This afternoon I found at least one Lincoln's Sparrow along the Humber River at James Gardens in Etobicoke. While not as conveniently subway-accessible as the College Park bird, it may still be of interest to winter listers. The bird was feeding along the partially open creek that runs south from the ponds adjacent to the parking lot. It was traveling with a small flock of American Tree Sparrows and a few White-throated Sparrows and never strayed too far from the dogwood thickets. I first picked it up between the two small bridges on the path that follows the creek near the parking lot and observed it intermittently for 10 minutes while it alternated between being elusive and posting up for perfect viewing. At this point I did get a brief view of another unidentified Melospiza rear end rapidly retreating into the brush. About 20 minutes later, after observing a young Cooper's Hawk hunting Mourning Doves on my walk back south, I found the same or a different Lincoln's Sparrow 300m further south in the long grass and dogwoods just north of the hillside that marks the edge of Lambton Woods.
Directions: James Gardens is part of the Toronto park system and lies on the west bank of the Humber River. It can be accessed by car by entering the parking lot on the south side of Edenbridge Drive, which runs between Royal York Rd (equidistant between Dundas St and Eglinton Ave) and Scarlett Road (just south of Eglinton Ave). I believe the restroom facilities at the parking lot are not accessible in winter. James Gardens can also be reached by foot using the pathway system that follows the Humber between Eglinton Ave and Lake Ontario. Good birding! Chris Kimber PhD Candidate Dept. of Biology Queen's University Kingston, ON [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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/
