This note is a thank you to Lovemypt and everyone else who posted that there are Indigo Buntings at Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga. I visited 5 times over the past few weeks, and spent some time very quietly circling the maintenance loop road near the lower parking lot. Aside from nearly getting mowed down a few times by golf carts full of gravel and mulch, a lawnmower, a Bobcat, and once a dump truck, I also saw a male Indigo Bunting three times. Only once was he singing. Today was definitely the day I will remember. For over a minute, he sat and munched seeds from a tall grass while I took photos and inched closer. (I have a 300mm lens thank goodness but even so you'll see from the photo that he spooked before I got close.)
[attachment=0:vyrr3fsu]RiverwoodIndigoBuntingBetCrooks.jpg[/attachment:vyrr3fsu]
There have been other rewards too: I've seen a lovely long garter snake, a baby cottontail, and a buck with points in velvet.
If anyone else is down there be sure to keep to the side of the maintenance road not the middle. The work crews boot around at top speed. Technically I don't think pedestrians are supposed to be in there.
Also, if you park in the lower parking lot (this is the lot that has an entrance about 5 metres from Burnhamthorpe Rd by the way) be sure to look at the tall dead tree across the road from the parking lot itself. Very often there is a male ruby throated hummingbird perched up there guarding his territory. He's so tiny and so high up, he's amusing to spot. Just a tiny determined bump on the tip of a silver branch.
Bet Crooks
www.naturalcrooks.com
