At 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday 20 May 2014, a Yellow Rail started ticking in the Sedge Wren Marsh on Wylie Road on the east side about 10 metres north of the yellow bridge. Eleanor Beagan and I walked the road and heard another Yellow Rail 100 metres farther north when the original rail was ticking closer to the bridge. We heard them ticking spontaneously six times within an hour.
It was a perfect warm evening with no wind. Sedge Wrens and Swamp Sparrows were singing, an American Bittern was pumping, Ruffed Grouse was drumming, Common Nighthawks were flying low and displaying, Wilson's Snipes were winnowing, and at about 9:00 p.m., Whip-poor-wills started singing. The pair of Beavers beside the bridge were busy and we could hear the murmuring of young inside the lodge. The Carden Alvar is north of Kirkfield, which is on Kawartha Lakes Road 48 east of Beaverton. Ron Pittaway's Carden Alvar Birding Guide is on the OFO website with complete directions and map: http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/articles.cardenalvar Jean Iron and Eleanor Beagan Toronto _______________________________________________ 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 Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
