Horned Lark at Downsview

[Dinusaur]

The Snowy is long gone; however, new tenants have moved in. Today I saw a pair of horned lark - my Ontario lifer #98 together with the regulars such as RTH and Kestrels.


Horned Lark by Dinusaur, on Flickr


Horned Lark by Dinusaur, on Flickr


Kestrel - hunting by Dinusaur, on Flickr


Kestrel - Dinner Time by Dinusaur, on Flickr

[Rotarran]

Very nice!  Yeah the Horned Larks were there last year too.  I guess they stop by every year  

[Dinusaur]

Very nice!  Yeah the Horned Larks were there last year too.  I guess they stop by every year  

Thanks. Larks are beautiful; didn't realize that they have such an amazing subtle variation in feather colour.

[BoboBird]

Cool captures Dinu.

[Rotarran]

Hey Dinu just wanted to let you know that the Snowy is still there.  I saw it last night around 7pm.  I guess it comes out a bit later these days.  Ironically it was in almost the same spot where I finally saw the Horned Larks.  I didn't get any pics of the Larks because they were very flying about a lot and were very active but their distinctive call gave them away.  

The Shrike is still there a swell.  Four RWBB's tried to mob him but I'm not sure they knew who they were messing with because when he actively pursued one of them, they got the heck out of there in a real hurry.  It was kinda comical.

[Howieh]

Where in the park is all this activity?  and where do you park?

[Rotarran]

The Snowy last night was on the mulch mounds in the North-West area of the park not far from Sheppard and Keele.  Very still.  I was even able to take a pic of it with my old building in the background.  That was kinda cool.  The Larks were around there too.

The RWBB and Shrike were in the trees in the patch of woods close to the Keele & Sheppard entrance.  I park near that entrance as well.  The Shrike was at the very top of the tallest tree and the RWBB were below it, but creeping their way up making a whole lot of commotion.  Until the Shrike decided he'd had enough.

The thing with DV is that you need to be patient.  I was there for more than 2 hours last night and on my first round saw only RTH and Canada Geese.  Also I visit it often, at least 3 times a month.  So that increases my exposure.

[Howieh]

Thanks, I'll try to get there tomorrow (Tuesday). I'm probably the only one on this forum who hasn't seen a snowy owl this winter but I've been sick on and off since last December so I haven't been out much. I was there last Thursday and all I saw were two hawks; I don't think they were RTs, smaller with dark backs, Coopers perhaps?

[Rotarran]

DV primarily has RTH.  The only other hawk I have seen is the Rough Legged Hawk late last year, but that's also a Buteo hawk (soaring hawk with broad wings). Accipiters such as the Cooper's Hawk prefer parks with larger wooded areas.   Actually i did see a Harrier about a year ago but that was my only sighting of one at DV.

Try to go in the afternoon and stay until sundown...most of my Snowy sightings have been around that time at that park.