I found my first Snowy Owl of the season at high noon today. The bird appears to be an adult male as it was competely white and fairly conspicuous against the dark soil of the vegetable fields near the west end of Ravenshoe Road in Keswick. It was sitting on the ground about 300m south of Ravenshoe, across from the entrance to Best Asia Farms. The bird could also be seen well, if not better, from the dirt lane known as Yonge Street which runs south from Ravenshoe. I scoped it by looking straight east along the irrigation ditch that runs perpendicular to Yonge about .5 km down the way. This is likely the same bird that Charles L. reported on Nov. 15th.
There was also a male American Kestrel in the area. I have not found any Snowies in the other parts of the Holland Marsh that often attract these northerners, but it's still relatively early in the "winter" season. At least one Northern Shrike has been hunting in the vegetable fields south of Bradford and there are still some Northern Harriers lingering in the marshes north of Bradford and Holland Landing. During a pleasant hike at Scanlon Creek CA Wednesday afternoon I observed a Sharp-shinned Hawk stalking a group of goldfinches. At the northern boundary of the Cawthra Mulock reserve in Newmarket this morning I flushed a Great Horned Owl. York Region is about halfway between Toronto and Barrie. Keswick is situated at the south end of Cook's Bay/Lake Simcoe. Ron Fleming, Newmarket _______________________________________________ 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/
