Good morning Yesterday Ian Cannell and I spent a beautiful day birding the Carden Alvar where found 83 species of birds up there . A very few of the birds seen were Loggerhead Shrike and 2 Yellow Rails on Wylie Rd ( 1 of the Rails watched less than 2 metres in front of us for 10 minutes ). Golden Eagle at Canal Lake and many others that I did not check to see if they were the first of the season or not but with the many reports coming from places like Pelee they are probably old news after the great birding weather yesterday.
See the Toronto and Southern Ontario web site for further sightings. Directions:- CARDEN ALVAR INCLUDING WYLIE ROAD / THE SEDGE WREN MARSH / PROSPECT 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. 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. Other roads to check in the area are Shrike, Curl’s, Dalrymple, and Eldon Station Roads. PS 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. We heard and saw 7 there on May 5/01 and May 4/02. 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, I have. PPS 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 Purple Finch, Golden-winged Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow. 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
