No concert in Roy Thompson Hall can rival the one heard in Algoma beginning each evening near dusk.
>From our campsite beside a logging road just west of Hwy. 553 (approximately 25 km north of Massey, ON), spring peepers begin the show, while Sandhill Cranes croak loudly from all directions. After their first (barely audible) sweet twitterings, Woodcocks take to the air with a fluttering flight to perform the evening's "sky dance", plummeting earthward to end the performance with a chorus of loud "peents". The presence of humans does not cramp their style. They freely land and make their calls mere feet from your standing place. Ruffed Grouse add to the cacophony with a staccato rhythm of low-pitched drum beats. If you are unable to visit Algoma or other areas where Woodcocks are active in the spring, try reading Aldo Leopold's account of their "sky dance" in his masterpiece of nature writing, "A Sand County Almanac". Sandra and Bob Hawkins From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Apr 17 10:53:47 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts40-srv.bellnexxia.net (unknown [209.226.175.97]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0D3BD63899 for <[email protected]>; Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:53:32 -0400 (EDT) Received: from smtp1.sympatico.ca ([209.226.175.62]) by tomts40-srv.bellnexxia.netSMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:53:22 -0400 X-Mailer: Openwave WebEngine, version 2.8.6.6 (webedge20-101-174-112-20020617)" From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:53:22 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Ontbirds]Extremely early Rose-breasted Grosbeak X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:53:47 -0000 Minutes ago, my father observed an extremely early male Rose-breasted Grosbeak behind our home in Pine Point Park. Pine Point Park is most easily accessed from the foot of Allenby Ave., which is the first street east off Islington Ave. immediately north of Hwy 401 in Etobicoke.
