[Ontbirds]Barred Owl, Bald Eagle, RS Hawk - Newmarket Area

[RON FLEMING]

An excursion originally designed for waterfowl today yielded a good list of raptors instead.  
  This trip, led by Mike Van den Tillaart, included members of three clubs: the West Humber Naturalists, Richmond Hill Naturalists, and York Simcoe Naturalists.  (Especially interesting when you consider there were only 9 people in total.)  
   
  We started in Newmarket, where we kicked things off with a BARRED OWL sitting at the edge of a woodlot near Wayne St. on Waratah/Huron Heights Blvd.- a very pleasant surprise in a suburban setting!  At nearby George Richardson Park we added a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and several Cm. Grackles.  Driving north to Ravenshoe Rd. in southwest Keswick we added a COOPER'S HAWK, an unidentified swan, one late SNOW BUNTING, and 23 GREAT BLUE HERONS standing on nests in the heronry that is visible from the west end of that road (it is on the north side of Ravenshoe, near Cook's Bay).
   
  At the north end of 2nd Concession above Holborn Rd. we were treated to excellent views of a sub-adult BALD EAGLE which some of us (especially me, I must admit) tried valiantly to make into a juvenile Golden.  Keith Dunn doused the fire of our excitement with that most heinous of extinguishers, compelling facts.  The eagle peeled off to the north and was soon replaced by one of three Turkey Vultures that followed its flight path.  On the east side of 2nd Concession about 1 km south of Holborn we tooped to observe a WILD TURKEY lek, complete with ritualistic circling, wing drooping, and the fanning of huge tails.  It was a treat to watch.  Continuing south along 2nd Concession toward Queensville Sdrd. we added a NORTHERN SHRIKE and a male AMERICAN KESTREL.
   
  The north end of Bathurst Street, which is usually excellent for waterfowl at this time of year, was birdless except for a dozen Canada Geese and the odd crow.  The ice and snow in the fields has yet to melt in this area, so there are few places for migrating waterfowl to stop and feed (if they happened to be passing at all).  It is interesting to note that last year on this same date most geese, ducks, and swans had not only shown up here but had, in large part, already gone through.
   
  Around noon we decided to drive south to the Cawthra Mulock reserve in west Newmarket.  Coming along Miller Sdrd. from the west, we spotted a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perched in a conifer by the roadside not far from Bathurst St.  We had excellent looks at the bird through my scope as he perched, flew a bit, then perched again.  In the trees south of us a handful of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS could be heard calling.  At the reserve itself we added NORTHERN HARRIER (our 9th raptor species of the day) and a calling PILEATED WOODPECKER.
   
  The field trip ended around 1:00 p.m. but I discovered via cell phone that Dad's taxi service was not needed until 2:30, so I drove the backroads a little longer and observed a few more birds.  One of them was a second NORTHERN SHRIKE (Dufferin St. just south of Miller Sdrd.), a few more Red-tailed Hawks, two tagged TRUMPETER SWANS in the West Holland River (which was open through the heart of the "Bradford Marsh" vegetable fields) and, keeping company with several Mallards and Blacks, two NORTHERN PINTAIL drakes, my first ones of the spring.
   
  Although we did not get KILLDEER today, Keith and Mike both had them earlier in the week.  Still lots of birds to come!
   
  Ron Fleming, Newmarket
   
  Newmarket is in north-central York Region, north of Toronto and south of Lake Simcoe.
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