Good morning Yesterday Ian Cannell and I birded the Toronto Islands and despite the fog that covered the lake all day and the islands most of the time we found some nice birds and below is a few of the high lights. All of the waterfowl were seen either in the lagoons or the harbour side of The Islands. Pied-billed and Horned Grebes, White-winged Scoters, Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, all 3 Mergansers, the usual waterfowl, Cooper's Hawk, Wilson's Snipe, 12 Downy Woodpeckers, 11 N. Flickers, 3 E. Phoebes, 13 Tree Swallows, 36 B-C Chickadees, 6 Brown Creepers, Carolina Wren, 2 singing Winter Wrens, 20 A. Tree Sparrows, Field Sparrow, 3 Savannah Sparrows, 21 Fox Sparrows (some singing), 237 Song Sparrows (lots of singing) (probably under counted), Swamp Sparrow, 21 N. Cardinals, 37 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and 7 Killdeer as well as the usual birds for a total of 54 for the day. A great day to be out and to top it off we had a great close view of a Mink that wasn't aware of us. I kind of knew that it would be a Sparrow day when I left home and walked through a plaza up here at 5:10am on my way to my bus and found 17 Song Sparrows on the sidewalks in front of the stores. Directions:- TORONTO ISLANDS - WINTER SCHEDULE (Wards Island to Hanlans Point - without side trips is 5 km) To get to the Toronto Islands from Queen and Yonge Streets on the TTC. If your on the subway southbound stay on it and get off at Union Station, walk south about 1 km to the ferry docks at the foot of Bay Street at Queens Quay and you are there. If in an auto on the Gardener Expressway or on Lakeshore Blvd, then exit at Bay Street and drive south to Queens Quay, there are lots of parking lots nearby (fee). There is a fee for using the island ferries ($6.00 adult / $3.50 for seniors & students) and to find out the sailing times you can phone (416) 392-8193 or check at http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/springschedule.htm There are washrooms on the islands as well as the city side at the ferry docks and you can pick up a schedule at the docks or check on line. The 1st boat to Wards Island (my preferred starting point) is 6:35 am and the 2nd is 7:00 am Monday to Friday. The 1st is at 6:35 am and the 2nd boat is at 7:15 am on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays. The 1st boat to Hanlans Point is 9:00 am - Monday to Friday only but be aware that the last boat from Hanlans is at 3:45pm, miss it and you have to walk all the way back to Wards Island. There are no boats to Centre Island in the Winter If arriving in early am you must obtain your ticket from a machine just inside the gate so be sure to have $1.00 and $2.00 and/or 25 cent coins before you arrive at the docks as there is no place to get change and the machine does not make change. (There is a change machine there if you want to chance it). There are coffee shops across from the ferry docks in the building on the northwest corner and they are open early. PS - There is a map of the Islands at each of the Island side ferry docks and the City side entrance to the docks. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON S'ils te mordent, mords les --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eliminate annoying spam! My mailbox is protected by iHateSpam, the #1-rated spam buster." http://www.ihatespam.net