Hello Ontbirders, This morning as I was relaxing in my bubbling spa I sighted a flock of 475 COMMON REDPOLLS flying back and forth over my house. My niger feeders on the south side of the house was a bedlam. Some of them were very light but not quite light enough for any of them to be HOARY REDPOLLS in my opinion. It appeared that the darker ones were very aggressive towards the lighter ones and would not let them on the feeder. Lately, I have been sighting only 1 WHITE WINGED CROSSBILL which was very dull orangy and yellowish color and has been hogging the black oiled sunflower feeder on the north side of the house. The squirrels have found that feeder so for the time being I have removed it but I am not sure what that will do to the CROSSBILL. I sighted about 15 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH; 4 HOUSE FINCHES; DOWNY & HAIRY WOODPECKERS & RED BELLIED WOODPECKER; WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEES & DARK EYED JUNCOS; SHARP SHINNED, MERLIN, COOPERS & RED TAILED HAWKS are constantly chasing away the birds. I did have a couple of NORTHERN CARDINALS & BLUE JAYS with several MOURNING DOVES as well. Today I estimated a total of 600,000+ CANADA GEESE inside the Whitby Harbor by the boat docks and on the soccer field on the corner of Victoria & Gordon St. in Whitby. In the Bowmanville Beach are at the end of Liberty I sighted the following: BUFFLEHEADS 30; COMMON GOLDENEYES 4; RED BREASTED MERGANSER 1; In the Port of Newcastle Harbor in the mouth of the Graham Creek I sighted a BELTED KINGFISHER late this afternoon. Last Sunday as I was driving south of the Kaitland Subdivision along the lake towards the Marina I sighted 2 RED FOXES stuck together in a copulatory tie. Following mating among canids it can include the distinctive feature called the copulatory tie which means that the male and female reproductive organs remain linked together for up to an hour. This is the first time that Jeanne & I ever saw anything like it. At first we thought that they were stuck together with their rear ends because of burs in their fur. But it was only after phoning someone and reading up on foxes that I went back to find them resting up and napping separately. At one point one of them got up and either spread some more scent or went to the washroom. It was most fascinating to watch. Directions: Take Mill St. S. exit from Highway # 401 and keep left in the "Y" for my house and the harbor but keep right in the "Y" for the FOXES. Take Liberty St. S. exit from Highway # 401 to the Beach. Take Highway # 12 exit from Highway # 401 and turn west on Victoria past the Whitby Jail and turn left at second stop light south towards the boat docks and the soccer field. Markus J. Lise Newcastle, Ontario "Markus J. Lise" <markusonmill@speedline.ca>