Credit River Valley and Coconuts

View of Credit River at Timothy Street Park

The Ontario Bird Records Committee annual meeting was this past Saturday at the Royal Ontario Museum. As a voting member, I had to attend, so I stayed with my girlfriend Jo-Anne, in Mississauga. The ROM was only about a 45 minute drive (without traffic) from her place. It has been a long time since I have been downtown Toronto, and over 30 years since I have been to the ROM! The facade of the ROm has changed slightly (!).

I arrived at the ROM early on Saturday morning, so Mark Peck gave me a tour of the labs and storage areas where he works. Most unique was the "bug room" where birds and animals are left for a time in order to get rid of all fleshy parts, leaving only the bones. Beetles eat the flesh and after a certain time, only the skeleton remains. It was a stinky place needless to say!

Friday was too rainy to do much birding. Late Saturday afternoon was OK, but very windy. Jo-Anne and I checked out Sawmill Valley off Burnamthorpe Rd. and Riverdale Park where we walked the last time.

Remains of old mill along the river

Sunday was beautiful! First we went to Timothy Street Park along the Credit River in the north of the city. We saw quite a few birds including Winter Wren, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the common birds. Pine Siskins were all over the place. They were constantly flying over. At one point we saw a Red Fox.

Red Fox

Our next walk was at Meadowvale Conservation Area, well north of the 401. It was a very nice walk along the Credit River. Like all the other parks along the river, it was muddy and wet from flooding in the previous days due to the heavy rain.
We saw a pair of Northern Flickers here and a Kingfisher among the common birds. A Great Blue Heron was a nice sight just as we arrived.
One thing of note. Along the Credit River there are many parks. We can see lot of old trees which are interesting. Many are oaks, beeches and even Black Cherry. In one area I noticed many Black Cherry.

View from the suspension bridge at Meadowvale CA

At one point I spotted an old coconut which we thought was amusing. Later on we found another! We joked about it, saying that coconut trees grow in Mississauga!

Genuine Mississauga Coconut

At this area, jets were flying directly overhead going into the Pearson International Airport. About every three or four minutes, one was coming in for a landing. Jo-Anne, being very knowledgeable about planes, and that being a hobby of hers, knew what they were.

Air Canada Jet approaching Pearson

I was hoping for butterflies, but it was not to be. I did however, see one flying over the 401 near Mississauga as I left in the afternoon. No idea what it was!