are stored for the winter. The Harlequins frequent the east side of the harbour where the Ganaraska River enters near the rock breakwall well out towards the far end off the harbour. Cackling Geese: Exit Hwy.401 at Newcastle, Exit 440, and go south on Mill Street South which takes a bend to the east at the first 4-Way Stop sign. There is a small park with ample parking at the foot of Mill Street on the east side of the harbour mouth. Birds frequent the channel leading out to the lake. Thickson's Woods is located at the foot of Thickson's Road in Whitby. Geoff Carpentier Ajax, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Jan 8 13:17:31 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts13-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts13.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.34]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BD881CA7F1 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 13:17:31 -0500 (EST) Received: from sympatico.ca ([65.94.204.209]) by tomts13-srv.bellnexxia.net (InterMail vM.5.01.06.10 201-253-122-130-110-20040306) with ESMTP id <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 13:17:52 -0500 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 13:18:44 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [Ontbirds]Identifying Owls in Distress X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 18:17:32 -0000 The following are excerpts from a posting made on our local bird board by a bird rehabilitator with many years of experience. Due to the fact that our windfall of arctic owls here in Southern and Central Ontario has been triggered by lack of food/ starvation in the owls' normal territorial range, it may be of interest to Ontbirds subscribers who are concerned about the welfare of these birds. Dan Burton, Gravenhurst HOW TO IDENTIFY OWLS IN DISTRESS FROM JANICE ENRIGHT, A WING AND A PRAYER, MUSKOKA CENTRE FOR WILD BIRDS 1. The eyes become slits (best seen at dawn and dusk). The slitty-eyed look does not change when approached by humans. The owl does not seem interested in its surroundings. 2. The owl has an unnatural puffiness under the neck and around the back while sitting on its perch. Its shape is more rounded and humped over than erect and alert. 3. If the owl is at a low level and does not fly away when approached, you should consider this a strong sign of distress. Watch this bird closely. Any bird that does not fly for 1-2 days is probably in severe distress and needs immediate help. Keep animals such as dogs and cats away from the bird. They may also stress the bird and cause further deterioration. While viewing these birds, be respectful regarding the distance you maintain. If you are, for instance, any closer than 100 feet to a great gray owl, you are too close. These birds require three or four 40gram rodents daily and if a person (friend or foe - it doesn't know the difference) is closer than 100 feet this may well inhibit its hunting routine causing it to miss valuable meals. During the winter months, this can become a serious problem. Lets enjoy nature first by showing our respect. Remember that there is a critical weight loss for these birds and once that is reached, nothing can be done to save them.
