There is justifiable concern during breeding season to keep disturbances to a minimum. Many birders do no post their sightings as a result. Respect for birds and landowners is essential at any time of the year, but during nesting season this is especially the case. Trusting that birders will use sound judgement, here are a few birding notes from just north of Toronto.
Atlassing in York Region over the last few weeks has yielded some interesting birds, at least by local standards. In the scrubby fields southeast of Hwy. 48 and Bloomington Road there are, among numerous other field species, at least two CLAY-COLOURED SPARROWS. Please note, however, that this is private property, so you have to listen for them from Bloomington Road, which is difficult to do if you get there after the morning traffic starts up. At the best of times, you are more likely to hear than see them. Just south of Musselmans Lake on Ninth Line there is a good little pond on the west side of the road. There are currently two families of PIED-BILLED GREBES, a pair of MARSH WRENS (again, more often heard than seen) and a family of WOOD DUCKS in this pond. An OSPREY can often be seen in this area as well, though where it is nesting I have yet to discover. The grebes and ducks birds are usually easy to see from the roadside, especially by scoping the shoreline and having some patience. A pair of GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS can be heard and sometimes seen in the open field just west of where St. Johns Sideroad comes to a T-stop at McCowan Road (a few kms. north of the Aurora Road and west of Hwy. 48). Again, this is roadside birding since the field is fenced off and privately owned. A few kms. south of this intersection, sitting on the east side of McCowan, is the Hall Tract, a good section of regional forest that hosts an elusive (but definitely present) RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, numerous INDIGO BUNTINGS, at least two pairs of SCARLET TANAGERS, and several nesting species of warblers including the ubiquitous OVENBIRD, plus PINE, BLACKBURNIAN, CHESTNUT-SIDED, and MOURNING WARBLER. A small amount of pishing usually brings a sentinel to the gates. Perhaps the best spot to observe the latter species of warbler is in the Dainty Tract, which is on the southwest side of McCowan and Aurora Roads. The middle east-west trail is best, but be forewarned: poison ivy and mosquitos are abundant. Further south on McCowan Road, between Vandorf and Bloomington Roads, there is a marshy area that can be very good for GREEN HERON. South of Bloomington is the hamlet of Lemonville, which has several roadside ponds. The one on the southwest corner of McCowan and Bethesda Roads has been visited on several occasions by an adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON that seems to favour the southern perimeter of the pond. All of the areas described here are on the east side of Hwy. 404, basically north of Markham (which is, in turn, north of Toronto). Ron Fleming, Newmarket
