After a great day of birding Simcoe County on Sunday (we tallied a respectable 136 species for our team's Great Canadian Birdathon), my intention was to take the holiday Monday off and do some cycling instead. As soon as I got out of my vehicle beside the North Tract (one of several regional forests in York Region), however, a plethora of bird songs pulled me right back into birding mode. Singing from the western edge of the forest at 9:15 a.m. were numerous passerines, most notably Mourning Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler. I brought my binoculars into the forest for a short walk, confirming the BWWA by sight to rule out hybrid Brewster's but the Mourning was too deep in the vegetation for me to see. Still, it has a distinctive song and breeds in these forests annually. From southwest of where I was parked a Red-shouldered Hawk was calling (Cedar Valley is the name of the area) and, as I cycled steadily northward along McCowan Road, I continued to hear a wide range of species. By the end of a pleasant two hours and 40 kms I had tallied 60 species, most of them by ear. (Birding pals Kev Shackleton and Chris Dunn would have had a longer list; they are far better at birding by ear than I am.) Highlights of the ride included Grasshopper Sparrow on the west side of McCowan Rd (beside the parking lot for hikers and dog-walkers 0.3 km north of the railway tracks), Clay-colored Sparrow one km north of Herald Road in a field on the east side of McCowan (there are lilacs on the hill and a small road called Mill demarcates the north edge), Bobolinks in four different fields, a Red-bellied Woodpecker across from the Ravenshoe Forest tract that mountain bike guys regularly use), a Pileated Woodpecker near Doane Road, and two more Mourning Warblers singing from the woods along Boag Road where it runs east from MacCowan. White-throated Sparrows were singing their beautiful songs in several woodlots along the way, as were many of the breeding species for York Region including Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Redstart, Indigo Bunting, Great Crested Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Scarlet Tanager, and Eastern Towhee. Bruce Brydon had four Clay-colored Sparrows at the Cawthra Mulock reserve in northwest Newmarket on Sunday. He also had one Alder Flycatcher. At Young's Harbour Park in southwest Keswick he had four tern species (Black, Common, Forster's and Caspian) on Monday. Notable birds in Newmarket prior to the weekend were an Orange-crowned Warbler in Kevin Shackleton's yard along London Road Tuesday morning and a Common Nighthawk calling from over William Roe Blvd. in south-central Newmarket while I was playing guitar on the back porch Thursday evening. Ron Fleming, Newmarket York Region is directly north of Toronto but south of Barrie, wrapping around the southeastern edge of Lake Simcoe and extending southward to Steeles Avenue. The North Tract forest described in the first paragraphs is situated south and west of Davis Drive and McCowan Road. The warblers mentioned were singing at the first gate/pathway south of Davis. _______________________________________________ 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
