On a relatively mild February afternoon signs of spring were definitely in the air. In the Holland Marsh vegetable fields west of Newmarket I had my first Horned Larks of the year today (two birds doing their tinkly songs at the west end of Emma Road) and, at the nearby Cawthra Mulock nature reserve, I had four Brown Creepers within 50 metres of each other, calling (but not singing yet) on the sunny southern edge of a coniferous stand. Chickadees were singing their spring greetings of "Hey Sweetie" and the local crows were capering like dervishes in the sky.
After striking out in my efforts to find the Snowy Owl that has been hunting west of Dufferin Street this month, I took one last stab at it late in the day. Unfindable earlier, the bird was perched conspicuously atop the last building on Emma Road (a long gray warehouse/garage on the north side) when I pulled up at 4:00 p.m. There was also a Raven calling at this location (there have been two visiting the Holland Marsh area since December). Ron Fleming, Newmarket Newmarket is about halfway between Toronto and Barrie. The Holland Marsh fields are just east of Hwy. 400 and north of Davis Drive/Hwy. 9. Emma Road runs west from Dufferin Street, about 3 or 4 kms north of Davis Drive. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
