This morning Kevin Shackleton, Mike Van den Tillaart and I rediscovered the lone SNOWY OWL that has shown up in our area this winter (we usually find several, but not this year). The bird - a heavily barred female - was on top of a hydro pole along a dike trail that runs north from Ravenshoe Road in southwest Keswick. We also had a NORTHERN SHRIKE in this area.
East of Newmarket we checked for a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER which has been seen observed south of the intersection of McCowan Road & Queensville Sdrds recently. We did not find our target bird but Mike investigated some agitated Blue Jays in one of the nearby yards and discovered a NORTHERN SHRIKE at the centre of their attention. Just west of Hwy. 48 (Markham Rd.) we stopped to check a feeder set-up on the north side of Cherry Street and found a mixed flock of COMMON REDPOLLS (approx. 40) and PINE SISKINS (approx. 20) visiting the yard. There were also several Red-breasted Nuthatches present. Driving east toward Newmarket along Davis Drive we saw a flock of 21 WILD TURKEYS feeding in a field on the south side of the road. A hike along the trails of the Bender-Graves forest tract north of Davis Drive on Kennedy Road yielded a single BROWN CREEPER. Yesterday my dog and I observed a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS ripping up a cedar in a woodlot just west of Dufferin Street near the Miller Sdrd. Returning home to southwest Newmarket we watched a COOPER'S HAWK flying across Clearmeadow Blvd. with an unfortunate songbird in its talons. A group of five WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS that was first observed by Kevin Shackleton and several other members of the West Humber Naturalists on a club hike January 9th is still present along Devald Road in the Holland Marsh south of Bradford. Also present in the marsh and often seen in the vicinity of Hwy. 400 is a pair of COMMON RAVENS and a male AMERICAN KESTREL. Ron Fleming, Newmarket _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
