Today Ian and I birded the Leslie Street spit for our first gloveless day this season. Despite the clouds it turned out to be a pleasant outing high lighted by Ian finding a female King Eider on the lake close beside The Lighthouse.
Other birds of note were 17 Red-necked Grebes, both Scaup, Surf and White-winged Scoters, all 3 Mergansers, Glaucous, Iceland and Thayer's Gulls, Northern Shrike, Golden-crowned Kinglets, a flock of 13 Horned Larks, Hoary Redpoll, 200+ Common Redpolls, 30+ American Tree Sparrows and through out we saw or heard 13 Red-winged Blackbirds. There is huge increase in the number of Ring-billed Gulls at and beside Peninsulas A and B ( Thousands ). Gadwall and Mallards have also increased and we spotted 3 American Crows flying east. If you want to see displaying Waterfowl then you can observe Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, and Common and Red-breasted Mergansers all doing their display movements and sounds. Directions:- LESLIE STREET SPIT (TOMMY THOMPSON PARK) IN TORONTO - Now on it’s Winter schedule for the gates and Van. To get to "The Spit" from Queen and Yonge Streets. Take the Queen Street Car #501 east to Leslie St. and walk south (about 2 km) or as far as you can go on Leslie St. at Unwin Ave. and you will see the gate and signage. You may also catch the Jones Bus #83 at the Donlands Subway Station or transfer to it at Queen St. and Jones Ave. and take it to Leslie St. And Commissioner St. (on Saturday only). By automobile you may drive to Lakeshore Blvd and Leslie St. then south to The Spit. You can park either on Leslie St. or Unwin Ave. You may also park in the parking lot inside the main gate after 9 am. Be sure to observe the parking lot closing time as if you are not out by then your auto will be locked in until the following day. — THE PARKING LOT AND ALL GATES WILL BE LOCKED AT 4:30 pm and there is NO Van in the winter. The van will not resume again until Easter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:- The official hours for The Spit are 9 am to 4:30 pm (weekends and holidays only of course) but the unofficial hours are sunup to sundown. To date no one has questioned any birder, jogger, cyclist, etc. about the use of The Spit from sunup to sundown. The spit is only open on the weekends and on holidays, at other times you will not be able to access the area. This area is extensive, 5 km to the tip, but be prepared to walk more than that. The Spit is only open on the weekends and holidays because they are still building it. At least that is what their story is. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON "Sils mordent, mords les" _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
