Lower East Humber River scenes

 BarrytheBirder photos of Boyd Conservation Area at Pine Grove, near Woodbridge,

and the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Bathurst Street ends here

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Abandoned buildings, birdhouses and an Osprey nest mark the spot at which Bathurst Street ends, at the northern tip of King Township.   To continue north would require a boat and a 1,200 metre journey up the West Holland River to where it joins the East Holland River, which flows north from Newmarket.    The combined Holland River continues through marshlands for another six kilometres until it flows into Cook's Bay, at the southern end of Lake Simcoe.

The last hydro pole on northern Bathurst Street supports a sizeable Osprey nest.   It won't be known for another four months or so whether the nest will continue to be used.   It's location on the east bank of the West Holland River, a few kilometres south of Lake Simcoe, would suggest this nest is perfectly located to support an Osprey family.   Meanwhile, below, a couple of Purple Martin houses still seem to be in good condition, at the same site.   Being relatively new to this site, I cannot say whether these boxes have been recently used or not.   I will keep a eye out for nesting activity here, in 2012.

Another view of the end of Bathurst Street in King Township.   The major Toronto thoroughfare is reduced to a single gravel track, frozen puddles and derelict structures.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Cooper's Hawk on Strawberry Lane

Photos by BarrytheBirder

MMMCOOPER'S HAWKMMM

Accipiter cooperii

I was out looking for Snowy Owls today in the Holland Marsh but had no luck.   Snowies have been reported there, by a couple of online spotters, since December 10th.   I did however see the immature Cooper's Hawk pictured above, on Strawberry Lane.   The top photo better shows the immature's whitish underparts with fine streaks on its breast.   It is quite smart-looking for an immature bird.   Snowy Owls tomorrow, maybe. 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB    

Former church lives on

                                                                                                                                     Photo by BarrytheBirder

I never tire of  photographing this bucolic scene on Dufferin Street, between Eversley and Snowball, when I am out looking for birds.   The building is the former Temperanceville Presbyterian Church which was built in 1858 and served the faithful in the community for half century before being turned into a private residence in 1912.   It lasted as such for another 60 years when it was purchased by Dr. David Willinsky.   Dr. Willinsky had it disassembled, plank by plank, and rebuilt on the property that he owned on Dufferin Street, north of the Eversley corners.   Its appearance was only slightly modified and now, after 153 years, it continues to charm passersby.   And of course, the peaceful animals bring the scene to life each day.   The overall effect always seems to heighten with the advent of Christmas.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Not so wild birds

MMMMMMMMMMMFree-range mixed-breed ducks on a Kettleby farmMMMMMMMMMMMM

MMMMMMMMMMMMMPigeons huddle together in the Holland MarshMMMMMMMMMMMMM

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMale Mallard at Fairy Lake Park in NewmarketMMMMMMMMMMM

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Canada Geese on Glenville Pond

Photo by BarrytheBirder

 Over 100 Canada Geese provided an eerily silent counterpoint to the the frosted forest surrounding Glenville Pond on the the south side of Highway 9, near Newmarket, this week. 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Struggling coyote

                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

 This coyote was finding the going tough as it traversed a broad span of the Holland Marsh, near Hwy. 400, on Tuesday afternoon.   The soil was ultra soggy from recent rain and melting snow.   The coyote's back legs kept collapsing as if it was sick or injured but it kept moving across the now vacant vegetable fields.   It looked to be a good size, with a healthy coat, both important factors in facing the next three months of winter. 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Fresh snow overnight

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I met a few people on the King City Trails early Tuesday morning and each one used the same word to describe the effect of the overnight snowfall: "Beautiful".   In the third photo from the top, it is readily evident that a bunny, a squirrel, and I  were the first to use this particular bridge over the East Humber River that morning.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Cormorants at sunrise ~ Kathmandu

                                                                                   Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

I've always thought of cormorants as birds of the sea or river estuaries, or large lakes.   Meanwhile, I've associated Kathmandu with the world's tallest mountains.   So to come across a photo of cormorants at Kathmandu had me a little puzzled.   They have every right to be there, it turns out, and it has more to do with Kathmandu's geography than cormorant inclination or preference.   Nepal, of which Kathmandu is the capital City, is only 150 kilometres from 8,000-metre mountains in the north to near sea level in the south.   Climates range from arctic conditions to sub-tropical jungles, and lowland-Nepal is characterized by well-watered floodplains, swamps, mangroves, ox-bow lakes and rivers, perfect for fish-eating cormorants.   The Indian Cormorant   (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) is one of 42 cormorant species, worldwide.   15 of the cormorant species are commonly called 'shags', instead of cormorant.  

   



















Pictured, left, is an Indian Cormorant (photo by J.M.Garg, 2006), while on the right is the Nepalese national bird, the Danphe or Danfe, a pheasant-type bird also called the Monel or Lophophorus.   Yes, well, no one ever said Cormorants were pretty.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Headwaters of the East Humber River

Photos by BarrytheBirder

A gnarled and ancient willow tree marks the spot on the south side of Lake St. George, near Oak Ridges, where the East Humber River begins its journey from northern Richmond Hill, through southern King Township, and on to the cities of Vaughan and Toronto, and into Lake Ontario.   The East Humber River rises on the south side of the Oak Ridges Moraine and joins the main Humber River, which rises near the Niagara Escarpment, north of Toronto.   The Humber River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1999.

The first bridge that crosses the East Humber River is just steps from the Lake St. George headwaters.

An ancient utilities bunker near the shore of Lake St. George.

Ponderosa Pine at the TRCA's Lake St. George conservation field centre.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Sunset Beach ~ Lake Wilcox

BarrytheBirder Photos

Mallard and ? cross 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Waiting for winter at Cold Creek

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Any day is a warbler day

                                                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Brad Ouelette

MCape May WarblerM

Dendroica Tigrina

This photo of a male Cape May Warbler, in breeding plumage, may seem out-of-season but here's why it is here. I have just become a subscriber to BirdWatching Magazine, although I have not received my first copy yet.   But I have gone online at www.BirdWatchingDaily.com and the first thing that hit my eye was this brilliant photo by Brad Ouelette of a Cape May Warbler, which he took last May at Point Pelee National Park.   Considering this is the first day of December and the first snow of the fall to stay on the ground arrived yesterday, I just had to share this.   If this is typical of the kind of photography I can expect to see with my new subscription, I have spent my money well.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB    

Last day of November

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photos by BarrytheBirder

The last day of November has brought snow that appears to be staying on the ground...and on the bird feeders.   This of course provokes a certain amount of nervous overcrowding and bickering about to whom the birdseed really belongs.   In the top photo, Goldfinches, Purple Finches and Juncos load up.   Out of the frame, but nearby, the more timid Chickadees, Tree Sparrows, House Finches and Cardinals wait their turn.   Of course, all these winter warriors will flee at the approach of the boisterous Blue Jays.   Then of course there are the squirrels - the bane of my existence.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

4 subspecies of Fox Sparrow

                                                                                                                                                                         Photo by BarrytheBirder

MFOX SPARROWM

Passerella iliaca

The Fox Sparrow (above) was an unexpected but pleasant surprise in the backyard this afternoon.   I was sitting waiting to photograph House Finches and Purple Finches when this visitor joined the finches, the juncos, the sparrows and the chickadees.   I did not know, until now, that there are now 4 subspecies of Fox Sparrows.   The Sooty, Slate-coloured, and Thick-billed subspecies all live on the west coast of Canada and the U.S.A.   The Red Fox Sparrow (pictured above) can be found in Alaska and right across northern Canada.  Fox Sparrows are always great to have around.   They're big, brightly coloured and have a brilliant and musical song in the spring.   This was a bonus, probably because of  the record-breaking, mild, November weather we've had in southern Ontario.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB  

Annual migration around 1/2 million birds

                                                                                                                                                                         Photo by Marvin DeJong/AP

WSandhill CraneW

Grus canadensis

The terrific composition in this exemplary photograph of Sandhill Cranes, by Marvin DeJong, may be deliberate execution or pure luck.   In either case, it is a picture with which the photographer must be extremely satisfied.   It was shot at a refuge near Socorro, New Mexico, where migrating birds are expected in record numbers this winter because of drought in neighbouring Texas.   Wikipedia says: "The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest.  This is the most important stopover area for the Lesser Sandhill Crane...with up to 450,000 of these birds migrating through annually".   Below is a photo I took, three months ago, of two Sandhill Cranes near Luther Marsh, in Southern Ontario.   Many Sandhills migrate through  Ontario but in nowhere near the numbers as in the U.S. midwest.

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB