Hello, Bob Curry, George Bryant and I were at Queen Elizabeth Park in Cochrane on 20 July when Bob heard a Northern Cardinal sing. George and I jumped out of the van and heard the cardinal sing again a few seconds later. The bird was in the backyard of a residence along 12th Ave and likely flew, unseen by us, a few seconds later as we never heard it again despite playing recordings of cardinal songs. Nonetheless, there was no mistaking the song of a Northern Cardinal.
We actually considered the possibility of a loud bird clock going off but it was a quarter after the hour so we dismissed this hypothesis. The bird is very likely still in the area. This species has been observed in the Cochrane town area previously as there is an eBird record about 8km NE of town on 19 April 1991. And of course the species has been observed in Moosonee; a female from 3 Jan - 3 March 1992, and a male and female were observed together there on 15 August 2011! Bill _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
