Ah the magic of the Alvar - birdless in the face of a miserable gale of wind and rain - or seeming so until we were greeted by a pair of Towhees that sailed across a field to check us out, then a Yellow-billed Cuckoo posed at short range while a Brown Thrasher stopped close by in a shower of raindrops - Marsh Wrens sang from the fens, and at Shrikes Road the trill of a Say's Phoebe lured us onwards while it retreated unseen but we were well rewarded by four Wilson's Snipe rooting in a wet furrow while under our noses in a nearby ditch two Upland Sandpipers walked out, nonchalant and cool - bluebirds, sparrows, turkeys, flickers, foraged low under the galeforce wind while here and there among the mainly leafless trees stands of poplars bent their golden sails - ah the magic of the Alvar lateon when the temps dropped a degree or two and the rain turned to snow - "We'll come back tomorrow and get the Say's in the flesh said Charles - I'm on said I." Directions : Google "Carden Plain" for a map of the Alvar cheers - Stan Long _______________________________________________ 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/
