This afternoon David Hallett and I hiked Etobicoke Creek (including Alderwood Interpretive Trail) from Lakeshore to the Q.E.W. and recorded both impressive variety and numbers of birds. Highlights include: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1); Yellow-rumped Warbler (1); Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1); Carolina Wren (2); Song Sparrow (1) and Belted Kingfisher (1). Notable counts of other birds included 65 American Robins, 12 Downy Woodpecker, 5 Hairy Woodpeckers, 18 White-breasted and 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 3 Brown Creepers, 12 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 45 Black-capped Chickadee, 17 Northern Cardinals and 45 Dark-eyed Juncoes. Two birds of prey were seen: 1 Merlin and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. No grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings, redpolls or crossbills were seen, but we recorded 2 Cedar Waxwings and small numbers of House Finches and American Goldfinches. Apart from main trail, a system of informal paths runs through the woods throughout most of the east valley. The heavy fruit crop of sumach, wild roses, buckthorne and honeysuckle, abundance of dead and dying trees, snow-free banks along most of the creek on both sides and a dense cover of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs undoubted account for the numbers of birds we saw. I highly recommend visiting this area if you are desperate to front load your 2007-2008 winter birds list without much effort. The entire hike up and back should take about 2.5 hrs.
Directions: To access the site from the south, park on 43rd St. (on the east edge of Enfield Park) which runs north off Lakeshore and is located 3 blocks west of the south end of Browns Line and two streets west of the Long Branch GO station. The trail starts under the railroad bridge on the east side of the creek. Wayne Renaud _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
