I took advantage of a midday Apr.4 sunny break to trip down to Thickson's Woods. I was rewarded with 2 Great Horned Owls, 1 Eastern Towhee, 1 tail-dropping Hermit Thrush, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 3 Fox Sparrows, many Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 White-throated Sparrow, several Song Sparrows AND very few Tree Sparrows.
Oh yes, I do know that many birders are familiar with "our" beautiful little Daphne shrub. Its flower buds are about to break open. Another sign of spring in Thickson's is the ground-breaking Marsh Marigolds. Exit the 401 at Thickson's Rd. in east Whitby; south toward the lakefront, turning east down the deadend road that goes between the pine woods and its northerly meadow. Doug Lockrey, Whitby, ON From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue Apr 4 18:00:50 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from mail.kingston.net (mail.kingston.net [205.189.48.5]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6916563FED for <[email protected]>; Tue, 4 Apr 2006 18:00:34 -0400 (EDT) Received: from ripley (dynamic-66-102-68-40.wtccommunications.ca [66.102.68.40]) by mail.kingston.net (8.13.6/8.13.6) with SMTP id k34M0TOi015110 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 4 Apr 2006 18:00:31 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Bruce Ripley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ontbirds" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 17:59:36 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Subject: [Ontbirds]Amherst Island - Owls & Migrants X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2006 22:00:50 -0000 Despite the strong breeze with minus 3 degree windchill, it was a very birdy day on Amherst. In the Owl Woods was 1 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, 1 LONG-EARED OWL, 3 RING-NECKED PHEASANTS, 3 WILSON'S SNIPE, 1 WINTER WREN, 10 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 1 FOX SPARROW, 1 BROWN THRASHER AND 15 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. It is best to drive into the Owl Woods from the north end and bring rubber boots. On the east end KFN property there was 1 SNOWY OWL, 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and 3 OSPREYS which were checking out both nesting platforms. Also seen on Amherst was another SNOWY OWL, 1 AMERICAN PIPIT, 1 COMMON LOON and several GREAT BLUE HERONS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, TURKEY VULTURES, EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, KILLDEER and TREE SWALLOWS. There were 18 species of waterfowl observed on the island and at the Amherstview Lagoons including 200 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, NORTHERN SHOVELER, REDHEAD, NORTHERN PINTAIL and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. There were 8 BONAPARTE'S GULLS at the lagoons. Successful spring day with 68 species. Good Birding Bruce Ripley Amherstview 613-384-6392 Directions To Amherst Island - Ontario Road Atlas, MapArt Publishing [Pg. 36, E54 & E55] Located 18 km. west of Kingston. Exit off Hwy. 401 at exit 593 (County Rd. 4, Camden East) and drive south to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 100 metres until you see the sign for the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry (20 minute trip) leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $6.00 Canadian round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. There are restrooms on the ferry. The East End K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island on the east side of the Lower Forty Foot Road. To reach the Owl Woods, turn left (east) at the four-way stop sign by the general store and drive 3.4 km along Front Rd. to the (seasonal) Marshall Forty-Foot Rd. Marshall Forty-Foot Rd. is across the road from house #2320. Drive along Marshall Rd. to the mid-way point, where there is an "S" in the road (1.2 km, look for the K.F.N. kiosk which had owl observing ethics). Park in the gravel lane or off the road edge. The chickadees can be hand fed. The Fishing Village (Emeric Point) is at the south-west tip of the island. Directions to Amherstview Sewage Lagoon - Ontario Road Atlas, MapArt Publishing [Pg. 36, D55] >From Hwy. 401 take exit 599 (County Rd. 6, Odessa) south on County Rd. 6 to Taylor-Kidd Blvd. Turn left (east) on Taylor-Kidd and drive approx. 1 km watching for a lane on your right after crossing railway overpass. This is the entrance to the lagoon. If you're coming from Amherst Island, drive east on Hwy 33 approx. 9 km. and then turn left on County Rd 6. Continue north about 1.5 km and turn right (east) onto Taylor-Kidd Blvd.
