Yesterday we had a first time visitor to our backyard in Newmarket, Ont. a pair of Eastern or Rufous sided Towhees! I was able to get a fairly good photograph and also heard them call to each other, which enabled me to accurately identify them. We've also had a sharp-shinned hawk a few times this past winter. At the Leslie Street Spit on the weekend (April 25), we spotted several (about 20)Old Squaw, several (about 8) cormorants, about 5 terns, (probably Common ), we also spotted 2 Swamp Sparrows in the brush. What was notable about the Spit on this visit was the number of Garter Snakes we saw--Black, Green and Brown Garters were everywhere. We must have seen about a dozen or so. We didn't walk the more extent of the Spit or we probably would have seen more species
