It was a gorgeous morning for the first TDSB summer walk. High Park gave us a good look at some large wading birds:
Many years ago, the Toronto Field Naturalists erected a Purple Martin nesting house here.
The house is usually packed with House Sparrows or the occasional Tree Swallow but I hadn’t seen a Purple Martin here in years.
This year, martins have taken over a light pole right next to the TFN house:
The male Wood Duck is one of North America’s most beautiful creatures.
In summer, the males moult and begin to look like the females so it is not always easy to identify the sex of an individual. High Park is the best place in Toronto to see Wood Ducks.
Other birds:
2 Raccoons:
Today’s group:
NATURE POETRY
Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light,
And she sits on a sapphire throne. – Barry Cornwall (1787–1874)
Miles Hearn
Thanks for the photos. That female red winged blackbird looked like she was really sounding off! There is a beautiful blue heron living on some vacant land beside our cottage. We see him every summer. We assume he is a male because we never see any baby herons! He flies across the bay regularly.