Good afternoon Today Ian Cannell and I birded the leslie Street Spit on a cool Spring day. No wind made for a pleasant outing.
Besides the 1 Eared, 1 Horned and 11 Red-necked Grebes we also watched as 12 Double-crested Cormorants arrived. We also found 24 westerly flying Tundra Swans, Northern Pintails, Canvasbacks, Redheads, all 3 Mergansers ( Common and Red-breasted in increased numbers), many White-winged Scoters plus 10 species of the usual Waterfowl. Other birds were Rough-legged Hawk, many Killdeer, Iceland Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Northern Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, Common Redpoll and many Song Sparrows. A good day too be out. 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 and take it to Leslie St. and Commissioner St. ( Saturday and Sunday as well as week days ). 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 next 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/
