Good morning all you couch birders (just a joke ?) I know this is a late posting but I just got home and yesterday Saturday, July 3, 2004 Stan Bajurny and I motored down to the Long Point area (again) and without any lake or marsh birding we did see and/or hear 91 species of birds. We started out at Backus Woods and tried hard not to feed the mosquitoes. Here in these woods we came up with a family of Wood Ducks, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 2 E. Screech Owls, a Barred Owl, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 11 Downy Woodpeckers, including juveniles, 9 E. Wood Pewees, an Acadian Flycatcher in our face and calling like mad, Yellow-throated Vireo, 2 Tufted Titmice, 23 Red-eyed Vireos, Hummingbird, and among the warblers found were 4 Cerulean, 1 Pine, 1 Blackburnian and a N. Waterthrush. From here it was off to the triple bridge area on A Concession Rd west of Port Rowan where we added Red-headed Woodpecker (my 1st here), an adult Bald Eagle and another Tufted Titmouse. Again we moved on and stopped at the St William Forest and found a Prairie Warbler, 5 Pine Warblers, Vesper and Field Sparrows, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Towhee and above a fine juvenile Bald Eagle circling overhead. This woods area held the most mosquitoes of the day and in a good move on my part as my repellant was wearing off I was smart enough to lighten my load an leave the Muskol in the vehicle. Needless to say we soon left these woods and headed for the Townsend Sewage Lagoons. At Townsend we found among the hundreds of adult, juvenile and baby ducks 3 families of N. Shoveler, a family of Wood Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, 5 Ruddy Duck males, and 200 plus Canada Geese and we also heard a Marsh Wren. Shorebirds here were represented by 100+ Killdeer, 40+ Spotted Sandpipers, 5 Least Sandpipers, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs and 2 Wilson Phalaropes with the male circling us constantly as we walked between the lagoons and in our opinion and the opinion of another birder a possible sign that chicks were hidden somewhere in the grass. We did not tarry to check this out as the bird appeared to be in enough stress with our passing. The 1st lagoon that you come to and the lagoon in the northwest corner (they have lowered the water) look like they will be very good for shorebirds later and this and the coming couple of weeks could yield a rarity or two here. We did notice in our travels that swallows and blackbirds are starting to bunch up into flocks already. Also seen in various places were Green Heron, Osprey, Gnatcatchers, 6 swallow species, families of Black-capped Chickadees (a treat to observe), Wood Thrushes, juvenile E. Phoebes, juvenile Field and Vesper Sparrows and Black-billed Cuckoo. All in all a good day with nice weather and a heck (yes I said heck) of a lot better than a Mall. We also for you other listers encountered a good variety of Butterflies and Dragonflies which of course go unidentified by us but well worth a trip down for those who list these species. We met 2 well known birders actually doing a Butterfly count and I want to tell them that we saw some Butterflies that I bet they missed, don't know what they were though.
Directions BACKUS WOODS NORTH OF LONG POINT Backus Woods near Long Point is southwest of Hamilton and north of Port Rowan. To reach it you can drive south on Hwy 6 from Hamilton, passing through Hagersville and turning right, (west) in Jarvis onto Hwy 3, drive to Simcoe and turn left (south) on Hwy 24 and follow this towards Hwy 59. About 2 km past Norfolk Township East 1/4 Line Road or about 1 ½ km east or short of Hwy 59 is the entrance to Backus Woods on the south side of the road (your left if you came from the Hamilton direction). There is a small parking area just about 200 yards down this small road and there is a trail map in this location. This is a very buggy area in season, so be sure to take insect repellant also be sure to lock your automobile door, etc. TRIPLE BRIDGE AT PORT ROYAL / PORT ROWAN ON A CONCESSION To reach the triple bridge area you can drive south on Hwy 6 from Hamilton, passing through Hagersville and turning right (west) in Jarvis onto Hwy 3, drive west to Simcoe and turn left (south) on Hwy 24 and follow this to Hwy 59, turn left (south) on Hwy 59 and drive right down about 7 km to A Concession Road (just before the golf coarse on your right and just south of the OPP station also on your right. Turn right (west) here and follow the road to Big Creek. You will come to 3 bridges only a couple hundred yards apart. Or you can drive past A Concession Road to Lakeshore Rd at the putting coarse. Turn right (west) here and drive past Lee Brown Conservation Area to the next road which is West 1/4 Line EXT. Turn right (north here and drive about 2km to A Concession Road. Turn right (east) and drive about 1 km to the bridges. ST WILLIAMS FOREST NORTH OF ST WILLIAMS and PORT ROWAN St Williams Forest near Long Point is southwest of Hamilton and north of Port Rowan. To reach it you can drive south on Hwy 6 from Hamilton, passing through Hagersville and turning right, (west) in Jarvis onto Hwy 3, drive to Simcoe and turn left (south) on Hwy 24 and follow this towards Hwy 59. At Norfolk Township East 1/4 Line Road (about 3 ½ km short or east of Hwy 59) turn right (north). Drive approx. 1 km along 1/4 Line to 6th Concession Road, turn right (east) and your in St Williams forest. This is a packed sand road and can be soft in wet weather. This is a very buggy area in season, so be sure to take insect repellant also be sure to lock your automobile door, etc. Also be aware that you may encounter RTVs on any of the trails, so be careful. Prairie Warblers can usually be heard at this intersection as they nest just northeast of here. There are several trails along 6th Conc. On both sides of the road, the ones on the right seem to me to be the best. TOWNSEND SEWAGE LAGOONS On the way down to Long Point on Hwy 6 you will pass through Hagersville and drive towards Jarvis. Just as you approach the town of Jarvis you will see a sign indicating "TOWNSEND" at Nanticoke Creek Parkway #69. Turn right here and drive to the intersection with the stop signs, turn left on Keith Richardson Parkway and drive past some park ponds on your right. Drive ahead until you see a small children's shelter on your right at County Rd 14. This is just before you reach the abandoned railway line (tracks removed). Turn right here onto County Rd 14. and drive a few hundred yards and you will see a gate on your right and a sign indicating that this is a waste treatment area.. Park well to the side of the road, do not block the gate. If the gate is open (they are on some weekends) then do not park directly across from the gate as the larger "Honey Trucks" need the area to swing into and out of the entrance road. These lagoons are usually only accessible on the weekend or after 6pm during the week. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eliminate annoying spam! My mailbox is protected by iHateSpam, the #1-rated spam buster." http://www.ihatespam.net
