Thanks to the post from Ben Walters, i went in search of Red Crossbills at Ganaraska Forest today. After paying $6/person at the self-service station, I parked at the trailhead. From there the map does not make a whole lot of sense to me (perhaps it works in colour), but basically three ski trails overlap. Walk to your left, along the Orange/Blue/Yellow trail. After some time, the yellow trail will split off, and then the blue trail. Walking is quite treacherous as the ski trail is covered with ice which is now melting and wet. Caution is advised, this is not a comfortable hike for everyone. I did not walk the whole "A" loop, but that was the direction i was going. Trail conditions improve considerably after the first 1/2km or so.
It did not take much walking before red crossbills could be heard flying overhead....sometimes as single birds, sometimes in groups. While exciting, these brief glimpses were not enough....so i pressed on. Where the blue trail separates from the orange is as far as i had to go. This is probably 1.5km hike from the parking area? A group of redpolls feeding in the tree tops stopped me; then i heard, observed and photographed a pair of red crossbills perched in a pine on the right. I heard and observed several more red crossbills flights overhead on the way back to the car. I don't know how many birds there may be in the area, but it sure seemed like a lot. Nice to finally be able to rest my eyes on this bird for a few minutes after too many fleeting or suspected glimpses. Other birds of note: flushed a group of 3 Ruffed Grouse, observed and photographed 1 common Raven overhead. Maps and directions available online: http://www.grca.on.ca/resources.html Happy Birding, Peeter Musta Kitchener, ON _______________________________________________ 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/
