Cold temperatures have made for a slower-than-normal migration in this area north of Toronto but local birders have still managed to find a few interesting birds.
TUNDRA SWANS were first reported by Bruce Brydon on March 11 when 75 of them showed up in the fields west of Bathurst in NW Holland Landing. They were not seen in the days following, however, and may even have done a reverse migration given the fact that there was no open water to be found. This weekend Angela Daust observed about 100 of them in King City along Dufferin St. in the northwest part of town. Yesterday I had eight more in the fields along Ravenshoe Road near Keswick. Four pairs of HOODED MERGANSERS were swimming among Mallards and Canada Geese in the Holland Marsh canal southeast of Bradford on March 15 accompanied by ten COMMON GOLDENEYE who later showed up at the Bradford bridge (where Pumphouse Road meets Canal Road). Also present at that location last Saturday (March 16) was an early PIED BILLED GREBE and a BELTED KINGFISHER. When I dipped on SNOWY OWLS during the week of March Break (March 11-17) I assumed they had moved northward but Patty Gale found one along Ravenshoe Road March 18th. She also had a NORTHERN HARRIER, a BALD EAGLE, and a flock of SNOW BUNTINGS. A small flock of the latter (25 to be exact) were seen there by Bruce Brydon on Friday. I drove the Ravenshoe Road area with my dog Samwise yesterday and found two SNOWY OWLS, one on the east side of Yonge Street and one on the west. I also had a NORTHERN SHRIKE, a BALD EAGLE, and my first KILLDEER of the spring. In the Holland Marsh vegetable fields south of Bradford I had one more SNOWY OWL yesterday - it was at the dead end of Emma Road, which runs west from Dufferin St. COMMON REDPOLLS continue to show up in numbers at Newmarket feeders; Kevin Shackleton had close to a hundred in his yard this weekend. Another notable backyard sighting was a trio of PINE GROSBEAKS that visited Mike Van den Tillart's feeders on St. Patrick's Day. (None were green.) While hiking the Nokkaida Trail in north Newmarket on March 21, John Watson had a NORTHERN SHRIKE. Just north of Newmarket Bruce Brydon observed two TURKEY VULTURES and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK on Friday. Kevin Shackleton had another accipiter - a COOPER'S HAWK - fly past his office window on Leslie Street in west Newmarket. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region lies directly north of Toronto, about halfway to Barrie. _______________________________________________ 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/
