Greetings Fellow Birders, I was walking around Champlain (municipal) Park at the end of Premier Rd. at the mouth of the Lavase River overlooking the Lavase Nature Preserve when I heard the bugle call of several SANDHILL CRANES yesterday. They were located due south in the marsh area at the mouth of the Callander Bay Wetland Conservation Reserve. Note that in the attached Google map image that the ice is on the lake, but that is no longer the case. It vanished over the course of the weekend. The MERLIN and PHEOBE were seen and heard about 700 m from the park along Premier Rd. Several AMERICAN KESTRELS were seen in the back country between Powassan and Eau Claire (HOODED MERGANSERS). I drove aound through Mattawa (TURKEY VULTURES, NORTHERN RAVENS, MALLARDS, COMMON MERGANSERS) on the Ottawa River, to as far west and north as Obabika Lake (RED-TAILED HAWK, NORTHERN HARRIER) at the end of Hwy. 805. Either the bird activity has been rather light in the area, or I'm not looking hard enough. I expect that there will be a ton of activity this week up there. -- Cheers, Greg Jaski Beaverton
Directions: North Bay is about 3.5 hours north of Toronto. Premier Rd. is located in the south end of town off of Lakeshore Drive. Obabika is at the end of hwy 805 north of Warren (hwy 17 between North Bay and Sudbury) Google Map link to Premier Rd. http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=north+bay+map+ontario&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=North+Bay,+Nipissing+District,+Ontario&gl=ca&ei=8zW7S9mFAcGqlAf44KmlBw&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA&ll=46.229491,-79.416561&spn=0.051181,0.109692&t=h&z=13 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
