Good morning. Yesterday Feb. 25th Margaret Liubavicius joined Ian Cannell and myself for our annual “Owl Outing” in the Cayuga / Fisherville areas.
We again had good success in finding owls and we came up with a total of 55 including 47 Screech, 6 Great Horned and 2 Short-eared. As we traveled along we also encountered 4 Deer and 22 Coyotes. From here it was off to the Long Point area and again we did quite well with 600+ Tundra Swans, Bald Eagle, Harriers, Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, Merlin, Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse, 100+ Horned Larks, Hoary and Common Redpolls, Purple and House Finches, White-throated Sparrows, 100+ Tree Sparrows, Dickcissel, a singing Red-winged Blackbird, many Cowbirds and many of the more commoner birds. Inner Bay off Big Creek Marsh and Port Rowan is still about 95% ice covered but as of yesterday there is only an inch or so of snow cover with many fields showing open areas of earth. Roads are good and clear. In a couple of weeks the sky, etc. at Long Point will be full of Waterfowl and Blackbirds. ==================================================================== Directions for the Dickcissel. We found this bird (male) along Troyer Road Ext. From Lakeshore Road and Highway 59 at Port Rowan drive 9 km north to the junction of Highway 24 / 5th Concession Road (County Rd 60). Drive 2.7 km west along 5th Concession Road to Troyer Road Ext and then go .37 km on Troyer past a large barn on your right to where a line of trees are at the top of a dip in the road. The bird was in this area as well as several Tree Sparrows that it may be hanging with. Cayuga and Fisherville are east of Hagersville which is south of Hamilton along Hwy 6 and Long Point is southwest of Brantford along Hwy 59 and west of Simcoe. Norm Murr Richmond Hill Ontario, Canada _______________________________________________ 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/
