About 2 weeks ago, Jan 24th, I saw a Catbird in my garden. I see them each summer but this was my first winter sighting. Is this unusual for this time of year?
I spot about 80% of all my birds in and around my garden which backs on to the Humber river valley in North West Toronto, not too far from the Owl habitat at Humber College.
D. Flude (yu128239@yorku.ca)
Brown creeper observed here today in Georgetown. Temp. -15 C. Are they normal in this area on this date?
Janet Duval (jduval@aztec-net.com)
Screech owls in the Durham Region are taking a beating on the highways and roads. Since January 8/96 I have picked up no less than five road killed owls ( all gray phase). A Hoary Redpoll was trapped and banded at the Nonquon Env. Ed. Cnt. located north of Port Perry in early January. A Three-toed Woodpecker was observed in the same area about the same time. It's been the best year for observing Northern Shrikes that I can ever remember, I see two to four a day on my drive from Peterborough to Port Perry each day.
j.b. (jboxall@cycor.ca)
The Presqu'ile Waterfowl Festival is the largest provincial park event in the Province of Ontario. It will take place at Presqu'ile Provincial Park on March 30-31 and April 5-7/96 from 10 am to 4 pm. From specially constructed viewing plantforms called "DUCK TRUCKS" , equipped with viewing scopes and manned by volunteer field naturalists, visitors can expect to see thousands of ducks, geese, and swans from as many as 25 species.
Again this year, on the second viewing weekend, Bushnell (formerly Bausch and Lomb) will operate their popular "BINOCULAR HOSPITAL". Visitors may have their binoculars and scopes examined, and small adjustments will be made on the spot. Also again this year, the Quinte Woodcarvers will exhibit award-winning wood carvings, and provide demonstrations of their craft. The Friends of Presqu'ile Nature Shop will be open, and the Brighton Rotary Club will be providing refreshments. Last year, over 10,000 visitors enjoyed the festivities.
It is planned that by Waterfowl Festival time, that the front section of the new, $600,000.00 Presqu'ile Lighthouse Interpretive Centre will be completed, and that the waterfowl carvings and other events will be housed there. Again this year, there will be a special commemorative Waterfowl Festival T-shirt for sale, and a Waterfowl Festival Poster Contest for school children.
Migrating ducks are already arriving in the park. This week, 6 canvasback and 3 red-breasted mergansers were seen, along with hundreds of other wintering ducks. This year has brought an invasion of great gray owls - possibly a result of a food shortage in the north. Two members of North America's largest owl specie have made the park their temporary home. On Jan 14/96, an amazing 2500 herring gulls were spotted in the park. Among this group were 2 Iceland and 2 glaucous gulls. Bohemian waxwings and pine grosbeaks are regularly seen, as is an immature bald eagle.
Admission to the Festival is $3.00 per car. During the Festival, certain park roads will be one way only.
For further information, contact Don Tyerman, Senior Natural Heritage Education Leader at (613) 475-2204 , or by fax at (613) 475-4324, or by e-mail at parkpr@epo.gov.on.ca (incoming mail only).
Please feel to contact me if you have any further questions.
Don Davis
donald_davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca
We have had a group of Evening Grosbeaks here in our back yard a couple of times this month. Only about a dozen or so. They are the first we have seen for a couple of years. Used to see them every winter, and they fed on the seeds of the box-elder trees. Also my daughter saw a group of 12 female Pine Grosbeaks in Sutton on Dec. 21. They were feeding on the small fruits of an ornamental crabapple or similar tree, in a garden along the High Street (main street), about 8.40 a.m. She also saw them a few days earlier. We have seen Pine Grosbeaks on our property here near Pefferlaw on occasion. (We have 50 acres with mixed bush, old fields ravine with creek, and beaver pond. Naturalists' paradise!)
Also, a Snowy Owl was reported seen in the fields along the north side of Highway 48 between Sutton and Pefferlaw. They visit often and favour the open fields southeast of Sutton, around Egypt. I have not been in that area to check this year, yet, though.
We get the usual winter birds on our property (and have been fortunate to see a few extras, such as Great Grey Owl, Hawk Owl, and Black-backed Woodpecker in past) and I have noticed a change with the Dark-eyed Juncos. They used to appear at the beginning and ending of winter only (presumably on migration), but last winter and this they have stayed around throughout the season. Has anyone noticed a similar alteration in the juncos' range?
Ivan Foster (heronwd@maple.net)
On Jan. 5th I observed a Northern Hawk Owl on the lakeshore off Gill St near Hwy 12 in Orillia. Another Hawk Owl was seen in the Milford Bay area on Faulkenburg Rd. Also, on Jan. 7th a group of us observed a female Three-Toed Woodpecker at the Lumina Resort near Dorset. Apparently a male had also been seen.
Dan Burton, Gravenhurst.
bmlsmath (bmlsmath@muskoka.com)
Great gray owls have finally arrived in Prince Edward County. One was seen on Dec. 28/95 about nine miles south of Belleville.
The best find however, although quite dead, was a boreal owl that had collided with an office window at the Moira River Conservation Authority in Belleville, also on Dec. 28/95
Pine grosbeaks continue to turn up here and there, and there seems to be a good population of northern shrikes and red- bellied woodpeckers in the county this winter.
Highlights on the Belleville winter bird count included 1 ring-necked pheasant, 2 pileated woodpeckers, 137 Bohemian waxwings, 2 yellow-rumped warblers and three common redpolls.
Highlights on the Prince Edward Point bird count included 37,301 oldsquaw, 10,080 white-winged scoters, 2 bald eagles, 2 glaucous gulls, 12 eastern bluebirds, 1 long-eared owl, 7 yellow-rumped warblers, 1 white-throated sparrow, and 3 Lapland longspurs.
Terry Sprague Picton, Ontario
tsprague@telos.ca
Greetings from Georgetown, Ontario. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of my parents, who are avid bird watchers, the whole family spent the last weekend at Fern Resort near Orillia. As we were leaving, we notice a flock of perhaps 25 pine grosbeaks feasting on a tree we couldn't identify, right by one of the buildings. They weren't frightened of us even when we came very close, and we watched them for about an hour. A great ending to the weekend.
Janet Duval (jduval@aztec-net.com)
In reference to Miriam Reed's Barred Owl in Greenwood Conservation Area I would like to add the following. On December 27th I was taking my dog for a walk in Morningside Park (Morningside Avenue - south of Ellesmere) and was enjoying the tranquility. I heard the chatter of Chickadee's and decided to pssh them in so that I could give them some peanuts - as I usually do. To my great surprize and pleasure a Barred Owl approached me and landed on a branch in a tree a few feet in front of me. He looked at me and then at my dog (Misty). I think that if it were not for the bright green Christmas garland collar around her neck at the time, the owl would have attacked her. I spent a few glorious minutes just starring at this amazing bird. I spent many years trying to find Barred Owls - it was truely an experience to have this one come to me as oppose to me trying to approach it. That was my Christmas present from mother nature.
The next day I went to the Lynde Shores area and found Lond-eared Owl, Saw-Whet Owl and Boreal Owls - and got pictures of all three. I also found the Great Gray Owl at Thickson's Woods after someone informed me that there was one there as well. Good birding to all in the new year! Please e-mail me if you want directions etc.
Gord Gallant (gallantg@interlog.com)
I have watched a Northern Shrike at our farm for the past week. It has been perching on the hydro lines each morning and evening. The farm is located just northeast of Bolton... southwest of Schomberg.
Phil Chadwick
chadwickp@tor.on.doe.ca
While patrolling the Greenwood Conservation Area north of Ajax on January 3, 1996, I had the opportunity to observe at close range a large adult barred owl. I was sitting on an A.T.V. admiring its size, beauty, and peacefulness when it decided to take a closer look at me! The bird dropped from its perch and swooped towards me passing within inches of the A.T.V. This amazing event left me wondering if this was normal for owls to act so bold and curious around humans.
Miriam Reed (miriam.reed@sparky.transdata.ca)
It happened at Minett, Muskoka, approximately noon. We first thought it was a turkey vulture, but as it came lower, my parents and I could plainly see the white head and tail.
Last February my brother saw an eagle feeding on a deer on the ice.
PS: we also saw a shrike, which apparently are rare for the area.
James Gonneau
gonneauj@a1.health.umc