Following up on Ron Fleming's post this am, we trekked up to
Ravenshoe Rd this afternoon. Having seen a dozen or so red-tailed
hawks while driving up 404, we arrived at Ravenshoe and, while
cruising in, met another birding couple who were leaving and who had
seen one of the owls, near the white trailer referred to in Ron's
post, near the bottom of this piece of Yonge St. Buoyed by this, we
cruised on in, seeing nothing along Ravenshoe (except a Coyote
trotting across the fields to the S, who may have caused some of the
owls to move) or on the upper stretch of Yonge. As we got closer to
the white trailer, we spotted an owl flying across the fields to the
West, who lit on a pole almost over at the river. As we cruised down
to the trailer, the owl left the pole and went to the piece of farm
equipment which our contacts had mentioned as we drove in. We chanced
the side 'road' to get closer (only to be done with AWD and when the
ground is frozen!!). We hiked closer to the owl, and got good views
before he was flushed, perhaps by the packs of snowmobiles roaring up
the river. This one was only lightly marked, more with brownish
blotches on the wings than the black striping on females/young. Going
back up Yonge, we saw a large flock (70+) of birds wheeling in the
distance, which as we got closer were clearly NOT Snow Buntings.
Although they did not sit still for long at any one place, it became
clear that this was a flock of Redpolls!
Backing up down the frozen road (there are only a few spots to safely
turn around), we finally got close enough to the flock for a few
moments to see that at least one was a Hoary Redpoll, before they
flew off to the South.
As we got back onto Ravenshoe, we noted that the TV antenna noted by
previous visitors to the area was now occupied by a second Snowy Owl
(this one much more heavily marked). We managed to get recognizable
photos (which can be accessed through the Richmond Hill Naturalists
website, which will link into flickr).
On the way back South we tried for the Oak Ridges Bohemian Waxwings
and Shrike posted by Theresa, but had no luck.
Gene and Charlene Denzel
9 Idleswift Drive
Thornhill, ON L4J 1K8
905-889-7888
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