The GREAT GRAY OWLS are still in place in most locations in Simcoe County and the total for the winter is now 300 plus 51 dead Great Grays killed by vehicle impacts. Several reports from various locations and the owls are moving around more now from location to location but none have left as far as I can tell. Checks at Muley Point on Monday evening were 12 and the same number on Thursday evening. Mornings are a little better but it depends on the weather for the day whether they hunt more in the morning or evening.
The number of NORTHERN SHRIKES have decreased this week but still several birds in the area as EUROPEAN STARLINGS, AMERICAN ROBINS, and CEDAR WAXWINGS pour in from the south. A few PINE GROSBEAKS can still be observed in the area. More RED-TAILED HAWKS observed this week hunting in the owl fields. Mike Pidwerbecki at the Siberian Inn Bed and Breakfast reports that the number of COMMON REDPOLLS at his elaborate system of bird feeders in his back yard (Line 10 of Oro-Medonte north of Old Barrie Road just southwest of Orillia) is now well over 1,000 with at least 2 HOARY REDPOLLS in these flocks. PURPLE FINCH can also be viewed at these feeders. The male VARIED THRUSH is still a regular visit to the backyard feeder of Gloria Braithwaite at 94 Tamarack Drive in Big Cedar Estates You can not see the feeder from the road so rather than walking between the houses which are very close you are better to go to the front door and check with Gloria and Lorne to see if you can view the bird from their kitchen window. Gloria has been great welcoming birders so you may want to make a small contribution for all the seed that she goes through every winter feeding birds. She will ask you to sign her guest book. You can photograph this bird through her open kitchen window at a prefect distance and good light. Big Cedar Estates is at Line 12 of Oro-Medonte and Bass Lake Sideroad west of the City of Orillia. There has also been a male BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD coming to the feeder with the thrush. The first winter HARRIS'S SPARROW continues to visit the bird feeder at the home of Martha Sova at 4393 Fairgrounds Road just west of Orillia. It is best to park on the side of the road and walk up the right side of the lot along the line of spruce trees to the back of the house where you can view the feeder on the back deck. The bird does not always come to the feeder but can also be seen in and under the large White Pine trees in the front yard or in the line of White Spruce trees to the right of the yard. It is best seen in the morning and is usually with a small flock of American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos (Slate-colored and Oregon). There are a number of duck species (COMMON and HOODED MERGANSERS), MALLARD, AMERICAN BLACK, COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD), CANADA GEESE, GREAT BLUE HERONS, and 12 TRUMPETER SWANS in the open water at the Narrows in Orillia between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. Directions to Muley Point from hwy 11 in Orillia. From the south on hwy 11 take the second exit (4th from the north) to Orillia (hwy 12 South) and follow hwy 12 over the Narrows and through Atherley to Uptergrove. Continue along hwy 12 to the large Catholic Church on the left (St. Columbkille) and turn right onto Muley Point Road. Follow Muley Point Road south to the store at McRae Park Road/conc. 9 (good for owls) and then continue south to conc. 8. Muley Point Road goes right to Bonnie Beach Road (good for owls). Take conc. 8 west to sideroad 20 (owls) and follow it around to conc. 7. Turn left on conc. 7 and follow it north (more owls) to sideroad 15. Turn left on sideroad 15 and follow it back to hwy 12. Bob Bowles From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Mar 25 19:33:41 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from simmts12-srv.bellnexxia.net (simmts12.bellnexxia.net [206.47.199.141]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C33926388A for <[email protected]>; Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:33:41 -0500 (EST) Received: from [192.168.2.2] ([64.229.171.119]) by simmts12-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:41:16 -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v619.2) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed To: [email protected] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:50:36 -0500 X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.619.2) Subject: [Ontbirds]short-eared owls, fisherville, March 25 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 00:33:42 -0000 I saw 14 short-eared owls at the Fisherville Raptor Preserve today, both in the preserve on the south side of the road and in trees around the farmhouse on the north side. Much flying around. Also many hawks, and at least one harrier. From Highway 403 west of Hamilton take Highway 6 south to Hagersville, turn left at Road 20, which is King Street (the intersection has a CIBC on the corner). Turn right on 53, which is just past Cayuga Raceway. The owls are on Concession Road 6 between 53 and 12 just north of Fisherville. Coming from 53, the preserve is just past a dip in the road with a creek in it. ------------ Kathryn Mills Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED]
