Weekend Birding on Lake Ontario

View from CSS Park

The Annual Ontario Bird Records Committee meeting was on Sunday, so I headed up to Toronto and area on Saturday morning just to check out some areas.
I first went for a walk at Riverwood Park along Burnhamthorpe Road. I became familiar with this park a year ago in the winter. It is a large park with trails and connects with Erindale Park to the south. Soon after my arrival, I heard Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Winter Wren singing. I saw a few birds, and some local people pointed out a Cooper's Hawk at a nest site along the slope.
After lunch, I headed down to the waterfront.

Red-necked Grebe

I went as far east as Colonel Sam Smith Park. It is a good spot for waterfowl and other waterbirds. Dozens of Red-necked Grebes were around as well as a few Horned. I just learned today that a Western Grebe was there briefly Saturday morning, as seen by Mark Peck and company! There is an excellent photo of it on the Toronto Bird Forum by "Denis".
I did not scope for long, and the wind was cold and raw when I was there.

Port Credit

There are many parks along the shoreline and some are good for birding. More and more parks are being created or expanded, as they are very popular with the urbanites for recreation! All the parks I stopped at had many people out and about. Some even brought their BBQ's!

Of course a must stop is the mouth of the Credit River at Port Credit in Mississauga. There is a small park on the east side of the mouth (J. J. Plaus Park), or the larger J. C. Saddington Park on the west side. Here we can see the rusting hulk of the Ridgetown which is now 105 years old. It was put there as a breakwater in 1974. It was originally built in 1905 as the Wm. E. Corey, and was the flagship of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

A pair of Trumpeter Swans was in the river, but they were too far away to get tag numbers.

"Ridgetown"

Just west of Port Credit is Jack Darling Park which connects with Rattray Marsh. There is a trail around the marsh and a nice trail through the woods at the west end.

Rattray Marsh

I walked a bit along the creek and fish were way up in this creek. They must have swam up there during higher water. There were dozens!

Lots of gulls and waterfowl were out on the lake, most of which was too far away for scoping. I saw my first Caspian Terns of the year.

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!

Change of Scenery

the Toronto skyline from Col Sam Smith Park

I spent the Valentine's weekend birding in and around Mississauga. The weather was fantastic. Today was perfect with clear skies, no wind, and mild temperatures. I spent the time with my girlfriend Jo-Anne and I helped her record some observations for the Great Backyard Bird Count at various locations.

Our first target was Colonel Sam Smith Park in Etobicoke on Saturday morning. The main attraction here was the waterfowl, plus the wintering Snowy Owl.

Snowy Owl atop electrical service box in the marina

We saw the owl first thing in the marina. This is the same bird we saw just before New Year's. A couple of Horned Grebes had been reported previously, but I saw at least four on the lake! As well, I spotted a Red-necked Grebe quite far out.

Gadwall and other ducks

Thanks to a tip from Glenn Coady, we found the three Harlequin Ducks, albeit far away.

Our last location there led us to the well-reported male King Eider. We had almost lost hope in seeing it for the trip. I did take a poor photo, but I only had my small point and shoot camera. I was not too interested in photography for this trip.

The next stop before lunch was the park at Port Credit. There were lots of ducks and swans, including three Trumpeter Swans (all tagged). The numbers were recorded and will be reported to Harry Lumsden (#06, #E26. #137). Interestingly, we saw #E21 and #E27 at Humber Bay on our last visit.

I also spotted a lone Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Here, I got a closer look at the Ridgetown that I mentioned a while back. She is looking rather sad, but this hull is 104 years old! The paint is wearing off, and I could see her old name peeking through: William E. Corey. A complete history of the vessel is pasted below (from the book Ahoy and Farewell).

After lunch we checked out Riverwood Park where the much-mentioned Brown Thrasher was wintering. Depite many attempts, I did not see it! Jo-Anne first reported this bird on January 11.

One of many Chickadees getting handouts

There were lots of birds here including Pine Siskins, Redpolls, nuthatches, etc. I even caught a glimpse of a Song Sparrow. We luckily caught sight of a Hairy Woodpecker peeking out its hole!

Hairy Woodpecker

Next day we first stopped at Riverwood Park, but still the thrasher was not to be seen while I was there. Dave Milsom was looking as well, but it was quiet there.

Our main target for the day was Jack Darling Park and Rattray Marsh. There were lots of woodpeckers and chickadees there. A couple of redpolls flew over, as well as some siskins. I heard a Carolina Wren singing in the distance.

We had robins at almost every location on the trip. There are lots wintering all over when you down to it. Many people thought these were spring birds, but obviously they are not familiar to the fact that thousands of robins do winter in Ontario every year.

wintering American Robin

After finishing here, it was time for lunch then my trip home to Wallaceburg.

As a side note, the Thames River is now flooding. Coming through Thamesville this afternoon, the water was up to the highway! I have not seen it this high.

RIDGETOWN, C.305991, Lake Bulk Freighter built in 1905, at a cost of $475,000, by the Chicago Shipbuilding Co., Chicago, IL as Hull #67. Launched June 24, 1905 as a) WILLIAM E. COREY, US.202296, the first flagship for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, OH. 569'loa, 549'x 56'x 31'; 6363 GRT, 5045 NRT. Powered by an 1,800 ihp triple expansion steam engine, 24",39 1/8",65 1/2" dia. x 42" stroke, and two coal-fired Scotch marine boilers, 15'4" x 11'6", with a combined heating surface of 5964 sq.ft. Engine and boilers built in 1905 by the American Ship Building Co., Cleveland. She was the near sistership to the HENRY C. FRICK, ELBERT H. GARY, and GEORGE W. PERKINS. The CORY sailed from Chicago on her maiden voyage August 12, 1905 bound for Duluth, MN to load iron ore. On November 28, 1905 the WILLIAM E. COREY was driven hard aground onto Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands in western Lake Superior during what some say was the worst November storm on the Great Lakes. In a very short period of time, temperatures dropped to twelve degrees F below zero and winds reached hurricane force. Three days of seventy to eighty mile per hour winds, blinding snow showers and mountainous seas wrecked thirty vessels with a loss of seventy-eight lives. After taking a terrible beating, a monumental effort was required to free her. At one time the salvage force included 158 men, four steamers (MANOLA, MARINA, SIR WILLIAM SIEMENS and DOUGLASS HOUGHTON) and the tugs EDNA G. and GLADIATOR. On December 10, 1905 the CORY finally was pulled free and refloated. The cost of salvage and repairs totaled $100,000. During the ordeal the SIEMENS and EDNA G. also grounded on the same reef, their damage amounted to $6,000. The CORY was reconstructed with 17 hatches on 24' centers which replaced her original 12' center hatches. A new tank top and two coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers, with a heating surface of 6980 sq.ft., were installed in April 1937. New tonnage; 6485 GRT, 5118 NRT, 10,950 dwt. The WILLIAM E. COREY was laid up at Duluth early in 1960 until she was sold to Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., and placed into British registry; London, England in July 1963 and renamed b) RIDGETOWN. In 1965 she was registered Canadian to Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., Toronto, Ont. Canadian tonnage: 7637 GRT, 5362 NRT, 11,300 dwt. The RIDGETOWN operated regularly until November 17, 1969 when she was laid up at Toronto with a load of grain. She was sold in May 1970 to the Canadian Dredge & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. of Toronto. On June 1, 1970 the RIDGETOWN was towed to Port Colborne, Ont. where she was loaded with stone and was towed to Nanticoke, Ont. to form a temporary breakwall during the construction of the Ontario Hydro Power Plant. The de-activated steamers LACKAWANNA and KINSMAN VENTURE were also used as temporary breakwalls there. After being raised, the RIDGETOWN was towed by the tugs SALVAGE MONARCH and HELEN M. McALLISTER to Toronto on September 5, 1973 where she spent the winter. On June 21, 1974 the RIDGETOWN was loaded with stone and again sunk as a breakwater at the entrance to Port Credit Harbour (on the north shore of Lake Ontario just west of Toronto) with her cabins and stack still in place. She remains there to this time. The registry for the RIDGETOWN was closed on June 19, 1974.