Jerry Ball and I visited Algonquin PP and area yesterday starting off with a BARRED OWL at the end of Airy Rd in the west end of Whitney, east of the park on Hwy 60. Just before the park gates a yearling BLACK BEAR crossed the road in front of us! On talking to the park staff they said that this early rising bear has been visiting a house in Whitney in the last week. We saw 9 GRAY JAYS, 4 by the gate on Opeongo Rd, 3 at the Spruce Bog trail parking lot, and 2 near Km8. A BOREAL CHICKADEE was also at the parking lot at the Spruce Bog trail (no Spruce Grouse). We had a further 2 BOREAL CHICKADEES at the entrance to the Mew Lake campground. Two small flocks of PINE GROSBEAKS were near the Visitors Centre. No sign of the Great Gray Owl at Km. To reach Algonquin PP from Toronto go north on Hwy 400 to Barrie, take Hwy 11 to Huntsville, and then east on Hwy 60. Tony Bigg From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Feb 3 15:16:30 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts20.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.74]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 437CF642EE for <[email protected]>; Fri, 3 Feb 2006 15:16:30 -0500 (EST) Received: from jean-bapu1sw48i.sympatico.ca ([69.158.98.196]) by tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Fri, 3 Feb 2006 15:16:29 -0500 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 15:16:40 -0500 To: [email protected] From: Jean Iron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]OFO News - February Issue X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 20:16:30 -0000
The February issue of OFO News is in the mail. Only members who have renewed for 2006 will get this issue. Here are the contents of this 16 page issue. 1. Point Pelee 2005 - A Big Year Like No Other: Alan Wormington in our feature article recounts his exciting year of seeing a record 292 species at Point Pelee in 2005. Five photos of Pelee rarities by the author. 2. Some Arctic Birds in Ontario for the Winter: Mark Pimlott writing from Nunavut tells about High Arctic birds that spend the winter in Ontario. 3. OBRC Notes: Margaret Bain, OBRC Chair, updates the recent and upcoming work of the rarities committee. 4. Atlassing in Polar Bear Provincial Park: Don Sutherland of the Natural Heritage Information Centre describes the finding of breeding evidence in June 2005 for Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Ross's Goose, Willow Ptarmigan, Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Parasitic Jaeger, Orange-crowned Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Smith's Longspur and many more northern species. Photo of five atlassers group by the author. 5. Remote Atlassing in Ontario's Boreal Forest: Pete Read tells about atlassing in June and early July 2005 around remote First Nation communities where they found Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Connecticut Warbler, Le Conte's Sparrow and many other boreal species. Photo of a Bonaparte's Gull on a tree top by the author. 6. Two Big Black Birds Going In Different Directions - Common Raven and Turkey Vulture: Mike Cadman and Peter Blancher of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas outline the northward spread of vultures and southward spread of ravens. They discuss probable reasons for the range changes. Two tables and two maps accompany the article. 7. Fossil Gizzard Stones of Passenger Pigeon: John (Jock) McAndrews and Janet Chau discuss gizzard stones from Passenger Pigeons found at a Neutral Indian site near Grimsby in Niagara Region. Photo of gizzard stones by Janet Chau. 8. Art Auction - Wood Ducks by Robert Bateman: Bob Bateman donated an original painting of Wood Ducks for Bob Curry's upcoming book on the "Birds of Hamilton and surrounding areas". Auction is at the Burlington Art Centre on February 18, 2006. For more information call Glenn Barrett at 905-525-2142. 9. Future OFO Field Trips 2006: Descriptions of 11 guided field trips giving the leaders, dates, locations, directions and target birds for each trip. 10. Carden Alvar - North America's Largest Protected Alvar: Photo of the new sign commemorating the purchase of the Cameron Ranch on the Carden Alvar. *Ontario Bird Checklist 2006: Please note that a free copy of the newly revised 2006 checklist is enclosed with this mailing. **OFO Annual Convention 2006: This year's convention is in the Nation's Capital on September 30 and October 1. Mark your calendar. We thank the authors and photographers who contributed to this issue. Hope you enjoy it. Jean Iron & Ron Pittaway OFO News Editors Ontario Field Ornithologists 9 Lichen Place Toronto ON M3A 1X3 416-445-9297 www.ofo.ca [EMAIL PROTECTED]
