Hello Birders, Today at 4:55pm, my Father and I had an Intermediate Juvenile Swainson's Hawk at the SeaCliff hawkwatch location. The bird was moderately high, straight in front of us, ketteling with 40-50 Turkey Vultures. I was able to obtain some record photos of the bird, which I hope to add to my website ( www.PeregrinePrints.com) sometime after the weekend.
We watched from 1:30 to 5:30pm and had at least 2000 Turkey Vultures among many other expected species during that time period. Good Birding! Brandon and Eric Holden ------------ We watched from a dirt pathway, roughly 0.5km West of Hwy 77 on SeaCliff Dr. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Oct 5 21:43:11 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from BAYC1-PASMTP04.bayc1.hotmail.com (bayc1-pasmtp04.bayc1.hotmail.com [65.54.191.164]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AC5BE638B7 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 5 Oct 2006 21:43:10 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Originating-IP: [70.50.105.187] X-Originating-Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Received: from VALUED7B9600FA ([70.50.105.187]) by BAYC1-PASMTP04.bayc1.hotmail.com over TLS secured channel with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830); Thu, 5 Oct 2006 18:43:09 -0700 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Norman Murr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ONTBIRDS" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 21:42:40 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2962 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 06 Oct 2006 01:43:11.0054 (UTC) FILETIME=[C7E79EE0:01C6E8E8] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds] Toronto Islands - Sharp-tailed Sparrows, Orange=crowned Warblers, etc. X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 06 Oct 2006 01:43:11 -0000 Hello Eh! Today Ian Cannell, Margaret Liubavicius and I birded The Islands again = and a beautiful and birdiful day it was. As the ferry was pulling in to the dock at Hanlans Point at 8:15 am = Margaret and Ian spotted a large flock of small birds descending into = the area beside the dock and after we got off of the ferry we went over = to that area and discovered hundreds of White-throated and White-crowned = Sparrows as well as 100 or so Dark-eyed Juncos. From here it was uphill = with some nice species observed. We found an Orange-crowned Warbler near the ferry dock and another one = at the southwest end of the airfield fence and along the western side of = the same fence Ian spotted a Sharp-tailed Sparrow. No LeConte's Sparrow = or Sedge wren spotted so it seems that they have moved on. Some of the other birds we found were Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, = Peregrine Falcon, 46 Eastern Phoebes, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Winter = Wrens, 100's of both Kinglets, Gray-cheeked Thrushes, Swainson's Thrush, = 87 Hermit Thrushes, Blue-headed Vireo, 8 Warbler species, 13 Sparrow = species including the above mentioned Sharp-tailed, Eastern Towhee, = Chipping, Field, Vesper, Savannah, Fox, Lincoln's, Swamp, and hundreds = of White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows and dark-eyed Juncos, = Eastern Meadowlarks and Rusty Blackbird. While birding we stopped to talk to a couple of other (reliable) = birders and they informed us that they had found another Sharp-tailed = Sparrow in the beach grasses behind the west side of the airfield and = flushed a Short-eared Owl as well, they had also observed several = American Pipits and a Bald Eagle heading west. Directions:- TORONTO ISLANDS (Wards Island to Hanlans Point - without side trips is 5 = km) To get to the Toronto Islands from Queen and Yonge Streets on the TTC. = If your on the subway southbound stay on it and get off at Union = Station, walk south about 1 km to the ferry docks at the foot of Bay = Street at Queens Quay and you are there. If in an auto on the Gardener = Expressway or on Lakeshore Blvd, then exit at Bay Street and drive south = to Queens Quay, there are lots of parking lots nearby (fee). There is a fee for using the island ferries ($6.00 adult / $3.50 for = seniors & students) and to find out the sailing times you can phone = (416) 392-8193. There are washrooms on the islands as well as the city = side at the ferry docks and you can pick up a schedule at the docks or = check on line. The ferries are on the fall schedule and the first boat to Hanlans is at = 8:00 am Mon. to Fri. For other days and times check the detailed = schedule at the bottom of these directions. Starting Tuesday, Oct. 10th = they go to the Winter schedule with only limited service to Hanlans with = the first boat at 11 am so I was told. If arriving in early am you must obtain your ticket from a machine just = inside the gate so be sure to have $1.00 and $2.00 and/or 25 cent coins = before you arrive at the docks as there is no place to get change and = the machine does not make change. (There is a change machine there if = you want to chance it). There are coffee shops across from the ferry docks in the building on = the northwest corner and at Union Station and they are open early. Food = and beverages on The Islands when open are very expensive i.e. soft = drink $2.75 plus. But not available until next Easter. :-)) For a detailed ferry schedule check the following web site.=20 http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/springschedule.htm Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON Sils mordent, mords les --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eliminate annoying spam! My mailbox is protected by iHateSpam, the #1-rated spam buster." http://www.ihatespam.net
