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Birding > Ontario 2004
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Leaving
January 26, 2004 |
A Plan
Monday a. Karl arrives at Bert's house by 6:30 am. He leaves his car there.
b. Frank arrives at Bert's house by 6:30 am. He leaves his car there.
c. Colin arrives at Bill's house by 6:50 am. He leaves his car there.
d. Bert, Frank, and Karl drive to Bill's house (via Wawa) arriving at 6:55 am
e. Bill and Colin load up and we on the road at 7:00 am.
f. We stop at the Allentown Service Plaza on the Turnpike for additional coffee.Drive directly to Amherst Island Ferry (Millhaven) Bird Amherst Island and Owl Woods until after dusk Night in Kingston at the Peachtree Inn
Probably dinner at Kelseys
Tuesday Drive to Huntsville Bird Ontario south of Algonquin Park and then bird through Algonquin Park Night in Huntsville at the Comfort Inn
Probably dinner at 3 Guys and a Stove
Wednesday Bird the park road east to the East entrance then bird the park road west back to Huntsville Drive to Midland, birding along the way Night in Midland at the Highland Inn and Conference Center
Probably dinner at Kelseys
Thursday Wye Marsh for Trumpeter Swans At this point we will be flexible. If there are good birds around in the area, we will head for them. Right now 12/31/03 there is a Gray Flycatcher, and a Band-tailed Pigeon around. The Gray Partridges at Brantford are always worth a shot. Hopefully there will a Northern Hawk-Owl around. If birding is quiet we would get home Friday evening. If there are enough good birds around we might choose to stay on the road Thursday night and then come home Friday morning. Food
On Monday 1/26, we will get on the road directly and people can get back to sleep in the van. The exact timing is on the website http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/Ontario2004/default.htm
We will be getting on 309 and then the PA turnpike northbound. The first place for bathrooms/coffee is Allentown. The next place is Hickory Run. If you want to have a full "breakfast", plan on having it before you get in the van. There are no Dunkin Donuts on the turnpike, but there will be coffee and things at the rest stops.
This will be a trip of fast food lunches. We will be stopping as necessary. Feel free to bring lunch for the first day, but we will be stopping.
Dinners will be at appropriate restaurants.
Rooms
We have three rooms each night. We will sort out the assignments as we travel.
Documentation - IMPORTANT
Bring your passport or original Birth Certificate. You need this to enter Canada and then to reenter the US.
Gas, Tolls, etc.
Since this is a “shared expenses trip” we will keep track of tolls, gas, parking, etc. After the trip we will figure out each person’s share.
Weather Contingency Plan
We are going.
Clothing
Dress warm, we all know the drill.
We will be on the road by 7 am on Monday the 25th.
We will be driving directly to Amherst Island - a six to seven hour ride. Lunch will be around noon in northern NY. We will catch the 2:30 ferry over to the island. When we get there we will be birding. Hopefully Owl Woods will be accessible. That means we will be out of the car and into the woods.
Each person will have to determine what they want to wear for the ride up. There are no places to change at Amherst Island. Since all trip participants are male, you can change in the van.Scopes
This is not a scope intensive trip. I will have mine and I expect Karl will have his. Others can bring or not bring depending on your desires.
Checklists
A check list has been made up and we will do the traditional evening compilation each night.
Tunes
Feel free to bring cassettes or CD for the ride.
If you have any questions - ask. Bill and Karl were on last year's trip so they know how things will play out.
Current Weather / Forecasts (Temperatures are in Centigrade, Snow Depths are in Metric units)
Birding LinksOntario 2003 Trip (Bert, Adrian, Karl, Bill)
Gravenhurst-Bracebridge Christmas Bird Count December 14, 2003
Algonquin Park Christmas Bird Count January 2, 2004
Ontario Mailing List on Birdingonthe.net
Other Links