jmorrison@neocom.ca
Sunday Feb 25th...Great Grey Owl at Triangle Pond...approx. 25 ft. from main road. Great Horned Owl...Off the Marina road...into the trees. American Kestrel...Brilliant aerial display from one lamp post to the next along the main road.
jay morrison
jmorrison@neocom.ca
There are about 10,000 ducks in Presqu'ile Bay and around the peninsula. A flock of 2200 redheads brought the numbers of waterfowl in the park up considerably. Included in these numbers were canvasbacks, 6 gadwalls, and a ring-necked duck. At the government dock, Cathy Koot spotted what appears to be the earliest pied-billed grebe every by two weeks.
On Gull Island, among the thousands of gulls, Don Shanahan spotted 2 glaucous and 1 iceland gull yesterday. Cathy Koot also observed one white-winged crossbill and a robin yesterday.
One Brighton birder has stated that there are 3 great great owls in the vicinity of the park, and as many as 12 in the Brighton area. Journalist Nancy Ellis of the Colborne Chronicle reports a "huge" great gray owl at the bottom of her lane on the eastern outskirts of Colborne next to Pieter's Appleyard.
As of Monday, provincial park staff from across the province who are members of OPSEU went on strike. Lets hope that issues can be resolved shortly.
Don Davis
Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca
At Presqu'ile, a great gray owl was seen on Friday, Feb. 23rd by Audrey Wilson, in the fields directly north of the park gate off of the Lakeshore Road. This may be the same individual seen regularly at the foot of Ontario Street near the Causeway.
>From the Toronto Rare Bird Hotline on Friday, February 23rd: - a possible slaty-backed gull at Port Weller. Fog prevented a clear identification. - 12 little gulls between Queenston and Lake Ontario - the female blue-winged teal still on an island in the Humber River near James Gardens - field sparrow at 93 Long Water Chase - canvasback at the foot of Bathurst Street to Ontario Place - male wood duck at the foot of Roncesvalles - red-necked grebe off Kipling Landfill Site - 6 great gray owls remain at Dufferin and Miller Road - the immature red headed woodpecker still at 1170 Miller Road - 2 great-gray owls at Shoal Point at Whitby and another 12 at Fenelon Falls - grackles are beginning to arrive and so are scoters - 6 king eiders off Burloak and Applby in the Burlington area - 5 harlequin ducks moved from Whitby Harbour to Moore Point - red shouldered hawk at Hwy. 6 and Flamborough/Puslinch line - OFO outing to Kingston on March 2nd -three-toed woodpecker at Lumina not seen since Monday. 2 boreal chickadees at Mew Lake Camp Ground at Algonquin and 2 spruce grouse at the beginning of the Spruce Bog Trail
Don Davis
Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca
Isn't this weather just ducky!
About 7000 of these lovely creatures can be found around Presqu'ile Provincial Park, and include about 4500 greater scaup, as well as old squaw, white-winged scoters, red heads, canvasback, a few mallards and black ducks.
A great gray owl is located in the park between the High Bluff Campground and Owen Point. Also in that area is a northern shrike. There are about 5000 gulls on Gull and High Bluff Island.
A new address for your Internet address book: Waterfront Regeneration Trust - info@wrtrust.com.
I have been asked, within the next couple of weeks, to assist with the compiling of a status report on the monarch butterfly in Canada, including major conservation issues, range, and so on. I assume that the Montreal group that is commissioning the report need it for the April meeting in Hamilton of the Directors General of Wildlife for Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Does anyone have any good contacts in Quebec or the Maritime Provinces with a knowledge of butterflies or invertebrates? It appears we are daring to go where no man has dared tread before!
Don Davis
Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca
The December 1995 Issue of "ONTARIO BIRDS" carries an article by Don Shanahan describing a merlin preying on a bat (probable Myotis sp.) as observed from Owen Point, Presqu'ile Provincial Park.
As noted in January-March 1996 issue of "TRAIL AND LANDSCAPE", The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club will be travelling by bus to Presqu'ile on March 31st - their traditional spring excursion. I remember meeting them last year - it's hard to miss their large bus!
From the Toronto Rare Bird Hotline on Sunday, Feb. 18/96:
- female blue-winged teal on the ice at Humber River - male red-bellied woodpecker , singing northern shrike, and pine siskins at Lambton's woods - female tufted duck at the Argonaught Club - 5 harlequin ducks in Oshawa harbour - great gray owls everywhere - the first ever on the Leslie Street Spit, 6 together at Miller Rd. and Dufferin near Bradford/Newmarket area, 1 at Lester Pearson Airport, 1 at Norval, 1 at Shoal Point, 2 at Halls Road, 1 at Regional Road 23 near Uxbridge, 1 at Port Bolster, 1 at Keswick - three-toed woodpecker at Lumina Road (Hwy. 35 and 60 area) - 1000 white-winged scoters, plus a few surf and black, plus 5 king eiders at Burloak near Burlington - red-headed woodpecker still near Bradford - sapsucker still in New toronto - hawk owl at Orillia near Hwy.12 - varied thrush at 172 Way Street in Brooklin, along with brown thrasher and red-bellied woodpecker - boreal owl at Owen Sount - field sparrow near Hwy. 7 and Kennedy Rd.
Birders wishing to volunteer to man the viewing stations during the Presqu'ile Waterfowl Festival should contact Don Tyerman at (613) 475-2204, or at: parkpr@epo.gov.on.ca (incoming mail only). They are looking for eager individuals, willing to teach members of the general public how to identify common species of waterfowl.
Don Davis
Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca
On February 15th, a flock of 45 Bohemian waxwings was seen by Cathy Koots. The great gray owl continues to be seen at the foot of Ontario Street.
Terry Sprague reports horned larks all over Prince Edward County on February 12th. Also 13 pine grosbeaks at his feeder, and a great gray owl at Sandbanks P.P..
Donald A. Davis
by129@freenet.toronto.on.ca
Cathy Koots informs me that the two great gray owls continue to be seen at the end of Ontario Street near the Causeway, on the way to Presqu'ile Provincial Park. The black-backed woodpecker has not been seen for a few days, but may still be near the pumphouse at the end of the road opposite the Beach #2 entrance.
As the ice has melted and the water opened up, 850 greater scaup, and a few redheads, have returned.
The park is seeking volunteers for the Presqu'ile Waterfowl Festival. Volunteers help out at the gate, or help construct viewing platforms, or help members of the general public identify common duck species. Limited accomodation is available for those helping out an entire weekend. The Festival takes place from March 30-31 and April 5,6,7/96. It is the largest provincial park event in Ontario, attracting about 10,000 visitors.
Don Davis
donald_davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca