The lingering effects of a flu limited my birding to a few hours this weekend but there were some good birds to be found. On my way up Yonge St. north of Bradford yesterday I had a flock of 15 Wild Turkeys on the west side of the road approx. 2k past Scanlon Creek, then 3 more turkeys on the south side of Line 13 as I made my way to its eastern end. Nearing the open flats of the marsh I had a Northern Shrike then an adult male Snowy Owl at the end of the lane. I had another shrike along McCowan Road east of Aurora around noon today, then decided to turn around and do a quick check of the Holland Marsh west of Newmarket. I rediscovered the Snowy Owl that has been wintering north of Woodchopper's Lane and east of Jane Street near Hwy. 400 (again it was way out there in the middle of the fields), then drove to the north end of Bathurst near Holland Landing to look for two Snowies reported there Saturday. While looking for them in vain I chatted with a birding couple in a pickup truck and a younger chap - also birding - in a sporty car. We collectively resigned ourselves to failure and talked about how important timing was when birding. True to the quirks of irony, only moments after they drove away I made one last attempt - this time from a different vantage point that offered views looking north into the fields - and found the Snowy that so often sits on the ground west of Bathurst. The bird had been virtually invisible from the main road. Since my luck was on I decided to drive up to Ravenshoe Road in south Keswick despite reports of no owls being sighted there earlier in the day. Sure enough, not half a km past Bruce Street, a Snowy Owl flew across the first field on the north side of the road and landed on a hydro pole beside the snowmobile trail. I watched him through my scope for a bit, then drove to the dead end of Ravenshoe and prepared to turn south on Yonge Street. Another Snowy - a darkly barred female/immature type - chose that moment to cross the road in front of me, landing on a TV antenna at the corner of Yonge and Ravenshoe. Timing and dumb luck were with me, offsetting other birding days when both were absent. After driving the length of Yonge (approx. 2k) in a steadily building snowfall I turned back onto Ravenshoe and lucked into my third Northern Shrike of the weekend. I took this as a sign to head home since - yes, Ian Cannell - three shrikes means you're out. On the way back to Newmarket I added an American Kestrel (eating a mouse on the west side of Leslie Street north of Queensville) and a dozen more Wild Turkeys (feeding in a cornfield on the west side of 2nd Concession just north of Doane Road in Holland Landing). Bradford, Keswick and Holland Landing are located directly north of Toronto, east of Hwy. 400 about halfway up to Barrie. Ron Fleming, Newmarket _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
