The Lapland Longspurs were still there today at Fallsview Road near Dundas.
I waited and watched the birds for over 2 hours this morning. Patience really helped, as I saw Longspurs (2 each time, possibly the same 2) on 6 different occasions. I only saw them on the snow at the side of the road, on the muddy side of the road, and on the telephone wire when there were no other cars or people present. As you can guess that wasn't often! There were lots of birders and photographers coming and going and also friendly local traffic (sharing sightings of Snowies etc as they drove through.) The other times they were further back in the fields.
Park well off the road if you go, and be careful as the edges can be quite muddy in places and may get very soft if the melt continues.
The birds were most often with some of the large flocks of horned larks. (There were over 50 Horned Larks there.) There was also a small flock (maybe 4?) of snow buntings but they were much harder to find.
Some kind person has put some seed down at one side of the road in one location. If it gets quiet enough, and if the large number of local crows don't arrive, the birds often wing over for a high energy snack. Don't park too close to the seeds if you see them or the birds likely won't come in.
I'm not an expert birder so I can only say all the Longspurs I saw today look like the female images on AllAboutBirds not like the breeding male image.
The birds were on the fields on both sides of Fallsview between the store for Dyments Farm (currently closed; at the corner with Sydenham Road) and the lane that actually leads up to the farm house for Dyments Farm. You can look at the location on Google if you put in Dyments Farm.
Some of the other birders said they expect all the birds will move out quickly if the thaw continues.
