Good day all Did a shortened walk on the islands today ( I got lazy ??) and came up with 77 species including 18 Warbler species and lucked out again with a fantastic weather day and now that Labour Day has passed the Islands have very few visitors in the morning.
Following are some of the hi-lites with some annotation. Mute Swan - 70, Canvasback - 11 together off snake Island - family group ?, Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1, Northern Flicker - 17 - just the start of many to come, same with Blue jays - 21, Red-eyed Vireo - 13, Warbling Vireo - 11, Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrushes - 1 of each for the first of the season for me, Swainson's Thrush - 40, N. Mockingbird - 1 juvenile, Carolina Wren - breeds on the islands, Nashville warbler - 13, N. Parula - 5, Chestnut-sided Warbler - 8, Magnolia Warbler - 14, Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue warblers - 7 of each, Palm Warbler - 11, A. Redstart and Wilson's Warbler - 13 of each (all of the Wilson's were juveniles), Lincoln's sparrow - 5, White-throated Sparrow - 61, Scarlet tanager - 3 and 6 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks together. I also saw Turkey Vulture (not common over the Islands), Osprey, Merlin, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, R-t Hummingbirds, and a Dark-eyed Junco ( the 4th since Aug. 12th). Most of the birds were between the Eastern gap on Wards Island to Just west of Snake Island. Directions TORONTO ISLANDS To get to the Toronto Islands from Queen and Yonge Streets on the TTC. If your on the subway southbound stay on it and get off at Union Station, walk south about 1 km to the ferry docks at the foot of Bay Street and Queens Quay and you are there. If in an auto on the Gardener Expressway or on Lakeshore Blvd, then exit at Bay Street and drive south to Queens Quay, there are lots of parking lots nearby (fee). There is a fee for using the island ferries ($6.00 adult / $3.50 for seniors) (yes they raised the adult price AGAIN) and to find out the sailing times you can phone (416) 392-8193 and there are washrooms on the islands as well as the city side at the ferry docks. The 1st boat to Wards Island (my preferred starting point) is 6:35 am and the 2nd is 7:00 am Monday to Friday, Saturday 6:35 am, then 7:15 am and the 1st is at 8:00 am on Sunday. You can pick up a schedule at the docks or check on line and a map of the Islands is at the entrance gate. If arriving in early am you must obtain your ticket from a machine just inside the gate so be sure to have $1.00 and $2.00 and/or 25 cent coins before you arrive at the docks as there is no place to get change and the machine does not make change. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eliminate annoying spam! My mailbox is protected by iHateSpam, the #1-rated spam buster." http://www.ihatespam.net
