In the Holland Landing area just northwest of Newmarket, I observed four Great Gray Owls between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. today. One bird was perched in a tree on the east side of Bathurst Steet North in the open area just past the Riverdrive Bible Chapel, south of Queensville Sideroad. Another was perched on a fence post on the north side of Queensville Sdrd. between the river and Yonge Street (near a "Terry" house trailer that is in someone's backyard). Two others were hunting across the road from each other about halfway along the road that runs east into Albert's Marina from Bathurst Avenue. There was also an adult Northern Shrike perched at the eastern terminus of this road, where the marina property begins. This latter road is just north of Hochreiter Road, which runs west from Bathurst.
All of these birds were in the same general location, separated by less than ten kms. All of them looked healthy. Although they are large and conspicuous, I was suprised to find that a man who had just walked past the one on Queensville Sideroad (he was within 4 or 5 metres of the bird at one point) had not noticed it. I did not have an opportunity to see if the Snowy Owl and Great Gray Owl observed last Sunday near Jonkman's Corners (just south of Bradford) were still there. With four birds being observed in less than an hour, it is likely that there are several more Great Grays in the area. DIRECTIONS: By travelling north through Newmarket, past all the big box stores in the north end of town, you will pass Green Lane, then the stoplights leading northwest into Holland Landing. Several kms beyond this turnoff, there is another stoplight indicating Bathurst Avenue. By turning a quick right, then a quick left at the little intersection there, you will follow Bathurst over the railway tracks (away from Holland Landing) as it bends northward toward Queensville Sdrd. A few kms up the road, watch for the aforementioned chapel. It is on the left, but look for the lightly-treed open area on the right half a km north of it. The first owl was here. The second owl was, as described, right on the Queensville Road, beyond the bridge but before Yonge Street. The other two owls and the shrike were just off Bathurst, north of the Queensville Sdrd. Travelling up this section of Bathurst, keep your eyes peeled - there was a Great Gray perched on the roadside wires last Sunday that eventually flew east into the hardwood bush. The road into Albert's Marina is clearly marked and is not very long. These areas can also be reached by exiting east from Hwy. 400 and taking Hwy. 88 all the way through Bradford, then turning north on Bathurst not far past the bridge over the canal in east Bradford. Ron Fleming, Newmarket From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Jan 8 15:03:55 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from web88008.mail.re2.yahoo.com (web88008.mail.re2.yahoo.com [206.190.37.195]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 2E96FCA565 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:03:55 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Received: from [70.24.83.71] by web88008.mail.re2.yahoo.com via HTTP; Sat, 08 Jan 2005 15:04:17 EST Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:04:17 -0500 (EST) From: RON FLEMING <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: OFO Bird Sightings <[email protected]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]One small correction re: Newmarket Owls X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:03:55 -0000 The second Great Gray described in my post about Newmarket area owls was on the south side of the Queensville Sdrd., not the north side. As several recent posts have indicated, it is important not to harrass these birds. Be content to look at them birds from a respectful distance. You can still get very good looks without getting too close and forcing them away. Ron Fleming, Newmarket From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Jan 8 15:16:15 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts10-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts10.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.54]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4C23ECADA6 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:16:15 -0500 (EST) Received: from sympatico.ca ([64.230.97.205]) by tomts10-srv.bellnexxia.net ESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:16:37 -0500 Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:14:44 -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v553) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed From: Tony Beck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.553) Subject: [Ontbirds]Shrikes, Robin, Great Grays, etc. X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:16:15 -0000 With warm conditions making the birding more comfortable, I went exploring spots west of Ottawa The highlights this morning included the following: 21 Great Gray Owls 4 Northern Shrikes 14 Wild Turkeys 1 American Robin Interestingly, I've seen/heard American Robins on almost every excursion over the last 3 weeks. The Great Grays are spread out with many in the areas of recent reports. Most significant were 11 seen in one area near the corner of Kilmaurs Rd. and Dunrobin Rd., just northwest of Constance Bay Rd. All owls were observed from the roadside. All that could be seen clearly appeared alert. NOTE: Due to the abundance of Great Grays this winter, this will be my last report unless observations accompany other significant species, or I observe some unusual circumstance. Directions to Kilmaurs/Dunrobin Road. From Hwy 417, take exit 138, travel north on Eagleson/March Road. Just after March Road bends to the west (left), turn right on Dunrobin Road. Continue just past Constance Bay Rd. Cheerio Tony http://www3.sympatico.ca/beck.tony/
