Greetings Birders, At about 1:00 PM today, Kyle Holloway and myself, along with two other birders and George Finney saw the SPOTTED TOWHEE coming to the feeders at George and Pat's place. It gave great views several times, but we had to wait a while for it as both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks were about! Other birds at the feeders included EASTERN TOWHEE, a female PURPLE FINCH and a juvenile WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW being the more noteworthy ones. A big thank you goes out to the Finneys for hosting the bird and providing chairs!
After the Towhee excitement, Kyle and I decided to head over to Big Creek WMA to see what was out and about. We were pleasantly surprised with about 200 TUNDRA SWANS and 120 SANDHILL CRANES viewed from the viewing platform at the end of the trail going to the left of the main platform. There were also many MALLARDS, a few HOODED MERGANSERS and one NORTHERN SHOVELER. A scope would be nice but you can clearly see the birds with bins as well. The water level is pretty low (thus the cranes). As we were leaving, a juvenile NORTHERN GOSHAWK gave good but brief looks as it passed alongside us, following the ditch. Not a bad day! Directions (Courtesy Mike Burrell): >From simcoe take hwy 24 south to hwy 59. Turn left (south) and follow this just past the turn off for Port Rowan (there is an esso gas station here). The house is the second on the left # 1024 with Finney on the mailbox Big Creek WMA is a little further down Highway 59. Good birding, Lev Frid _______________________________________________ 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/
