Following up on Kevin Shackleton's Friday post about Tundra Swans north of Holland Landing I quickly realized that all of the vernal ponds had reverted to ice today. With no water available for waterfowl to land in I changed tack and drove over to the vegetable fields west of Newmarket. There were scores of Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles, dozens of Horned Larks singing and flying about, and a handful of Turkey Vultures titling northward (I had four by day's end). A male Northern Harrier was flying in a field east of Dufferin Street north of Hwy. 9.
Snowy Owls are still findable in the Holland Marsh fields on both sides of Hwy. 400 and north of Hwy. 9. I found nine different birds between 1:00 and 3:30 p.m., all of them sitting well away from the roadsides, usually on the ground. A scope was definitely needed to ensure that all nine were, in fact, owls and not just white plastic bags or pails (of which there are many). Quick locations for the Snowies this afternoon: one north of Edward Street; one south of Edward; one north of Woodchopper's Lane and east of Jane; one east of Holancin, just north of Hwy. 9; one east of Wanda; one north of Tornado and east of Simcoe Rd; three more east of Simcoe Road and south of the Canal. All of these locations are within relatively short driving distance of Hwy. 400. Scope the landscape for white bumps. Half of the white things you see will be pails and bags but the others will eventually fly, preen, or turn their heads. Warm temps over the next few days should melt some of the ice in the fields around here and create viable landing places for migrant waterfowl. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
