Sharing insomnia with my golden retriever this morning, he and I drove east of Newmarket & Aurora at the crack of dawn to take a walk in my atlassing square. Moments after hopping out of the van at the intersection of McCowan & Faulkner Roads, the deep sqwonking call of a Common Raven could be heard just southeast of us. Four crows pushed the raven briefly into view over the deepest dip in McCowan Rd. before it soared back out of sight eastward over the Eldred King forest tract. I did not see the bird again, but could hear it occasionally vocalizing in the distance as Sam and I hiked southward along the western edge of that large wooded area.
Later, at about 6:30 a.m., we drove south on McCowan to the Hall Tract and did a shorter walk along the southern edge of that forest. At the Oak Ridges Trail sign that marks a path going south toward Wellington/Aurora Road, a Black-billed Cuckoo called several times. It flew overhead once, looking distinctly tubular in shape, but I could not find his perch. Sam was oblivious to the bird life, but for me these sightings provided some consolation for the lack of sleep. Both of these forest tracts run east from McCowan Rd., north of Wellington Rd., the main east-west line running out of Aurora. Aurora, if you are not familiar with it, is about halfway between Toronto and Barrie. Ron Fleming, Newmarket "Ronald J. Fleming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
