A Black-Crowned Night Heron at Tommy Thompson Park

photograph of a black-crowned night heron sitting on a tree at Tommy Thompson Park, Toronto, Ontario

A Black-crowned night heron at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto is recognized worldwide as a significant habitat for breeding waterbirds, and during the summer months, when fewer songbirds make the Leslie Street Spit their home, birdwatchers will still be rewarded with glimpses into the lives of the colonial species, one of which includes the Black-crowned Night Heron. Read more

Double-crested Cormorants nesting at Tommy Thompson Park

double-crested cormorants, tommy thompson park, toronto

Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario, is an amazing destination for anyone who is interested in observing birds, especially during spring migration, but a visit in July was also rewarding for Bob and me when we discovered scores of Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) with their young in the nests. Read more

Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly At Tommy Thompson Park

hickory hairstreak butterfly on milkweed flower, tommy thompson park, toronto

On a particularly hot July day, Bob and I decided to seek cooler temperatures along the lakefront here in Toronto, so we loaded our bikes and made for   Tommy Thompson Park.   There, along the bicycle trail, Bob spotted this dainty Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly.  It was a Lifer for us. Read more

Eastern Comma Butterfly At Tommy Thompson Park

eastern comma butterfly, tommy thompson park, toronto 6

An Eastern Comma Butterfly was the icing on the cake for Bob’s and my bicycle tour around   Tommy Thompson Park   in Toronto, Ontario one Sunday.  Eager to check out the construction of new cells along the eastern perimeter of the Leslie Street Spit, we had embarked on a day-long circuitous route around the man-made peninsula in the hopes of seeing some shorebirds in the dwindling amount of water in the huge holes. Read more

The Ring-billed Gull Colony at Tommy Thompson Park

The Ring-billed Gull Colony at Tommy Thompson Park

ring-billed gull colony at tommy thompson park, toronto, 5

On an outing to Tommy Thompson Park, Bob and I were in search of American Woodcocks in the Wet Woods, several having been sighted there a week earlier.  Although we only managed to flush a couple of those elusive birds, we certainly had no trouble photographing some of the thousands of Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) that had congregated at the Ring-billed Gull Colony at Tommy Thompson Park. Read more

Long-tailed Duck With A Tracking Device

long-tailed ducks, female and male, tommy thompson park, toronto pic 2

It isn’t as if Bob and I have never seen Long-tailed Ducks before, previously known as Oldsquaws, but on one spring visit to Tommy Thompson Park, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, we noticed something quite unusual about this female as it swam near the lift bridge on the Leslie Street Spit. Read more

Redhead Ducks At Tommy Thompson Park

redhead ducks, tommy thompson park, toronto, pic 4

Bob and I could think of no better way to shed the winter blahs than to go for a hike at Tommy Thompson Park, on the Leslie Street Spit here in Toronto, Ontario.  That is where we came across a raft of Redhead Ducks. Read more

Greater Scaups at Tommy Thompson Park

greater scaup, male, tommy thompson park, toronto pic 3

It always amazes me the different species of ducks that one can find right in your own backyard.  Such was the case when Bob and I visited   Tommy Thompson Park  in Toronto where we came across numerous Greater Scaups. Read more

Shoreline Ice at Tommy Thompson Park

Shoreline Ice at Tommy Thompson Park

shoreline ice at tommy thompson park, toronto, ontario, 7

On our one and only outing to Tommy Thompson Park this past winter, Bob and I felt like kids let out of school for the summer.  It was a pleasantly warm, sunny day…typical March weather with a persistent wind out of the north that threatened to chill us to the bone if it weren’t for the strong rays of the sun beating down on our backs.  Still, winter had its icy grip on Toronto’s lakeshore. Read more

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