Milne Dam Conservation Area

[Rotarran]

Spent a couple of hours at the Milne Dam Conservation Park...it's pretty good right now.  It is just north of Toronto on McCowan.  I saw 6 Great Egrets, 1 Great Blue Heron, 20 Cormorants, a variety of species of Warblers (as many as 5 different species), a Sharp Shinned Hawk, an Osprey, Eastern Kingbirds, Blue Jays, Cardinals and lots of chickadees, gulls, ducks and geese (of the regular variety).  I think I saw a Kingfisher too but it was a very fleeting flyby and it was getting dark...but the flight and size profile seemed to match.  Shorebird activity was kinda disappointing...when it gets dry, this park offers some nice mudflats...but the water wasn't low enough and I only saw 2 Killdeer.  

Oh and on my way out I spotted several bats catching insects right by the entrance around 8pm.  First time I have ever seen bats in Ontario so I'm pretty thrilled   .  I'm guessing Big Brown bats...most common apparently.

[BetCrooks]

Yes, it's pretty horrifying how few bats are left. Everywhere we go there are none left. We used to see dozens each night. Very very sad.

AND a strong reminder to all naturalists and nature lovers to CLEAN YOUR GEAR when moving between areas. One strongly supported theory is the fungus was brought from Europe to N.Am. by humans who like to explore bat caves on their hiking boots.

While hopefully we won't be moving such a deadly item to a new area, I'm sure muddy boots could carry purple loosestrife, giant hogweed and many other kinds of invasive plant seeds from one area to another. And yet cleaning boots only takes a few minutes....