Good Evening. It’s been a very long day as you can see by my posting time but a good one.
Today Ian Cannell, Jay Peterson, Margaret Liubavicius and I headed over to The Toronto Islands with an expectation of a good number of new arrivals due to the northerly winds and we were not disappointed. Among the 68 species that we found were Cooper’s Hawks, Black-billed Cuckoo, Belted Kingfisher, 25+ Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 20+ Northern Flickers, Eastern Wood-Pewees, 50+ Eastern Phoebes, both Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, House, Winter and Marsh Wrens, both Kinglets (many of each species), 15+ Gray-cheeked Thrushes, 50+ Swainson’s Thrushes, 15+ Hermit Thrushes, Gray Catbirds, 4 Blue-headed and 2 Red-eyed Vireos, 14 warbler species including 3 Orange-crowned, a very, very late Yellow, Black-throated Blue, 100s of Yellow-rumped, 2 Pine, many Palm, a Wilson’s and 10 or so Common Yellowthroats, and 12 Sparrow species including Rufous-sided Towhees, several Chipping, Clay-colored, Field, Savannah, LeConte’s, many Lincoln’s, and hundreds of White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows and a 100 or so Dark-eyed Juncos. Many of the above species were first fall arrivals on The Islands this year. A very good day and a big thank you to Margaret for the Clay-colored Sparrow and Ian for the LeConte’s Sparrow, I found a Robin. Note:- If you want to learn more about birding on the Toronto Islands you can access my Toronto Islands Birding And Site Guide on the OFO web site at - http://www.ofo.ca/reportsandarticles/torontoislands.php There is also a free downloadable PDF copy at that site. Toronto Islands – Fall Schedule Fare:- Adults $7:00 - Seniors / Students – $4.50 DIRECTIONS TO THE TORONTO ISLANDS FERRY DOCKS If you are on the subway southbound get off at the TTC’s Union Subway Station, walk south on bay Street (on the east side of the station) for about 1 km to the ferry docks at the foot of Bay Street at Queen’s Quay and you are there. The entrance to the ferry docks (well signed) is on the west side of the Weston Harbour Castle Hotel. To get to the Toronto Islands from the TTC’s Union Subway Station on the TTC you may transfer to the #6 or the #6A Bay Street TTC bus just outside of the east entrance to the GO Station. They both go down Bay Street to Queen’s Quay. Go passengers arriving by bus or train must pay a fare to use the bus or streetcar *. * When running there is a street car (#509 Harbourfront) that goes from inside the Union Subway Station to Queen’s Quay (no transfer required). For those who choose to head down to the docks on a Sunday before the subway opens at 9 am you can take the 97B Yonge Street Blue night bus (Steeles Ave. to Queen’s Quay) only steps from the ferry docks entrance. You may also want to visit the TTC web page at http://www.ttc.ca/ for trip planning assistance. If in an auto on the Gardener Expressway or Lakeshore Blvd, then exit at Bay Street and drive south to Queen’s Quay. Be aware that there is a very limited number of parking lots close to the docks. One of these (fee) is one block north of Queen’s Quay on Bay Street. As far as I know there is no parking allowed on any of the streets very near to the docks. Norm Murr 303-48 Laverock Ave. Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C 4J5 Norm Murr 303-48 Laverock Ave. Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C 4J5 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
