Late Saturday afternoon I hiked the west side of Dufferin Street near Newmarket (just north of Miller Sdrd) and found my first COMMON LOON of the spring in the large quarry pond there. (The Loon was still there this evening). Also present was an OSPREY on its nest, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER "quirring" loudly, and a PIED-BILLED GREBE swimming in the water. Hiking into some of the wooded areas I came upon mixed flock of blackbirds - mainly Grackles and Red-winged BB but with at least five RUSTY BLACKBIRDS in the mix. A murder of crows was hassling something in a woodlot on private property so I stopped at the fence and looked south - eventually a GREAT HORNED OWL hooted low and was answered by another one.
The GHOW nest that was found by Peter Wukasch last week along Pumphouse Rd is still active. You can see the adult's ear tufts by parking on the side of Pumphouse and looking ESE along a feeder dike that connects to the main canal. The nest is conspicuous where it sits on the northern edge of the woodlot there. A scope would offer the best views as you cannot get any closer to the nest due to the canal (good planning, GHOW!). There was a BELTED KINGFISHER in the same area when I visited yesterday morning. Today (Sunday, April 14), John Watson had a flock of 20 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS at Dennis Park east of Sandford Drive in Newmakret and, as he walked the Nokkaida Trail through the south-central part of town, he observed eight SNOW GEESE migrating north. I hiked through the Cawthra Mulock reserve (NW Newmarket) this afternoon and had 20+ GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS plus my first YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER of the spring. At the same location yesterday, Mike Van den Tillaart and Kevin Shackleton had three NORTHERN FLICKERS and an EASTERN MEADOWLARK. In Holland Landing a COMMON RAVEN was flying over the deciduous woods just east of Yonge and north of Cedar St. today. At nearby Soldier's Bay there were 18 DC CORMORANTS, 20+ CM. MERGANSERS, a NORTHERN SHOVELER, and 10 HOODED MERGANSERS. The vernal ponds on Bathurst St. N. (above Queensville Sdrd.) that hosted a variety of ducks a week ago have dried up, however. Kevin Shackleton observed two OSPREY over Cook's Bay from his vantage point at the Young's Harbour parkette today and, in the flooded fields on the north side of Ravenshoe Road (east of Woodbine) he had his first BLUE-WINGED TEAL of the spring. Michele Potter had three pairs of RING-NECKED DUCKS, one pair of NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and three AMERICAN WIGEONS at the same location. She has also had an AMERICAN WOODCOCK "peenting" behind her house in Keswick this week. I went out "Timber-doodling" (looking for Woodcock) west of Newmarket this evening and found six! One was at the north end of Cardinal golf course on Keele St. while the others were along Dufferin (one at the quarry area described above, two at the Cawthra Mulock reserve, and two more just south of that). They began their calls and flight displays just after dusk (8:15ish). In his King City yard yesterday Brian Ogden watched a COOPER'S HAWK take one of his neighbourhood Mourning Doves. He was fascinated; his wife was appalled. Today at Seneca College Brian had a PILEATED WOODPECKER. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is directly north of Toronto, about halfway to Barrie. Newmarket is just east of Hwy. 400. _______________________________________________ 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/
