Just returned from a weekend of birding that started at Halls Road on Friday and ended in Amherst Island today. We did not find the Long-eared Owls reported along Hall's Road earlier in the week, but did get a fleeting glimpse at the huge flock of SNOW BUNTINGS that has been lingering between Halls Road and Lake Ridge Road for the past week or so. The feeders at the path to the northern marsh lookout were busy as always with COMMON REDPOLLS being the most notable species. A light-phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was hunting in the fields not far from the lakeshore west of Halls while a pair of Red-tails was also active on Lake Ridge Road. The most interesting bird by far was a large, dark falcon that flew west across Lake Ridge Road just south of house #752 at 10:45 a.m. By the time I jumped out of the car to get my binoculars on it, the bird was sweeping low to the northwest toward Bayly Road. This bird had a classic falcon silhouette - sleek angles and pointed wings - and was twice the size of a merlin, so I am assuming it was a PEREGRINE FALCON (I have only seen Gyrfalcon once, but would rule it out based on the reduced probability of that species and my overall impression of this bird) . Well worth keeping an eye out for if one is birding the lakeshore area of Whitby/Ajax.
Amherst Island on Friday afternoon was a wind-sock's nightmare; winds were so strong from the west that they reduced visibility dramatically on any north-south line by blowing snow horizontally across many parts of the island. Still, my wife and I managed to get good looks at a fairly-heavily marked female SNOWY OWL that was taking shelter from the wind on the lee side of a large rock not far from the road that runs along the KFN property at the east end of the island. The bird's head was just visible on the far side of the rock so I make the K-note sound by kissing the back of my hand and it actually walked up the backside of the rock to see if there was a rodent in distress. There were also two coyotes in the field behind him. SNOW BUNTINGS were seemingly everywhere on the island in groups ranging from 20-80. We also had a group of six HORNED LARKS. Most of these birds were on the south side of the island. We observed two light-phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS today (Saturday), one a km east of the northern "entrance" to Owl Woods and another on the Stella 40-Foot Road hunting near the municipal storage buildings, as well as five Red-tails. There were numerous COMMON GOLDENEYE in the water on the south side of the island. We did not find a single owl in the Owl Woods despite feeling we would be rewarded for an absolutely arduous hike in from the north side. Snow drifts were never less than mid-calf, but usually up to knee-height, making the 1-km hike into the woods a truly taxing journey. I do not know if the southern access road was any better. Chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers were plenitful, but the closest we got to an owl was seeing pellets and white-wash. There were several groups out when we left the island, so I would be curious to see if any birders were rewarded for their efforts to get into the Owl Woods. We saw a beautiful red fox as mammalian consolation shortly after we returned to the mainland. 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.
