Subject: [Oversea] Toronto and Vancouver, Canada [Print This Page] Author: wgeoff Time: 11/07/2010 15:18 Subject: Toronto and Vancouver, Canada
A recent family holiday to Toronto gave me a chance to bird suburban Toronto and Vancouver with 10 days in Toronto and 2 days in Vancouver. Given the close connections between Hong Kong and these cities in Canada, I thought other members might visit at some time in the future.
As it was a family holiday, I only had a small pair of binoculars and small camera and my bird watching was limited to two hours early each morning in the area around the houses where we stayed – Markham, a north-east suburb of Toronto and Fraserview in south Vancouver. I used the ‘National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America’ for identification and can recommend it.
Toronto
Lots of birds around in the early morning, a total of 51 species seen shows the abundance and diversity of bird life in suburban Toronto. The house I was staying in was next to farmland and there were several parks nearby with rivers and lakes. Heavy foliage at this time of the year made it difficult to see small birds so most of the species were larger birds. A complete list of species seen with some details appears in this Word file
Fewer birds in suburban gardens here, but a close-by forest park held a good variety and I was lucky to be taken to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in the Delta district just south of Vancouver for part of my last afternoon. This Bird Reserve is very similar in habitat and species to Mai Po and has hundreds of thousands of waterbirds and waders through autumn, winter and spring. I can recommend it for a day’s visit in this period. I was there at the lowest time of the year, but it was still interesting with over-summering waders such as Greater Yellowlegs and Western Sandpiper. I have attached a complete list of Reserve species in addition to my own species list for Vancouver in this Word file
Toronto – Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, Horned Lark, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Savanna Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch plus a family party of Skunks
Vancouver – Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Cooper’s Hawk, Glaucous-winged Gull, American Crow, Violet-green Swallow, Bushtit, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow plus a photo of Reifel Bird Sanctuary and a Whiteboard Bird List from the previous week
Author: John Holmes Time: 12/07/2010 11:04
Skunks on the run! Author: cywong Time: 12/07/2010 22:50
Thank you for sharing the reports, bird photos and birdwatching information of these 2 cities. Author: lchunfai Time: 12/07/2010 23:53
A wonderful trip , thanks for sharing ~
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Skunks on the run! 