Good evening. Today Ian Cannell and I went up to the Kirkfield and Carden Alvar area and this was my first time up there in the fall / winter season and it was not a real birdy trip and can in no way compare with the May / June period but we did find some nice birds.
We found Common Redpolls, Pine Grosbeak, 53 Bohemian Waxwings, N. Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Common Loons, Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagle, Northern Shrikes, Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Loons, Bonaparte's Gulls, Ravens, and along the way 3 up close Deer, 1 posing Coyote and another Coyote howling in the morning. On our way home we found a Merlin in Keswick and a fly by Cooper's Hawk along Yonge St. In Richmond Hill. A cool but beautiful day to be out there and a new experience at Carden. Directions:- CARDEN ALVAR INCLUDING WYLIE ROAD 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. 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 and you should not in the interest of good birding and also not to aggravate some of the locals. Other roads to check in the area are Shrike, Curl’s, Dalrymple, and Eldon Station Roads. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON "Sils mordent, mords les" _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
