Twelve stalwart birders joined me at Tiny Marsh northwest of Barrie today for what turned out to be a very decent day of birding. The weather was indeed wet and cool at times, but not nearly as bad as what had been forecast. We had to work for our birds early in the day, but at the end of our day's hiking we had seen 55 species at the marsh. A smaller group of us added another 9 species northwest of Newmarket late in the afternoon to bring that total up to 64 for the day. Interesting birds seen at Tiny Marsh included eleven duck species, numerous PIED-BILLED GREBES, at least four male and three female NORTHERN HARRIERS, two SANDHILL CRANES that flew right over us as we walked along the dike trail, a trio of BONAPARTE'S GULLS doing their tern-like calls, two vocalizing AMERICAN BITTERNS (one of which gave us a nice fly-by), four CASPIAN TERNS, two OSPREY, about 20 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, two PINE WARBLERS, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, two SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, one WILD TURKEY, a MARSH WREN, several RC KINGLETS, and a group of approximately 1,000 swallows mainly comprised of Tree Swallows, but which included several Barn and - to our pleasant surprise - two CLIFF SWALLOWS. (We made sure they were not Caves.) While eleven of us were out hiking the dike trail during an almost balmy lull in the misty weather, our "twelfth man" back at the parking lot observed one of the aforementioned Sharp-shinned Hawks taking a YELLOW WARBLER from a branch near the main building. We did not rediscover the Prothonotary Warbler seen here last weekend but, rest assured, the "Yellow Warbler" killed by the sharpie was not the celebrated Prothonotary. Still, the latter's absence and the accipiter's presence could definitely be connected... Late in the day, after leaving Tiny Marsh, five of us drove south to the flooded fields between Bradford and Newmarket. As soon as we arrived at the north end of Bathurst Street we were treated to excellent views of the LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER discovered there yesterday. (My original claim that it was a Short-billed Dowitcher prompted gentle corrections from an absolute "Who's Who" of Ontario birders including Alan Wormington, Ron Pittaway, Bob Curry and John Miles. Many thanks for your helpful comments regarding these two similar species, gentlemen!) There were also several GREATER YELLOWLEGS, at least two LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and several CASPIAN TERNS at this location. These flooded sod fields look very promising for shorebirds over the next few weeks. At nearby Hochreiter Road we observed two COMMON SNIPE, several NORTHERN SHOVELERS, about 25 AMERICAN WIGEON, and a minimum of 200 NORTHERN PINTAIL and 200 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. All in all, it was an excellent day of April birding, despite (and perhaps because of) the weather. Many thanks to all who participated; I thoroughly enjoyed your company. Ron Fleming, Newmarket DIRECTIONS TO TINY MARSH: Tiny Marsh is about a 20 minute drive northwest of Barrie and about 10 minutes east of Wasaga Beach. Exit Hwy. 400 at the Bayfield St. ramp in Barrie, then follow Bayfield northwest (left). Bayfield becomes County Road 27 (do not turn onto #26 west toward Stayner and Wasaga). Keep going north (straight). Take 27 north through the village of Elmvale, cross the little Wye River, then look for Simcoe Road 6 and turn west (left). The road quickly angles northward through the hamlet of Saurin. Go a short distance to 1st Conc., which is the Tiny-Flos Townline (a sign on the left indicates the way to Tiny Marsh). Turn west (left) on the unpaved townline road and go 3.5 km to either the first parking lot on the right or another half km to the Interpretive Centre parking lot.
DIRECTIONS TO BATHURST ST. N. : The section of Bathurst Street described above is actually on the western edge of Holland Landing and the eastern edge of Bradford. It is accessible by turning north from Yonge Street on the stretch of road that runs north out of Newmarket toward Bradford. There is a stoplight that indicates Bathurst Street north. As soon as you turn at the light, Bathurst takes a quick jog left (west) then crosses the railway tracks and straightens out northward. By driving past Queensville Sdrd. and past the Albert's Marina Road (which is right across from the aforementioned Hochreiter Road), you will soon see the flooded fields on the east side of the road and possibly some flooded areas on the west side. There is a big orange-and-white garage building on the west side of the road that is a good "landmark". A scope definitely helps for identifying the sometimes distant birds. Hochreiter Road can be a bit dicey to drive on during bad weather conditions; it is a single lane and you can only turn around when you get to the house near the far end of it, which is over a km down the road. Still, it's usually worth the bumps and splashes.
