Hello All, Today was a great day at Kortright. The highlight was a male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER near the opening at the creek, near the feeders. This is a pretty rare bird this far North. He foraged and called on a tree near the shore for a couple of minutes, and then flew off into the old Sugar Maple stand.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were in abundance today. I saw three flocks of about 20 birds and two smaller flocks of about 10. There are two places to watch for them: at the spruce stand near the end of the marsh boardwalk, and at the extensive spruce stands about a km past the "Shrubs for Wildlife" area, following that trail. After walk past a small open meadow to your left, there will be a path to your right (this is to Peeper Pond) if you walk past that you will see some shrubs and a field to your left. The field is a good place to watch for Crossbills because you get a good view of the spruce stands. A flock near the boardwalk was nice enough to land on a snag and allow some pictures. PURPLE FINCHES were observed, three males. WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS are few in number now. Eight FOX SPARROWS were observed, more of them than the White-Throats! There were some AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS also. A PILEATED WOODPECKER, probably one of the resident pair, was observed near the visitor centre. A SHARP-SHINNED and a COOPER'S HAWK harassed the massive flocks of ROBINS, although not as many of them as last week. Good Birding, Lev Frid, Maple, Ontario. DIRECTIONS: The Kortright Centre is located three kilometers west of Highway 400 and one kilometer south of Major Mackenzie Drive at 9550 Pine Valley Drive in Woodbridge. All of the birds were observed by following the middle trail entrance at "The Sugar Bush Shop" PICTURES: http://www.flickr.com/photos/levfrid/2992573744/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/levfrid/2991746117/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/levfrid/2991732287/ _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
