Hello Birders, I was leisurely birding my local haunt - Kortright Conservation Area - and I noticed a strange Junco amongst the Slate-coloreds.
It gave quite nice views as it fed and interacted with the other juncos. It was a strongly hooded bird, with a much more defined hood than I've ever seen on any female slate-colored. The hood was moderately dark. It had a rather extensive light pink wash along the sides and back - the pink on the sides was a relatively strong pink, not pink-brown like some female Slate-coloreds. The bird looked very "clean" and well-defined. However, what most struck me on this bird was it's dark lores. Now, I have no experience with Cassiar's or Oregon Juncos, but the lores of this bird were extremely dark, and that apparently eliminates either of those candidates. I'm not 100% confident about this identification due to my lack of junco experience, but I believe that this is a viable candidate for Pink-sided. A collage of four pictures of the bird can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/levfrid/5126694899/ I would appreciate any feedback or opinions about this bird! The bird was working its way along the Humber River on the Marsh Trail, just as you go past a bench on your left, where the trail splits and one of the trails is fenced off (they are parallel to one another). If you hit the Redside Dace interpretive interpretive sign, you've gone too far. It was associating with other juncos, WHITE-THROATED, TREE, SONG and FOX SPARROWS. 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. There is an entrance fee. Good Birding! Lev Frid Maple, ON _______________________________________________ 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/
