The YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was seen yesterday afternoon at #23 Manitou. I saw it with a group of starlings in the large deciduous tree in the front yard shortly after 2 PM. Tom Hanrahan had it later on perched in one of the trees in the backyard of the property. Tom was fortunate enough to also see the BOREAL CHICKADEE at around 3:30 PM. It was in the conifer on the left when standing beside the trailer and looking towards the backyard. The chickadee also came down on the ground below this tree. Please note, however, that I spoke to the lady who lives at #23 (she's very friendly) and she feels the chickadee is much more reliable in the early morning (before 10, say). Apparently it's often in the conifers in the front yard.
At one point when I was there all the small birds departed in a panic. A COOPER'S HAWK flew into a small tree on the other side of the street from #23. This was not the young bird mentioned by Tony Beck, however, but an adult. Now for the bad news, and I'm sorry that I'm the one relaying it. A small group of us waited in vain from about 4 PM onwards for the Great Grey at #1576 route 300. He did not show up. At dusk, we even walked into the pine plantation on the north side of road (public land) and came out behind the property of #1576. There's an open area here that could be a good hunting spot, but no owl. One of our group had also come in the early morning and not seen the owl. After dipping on the hawk owl near St-Pierre, I'm beginning to think that missing northern owls may be becoming my specialty. Anyway, be warned that the great grey seems far for guaranteed. DIRECTIONS to yellow-headed blackbird (from Chris Lewis's original message): Take Hwy 417 east from Ottawa, take exit #79 and turn right (south) on Hwy 5 (Limoges Rd.) Turn left onto Route 500 at the Petro-Canada gas station and proceed past Cambridge School. Turn right on Manitou which is the 4th street past the school. Please park on the road and do not block the laneways. The property owner of 23 Manitou asks that birders wishing to view the feeders, which are near a small clump of cedars on the property, do not go beyond the trailer at the end of the laneway beside the house. Great Grey Owl - Directions from Ottawa (fro Tony Beck's original message): Hwy 417 east, take exit 79. Turn left (north) on Hwy 5. Turn right on Route 300 (east - shortly after the 417 overpass). Continue down Route 300 to #1576. There is a Pine plantation on the left (north) and an open field on the right. Paul Matthews, Ottawa From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue Jan 24 11:36:41 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from skunk.apca.gc.ca (mail-ext.pc.gc.ca [205.206.15.145]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C9437647D2 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:36:40 -0500 (EST) Received: from rat.apca.gc.ca ([167.33.57.24]) by skunk.apca.gc.ca (8.12.9/8.12.9) with SMTP id k0OGadaT007956 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:36:39 -0500 (EST) Received: From pp-vrc-multi.apca.gc.ca ([167.33.142.37]) by rat.apca.gc.ca (WebShield SMTP v4.5 MR1a P0803.345); id 1138120667953; Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:37:47 -0500 To: [email protected] X-Mailer: Lotus Notes Release 5.0.8 June 18, 2001 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:36:34 -0500 X-MIMETrack: Serialize by Router on PP-VRC-MULTI/SVR/PC/CA(Release 6.5|September 26, 2003) at 01/24/2006 11:36:37 AM MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Subject: [Ontbirds]Slaty-backed Gull - Wheatley Harbour January 24 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:36:41 -0000 Hi All! I just got a call from Mike Chomyshyn to let me know that he saw the Slaty-backed Gull at Wheatley Harbour at 10:30 am this morning. When he found it, it was around the new breakwall on the west side of the harbour. As he was watching, a fishing boat came in and the bird flew off - Mike was not able to relocate the bird at the Harbour after they settled back down. He said that many of the gulls did move west along the shoreline towards Hillman Marsh, so that might be the place to start if you are looking for the bird this afternoon. Good birding everyone! Sarah Wheatley Harbour is located at the end of County Road 1/Erie Street in the town of Wheatley, Ontario. Hillman Marsh is located approximately 5 km north of Point Pelee National Park. For maps, visit www.erca.org Sarah Rupert Sr. Park Interpreter- Interprète de parc principal Education Coordinator - Coordonnatrice - Programmes éducatif Point Pelee National Park of Canada Parc national du Canada de la Pointe-Pelée Leamington, Ontario [EMAIL PROTECTED] 519-322-5700 ext 13 fax 519-322-1678
