Fox Sparrows have eluded me so far this autumn, but I crossed paths with a flock of about 50 birds this morning in the wooded strip between the Holland Landing sewage ponds and the trail that runs parallel to the lagoons on the north side. Between the busy sounds of red squirrels, black squirrels, two hermit thrushes and all those fox sparrows rustling in the leaves, you'd have thought a parade of gnomes was passing in the tree shadows... if your imagination were so inclined (this is what separates the romantic Arts grads from the pragmatic Science grads). As I entered the lagoon property, a Merlin (my 7th this autumn) was exiting westward just above head height along the laneway. Like the other Merlins I have seen this autumn, it was a brown female/juvenile type. In its wake I found 38 juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers feeding nervously in the first cell. The presence of a group of workers at the far end of the property prompted me to forego checking the other three ponds. I returned to my gnomemobile and drove to work. Ron Fleming, Newmarket Ron Fleming, Newmarket
