Good Evening Today Margaret Liubavicius and I headed down to The Spit to hopefully find the 2 King Eiders found by Ed O`Conner yesterday and we were successful in that search. We found the birds on the lake off the right hand point of Pipit Point. They were only about 25 feet off shore so we had great looks at these uncommon (on The Spit) birds. Ed O`Conner originally found them in the East Cove the bay beside Pipit Point) but since the winds died down they may be found anywhere out there, on the lake off Pipit Point, on the lake beside The Toplands or in East Cove. The pair consist of a first winter male (3`or so white spot on chest) and a female bird (adult plumage).
Other birds we found (mostly on the lake) were Horned and Red-necked Grebes, Lesser Scaup (East Cove), many White-winged Scoters, American Coot (beside the foot bridge), all 3 Mergansers and most of the expected Waterfowl in winter for a total of 17 waterfowl species. We also found Glaucous Gull, Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Shrike and Common Redpolls. There may also be other Passerines out there but we tried to concentrate on the Waterfowl. Good luck to anyone that tries for the Eiders. Directions: LESLIE STREET SPIT (TOMMY THOMPSON PARK) IN TORONTO - Now on it’s Winter schedule for the gates and Van. To get to "The Spit" from Queen and Yonge Streets. Take the Queen Street Car #501 to Leslie St. and walk south (about 2 km) or as far as you can go on Leslie St. at Unwin Ave. and you will see the gate and signage. You may also catch the Jones Bus #83 at the Donlands Subway Station and take it to Leslie St. and Commissioner St. ( Saturday and Sunday as well as week days ). By automobile you can drive to Lakeshore Blvd and Leslie St. then south on Leslie St. to The Spit. You can park either on Leslie St. or Unwin Ave. You may also park in the parking lot inside the main gate after 9 am. Be sure to observe the parking lot closing time as if you are not out by then your auto will be locked in until the following day. — THE PARKING LOT AND ALL GATES WILL BE LOCKED AT 4:00 pm and there is NO Van in the winter. The van will not resume again until next Easter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:- The official hours for The Spit are 9 am to 4:00 pm ( weekends and holidays and after p.m. Monday to Friday ) but the unofficial hours are sunup to sundown. To date no one has questioned any birder, jogger, cyclist, etc. about the use of The Spit from sunup to sundown. This area is extensive, 5 km to the tip, but be prepared to walk more than that if you want to view most of the productive areas. The only facilities out there are 4 outdoor toilets along the main road. One at the parking lot, 1 at the next gate, one just past the Quonset hut at the Embayment D overlook and one past the foot bridge near the Triangle Pond. The Spit is only open at the above times because they are still building it. At least that is what their story is. For those in need of a coffee fix there is a Tim Horton’s on the Northwest corner of Leslie St. and Lakeshore Blvd and a Burger King directly across Leslie St. From Tim’s. _______________________________________________ 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/
