Good evening people Just got back from a long day at in the Carden Alvar area and another good day to be out it was.
Ian Cannell picked me up early in Richmond Hill and away we went through a very heavy thunderstorm to hopefully at least hear a Henslow's Sparrow and in this we were more than lucky. We arrived at the reported sparrow area at 4:55 am only minutes after the rain stopped (lucky eh?) and before Ian's car rolled to a stop we heard the Henslow's Sparrow singing. It was too dark to see anything so we drove up the road for awhile and returned shortly after dawn. The bird was still singing and sounded close. We looked but could not see the bird so tried some gentle pishing and in minutes not one but 2 very wet Henslow's were on the fence in front of us (15 feet away) for some fantastic views. I figured this must be a pair as I couldn't imagine 2 males on territory being together (I may be wrong). We stood around for awhile longer and then I spotted one of the sparrows about 100 yards out in the field in the tops of the grass. Ian then put his scope on it and we again had great views as he threw back his head in song. This wasn't the end as off to the right of this bird on the top of a low bush Ian spotted another singing male Henslow's Sparrow which we also scoped. In my limited math I figured we saw 3 Henslow's so there is "possible, maybe, could be, hopefully" a small colony of these birds there. Should be investigated. While we stood at the Henslow's area 2 Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed in the field and fed not far from the Henslow's area for a nice look at these interesting birds. We tore ourselves away and spent most of the rest of the day birding the Carden/Kirkfield area and below are some other highlights of our outing. Common Loon (5 including 2 half grown juveniles), Blue-winged Teal, Turkey Vulture (8), Osprey (6), Merlin (3), Ruffed Grouse (1 baby on the road), Virginia Rail (8), Woodcock, Upland Sandpiper (5), Caspian Tern at Mitchell Lake, Black-billed Cuckoo (5), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (3), Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfishers, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpeckers, 7 Flycatcher species including Alder, Willow, Great-crested, E. Pewee and E. Phoebe, 6 Cliff swallows at the Sedge Wren Marsh, a Winter and many House Wrens, Sedge Wren (5), E. Bluebird (18), Wood Thrush, Cedar Waxwing (60+), 13 Warbler species including Golden-winged, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Ovenbird (19), Pine, A. Redstart, Northern Waterthrush (4) and Canada Warbler, 11 Sparrow Species including E. Towhee (16), Clay-colored Sparrow, Field, Vesper, Grasshopper (13) and White-throated, Eastern Meadowlark (38), Bobolink (21) plus the usual suspects for the Carden/Kirkfield area. As you can see the trip was as usual for that area a pretty good one and I recommend that a birder makes at least one trip up there during May/June if he or she can. Another good sighting besides all the nice variety of Butterflies (don't ask as I am not into them) was a very surprising (to me) Blanding's Turtle in the marsh (at the bridge) on Fitzpatrick Rd. DIRECTIONS WYLIE RD / SEDGE WREN MARSH / PROSPECT RD Wylie Road is north of Kirkfield in Victoria County and Kirkfield itself is on County Road 48 east of Highway 12 and well north of Whitby and about 130 km from Toronto if you follow the roads and not a Crow. >From the centre of Kirkfield go north on County Road 6 passing under the Lift >Lock on the Trent Canal and drive about 2 ½ km further north to where the road >curves left or west. On this curve and on your right is McNamee Rd, turn right >here onto McNamee and drive east for about 300 yards and you will be at Wylie >Road. This road is about 9 ½ km long ending at Alvar Rd (a T intersection). >Birding can be good on this road as well, either way. The Sedge Wren Marsh is about 5 ½ km up Wylie Road, you can’t miss it as it has the only bridge along the road. Park just to the south of and overlooking the bridge and walk the road. Birding is good all along the road and I find that the best birding happens when you park and walk both ways a km or 2 from your auto. This is a narrow road with little traffic but be sure to park in such a way as to not block the road as you don’t want to rile up the locals. This is all private property but there really is no need to leave the road. You may also want to drive down Rockview Rd just west of Kirkfield on your right along County Rd 48. Past the dump road (on your right) you will come to a wet wood lot that straddles the road. This is a great place for N. Waterthrush. Also along here you should find Upland Sandpiper and Grasshopper Sparrow. Continue south to Eldon Station Rd (the next road) turn right (west) and drive to Prospect Rd. Turn right (north) and drive up to a large marsh. Here you should find many Marsh Wrens along with Sora and Virginia Rail, A. Bittern and Green Heron and watch for Osprey, N. Harrier and T. Vulture. If you continue north on this road you will come upon another small marsh and pond just short of County Rd 48. Of coarse most of the roads in this and the Wylie Rd area can be very productive and it is not a stretch saying you could spend a whole day in the area. Wylie Rd south of the Sedge Wren Marsh is good for Upland Sandpiper, Vesper and Grasshopper Sparrow and lots of E. Bluebirds. North of the marsh are the same birds and near the north end of the road watch and listen for Golden-winged Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow. THE HENSLOW'S SPARROW - They can be found about 250 yards up Wylie Rd (north of McNamee Rd), just past the first rise and trees. The birds are in the field on the left or west side of the road. good luck and remember that this whole area is private property and there is no need at all to leave the roads. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eliminate annoying spam! My mailbox is protected by iHateSpam, the #1-rated spam buster." http://www.ihatespam.net
