Birding Bonanza in Port Carling - warblers - May 19, 2002

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Hi all.

It was a wild day of birding in Port Carling, Muskoka.  Down the Hazlewood 
trail (Ferndale Rd. Port Carling) the following birds were seen

Warblers
Chestnut sided Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Wilsons Warbler
American Redstart – several
Black Throated Green
Common Yellow Throat – several
Palm Warbler
Black Throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Others
Scarlet Tanenger
Veery
Epid Flycatcher – no songs, none
Winter wren
Turkey Vulture
Goldfinch
Female Purple Finch
Olive sided Flycatcher
Sapsucker
Either a Spotted sandpiper or a Bairds Sandpiper – bobbed a little, but had 
a white rump…?


For more info or better directions contact gwillmott1@hotmail.com
Gerald Norman Willmott

Hoary Redpolls in Muskoka - April 10, 2002

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Ontbirders,

While carefully scrutinizing a flock of about 30 Common Redpolls I
identified at least one HOARY REDPOLL near Huntsville on Monday, 8 April 02.
This flock is coming to a friend's feeder (private property and not viewable
from the road) about 11 km west of Huntsville on Muskoka Road 2
(Ravenscliffe Road).  At least 3 Hoaries were present a day earlier, when
the numbered nearly 200.

An excellent article on winter identification of redpolls appeared in the
December 1995 issue of Birding (Vol. 27, No. 6, p. 447).  As the article
suggests, many field guides oversimplify the identification of these
finches.

**********

Burke Korol
Huntsville, ON
bkorol@vianet.ca

bracebridge: great gray and northern hawk owl - Thu, 8 Feb 2001

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Both birds were near the T-intersection of Butter & Egg Road and Falkenburg
Road between noon and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 7th February.  The Northern Hawk
Owl was to the left on Falkenburg Road about 100m. from the intersection on
the left - a scope was needed.  About 300m. from the intersection - to the
right on Falkenburg Road - the Great Gray Owl was sitting on the local hydro
line.
Joyce and I had a great close-up look at it.  Both birds made the trip very
worthwhile.

Directions (as given by A. Lang on 3 February):
Go west approx. 12km. from Bracebridge on Highway 118W.  Turn right on
Butter & Egg Road, proceed 5km. along here until the T-intersection with
Falkenburg Road.


Don & Joyce Lloyd
North York, Ontario
dlloyd@idirect.com

Bald Eagle in Bobcaygeon - Wed, 13 Dec 2000

Gord:
We have recently moved back from Thunder Bay to the ancestral farm north of Bobcaygeon in Victoria Co. where I grew up in the 50s. At our first winter feeders we have had the usual Chickadees, Juncoes, Bluejays, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers,WB Nuthatches, American Tree Sparrows, and Goldfinches all of which I recall as a youngster seeing around here. We now have Mourning Doves and a male and female Northern Cardinal which have never wintered here before until recently.

Yesterday morning in the aftermath of Monday night's first big winter storm, all the birds mentioned above were present at the feeders. and above them all on a dead Norway Spruce perched a rather hungry looking immature Bald Eagle who remained there watching all the action for sometime before flying off to the sugar bush...a first sighting for us in this area in winter.

John Bick
jbick@sympatico.ca

really enjoy your reports

Snow Buntings, Common Merganser & Common Goldeneye - Mon, 4 Dec 2000

On Sunday Dec. 3, 2000 Ken Walton & Jon Grandfield saw a female Common Merganser and a male & female Common Goldeneye on the river below the bridge at Port Sydney. Later that day when Ken was birding on his own he saw 60+ Snow Buntings in the field behind the Gospel Hall on Deer Lake Rd. Port Sydney around 2:00 pm.

Ken Walton
lsayers@attcanada.ca

Red-throated Loon, Port Carling - Sun, 26 Nov 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Hello All,

I had a call from Janice Enright of A Wing and a Prayer Wildbird Rehabilitation Centre saying that she had released a Red-throated Loon in Port Carling yesterday. The bird had been picked up in Sprucedale after it had landed on a road. The bird was in the river off the liquor store at 1:30 today.

Port Carling is on Hwy 118 West, north or Gravenhurst and west of Bracebridge.

Eleanor Wellman
keewell@muskoka.com

Northern Hawk Owl near Huntsville - Sat, 25 Nov 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

At 3.45 p.m. today (November 25), I observed a Northern Hawk Owl on Maplehurst Drive bordering the north shore of Peninsula Lake, between Huntsville and Dwight, in Muskoka. Maplehurst Drive runs south ( a right hand turn, coming from Huntsville) off Highway 60 in the hamlet of Hillside. About half a kilometre along Maplehurst Drive, the road turns sharply to the right and goes behind a row of lakeside cottages. The owl was about six cottages along the road, sitting in a tall tree and being dive-bombed by six crows. Hillside is between Huntsville and Dwight on Highway 60. Please consult an Ontario road map for more details. The fields bordering Maplehurst Drive have been utilized by Northern Hawk Owl and Great Gray Owl in previous years, and the birds have lingered there in the past.

Ron

Ron Tozer
1017 Spring Lake Rd. R.R.#1
Dwight, Ont. P0A1H0
e-mail:  rtozer@vianet.on.ca
telephone: 705 635-2315

Muskoka Arrivals - Sat, 21 Oct 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

This morning (Saturday, 21 October) I saw 6 American Tree Sparrows and a juvenile Northern Shrike on the Fairy Vista Trail, which parallels the north side of Hwy. 60, 1-5 km east of Huntsville.

The juvenile Brant that has been at the Bracebridge Sewage Lagoons for the past couple of weeks was there again today. The lagoons can be reached by taking the south Bracebridge exit from Hwy. 11 and going north until you come to Lagoon Road. Turn left here and park near the gate to the lagoons.

**********

Burke Korol
Huntsville, ON
burke.korol@sympatico.ca

Rusty Blackbirds in Central Ontario - Sat, 14 Oct 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Hi All,

On Thursday, 12 October I saw a flock of about 200 Rusty Blackbirds moving through the white pine forest on Blackbass Island in Massasauga Provincial Park, on Georgian Bay. I was unable to stop to identify 3 other large flocks of unidentified blackbirds in various locations in Muskoka this past week, but I suspect they were Rusties as well.

**********
Burke Korol
Huntsville, ON
burke.korol@sympatico.ca

Brant - Wed, 11 Oct 2000

There is an imm. Brant at Bracebridge sewage lagoons today.

Take Hwy 11 north to the first Bracebridge exit (formerly Hwy 118) and turn left towards Bracebridge and left again on Lagoon Lane which is before you reach the traffic light.

Dan Burton,
Gravenhurst

Ross still ther// Says no - Mon, 25 Sep 2000

Please Excuse my spelling ,I am Dyslexic
thank you for your understanding.

 The Ross Goose was still there at 5:15 tonight Carol Horner and I watch
it for 20 minuets feeding with the Canada Geese , thanks to Rick Stronks
at the Algonquin visitor center for telling us of this bird .

But as hard as  we tried we coudint find the Say's Phoebe , comparing
the number of birds thre today to the ones reported yesterday it looks
like three was a movement last night so it might have gone with
them.???????


Craig.S.A.McLauchlan
Toronto/Ont/Canada/World.
csam@sympatico.ca


I saw a Ross' Goose 24 September around 12:00 on the Deerhurst Highlands
Golf Course.  It was near the green on the 6th hole along with a number
of Canada Geese.  If you are heading up to see the Say's Phoebe in
Algonquin you may want to stop in for a look.

Deerhurst  Resort is located just north east of Huntsville on Highway
60.  Turn south on Canal Road to get to the golf course or follow the
signs.  The 6th hole is visible from the road but I would suggest you
check in with the proshop before starting to wander around the course.
There are a number of golf courses in the area so make sure you get the
right one!

Mark Peck
Oakville, ON
markp@rom.on.ca

Ross' Goose - Mon, 25 Sep 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

I saw a Ross' Goose 24 September around 12:00 on the Deerhurst Highlands Golf Course. It was near the green on the 6th hole along with a number of Canada Geese. If you are heading up to see the Say's Phoebe in Algonquin you may want to stop in for a look.

Deerhurst Resort is located just north east of Huntsville on Highway 60. Turn south on Canal Road to get to the golf course or follow the signs. The 6th hole is visible from the road but I would suggest you check in with the proshop before starting to wander around the course. There are a number of golf courses in the area so make sure you get the right one!

Mark Peck
Oakville, ON
markp@rom.on.ca

Brewer's Blackbird - Fri, 12 May 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Brewer's Blackbirds found by Ken Walton and seen by Lynn Sayers & Jon Grandfield are back at colony in Muskoka. Located at Falkenburg Rd. and Beatrice Lane on May 8, 2000, for your Muskoka list also 14 were seen by Ken Walton on Deer Lake Rd. and Kay Rd. area on May 3, 2000 in the evening.

Ken Walton & Lynn Sayers
An Annotated Bibliography of Ontario Ornithology
Port Sydney, Ontario.
lsayers@netcom.ca

Muskoka warblers, cormorants, etc. - Thu, 04 May 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Report from Browning Island, Lake Muskoka (near Bracebridge and Gravenhurst):

On May 3 we saw Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, and Black and White warblers for the first time this year. There were also several more Pine and Yellow-rumped Rumped warblers than previous. Two Red-necked Grebes were seen on Lake Muskoka near the island. At about 7:30 p.m. forty-six Double-crested Cormorants were seen flying in from the south in a somewhat vee formation. They landed on Eleanor Island to join the growing throngs of other cormorants now nesting there.

On May 4 we saw Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Nashville warblers for the first time this year. Also found a Philadelphia Vireo which makes a rare appearance at Browning Island. Red-winged Blackbirds and American Goldfinch were also seen for the first time this year at the island.

Other recent Muskoka sightings (including Horned Grebes and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird) can be found on the Muskoka Bird Board at:
http://pluto.beseen.com/boardroom/h/21826/

Barbara Taylor
muskoka_birder@hotmail.com
Bracebridge, Ontario

Great Egret at Bala - Sat, 15 Apr 2000

Sighting reports originating from the ONTBIRDS mail server network are repeated courtesy of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

A Great Egret was found at a marsh on the west side of Hwy 169 near Medora Lake Rd just north of Bala. It was first seen by Dinny and Neil Nimo and is still there this a.m.

Dan Burton
Gravenhurst
burton@csolve.net