I spent a lovely day on Sunday exploring a variety of woodland trails in the Rouge Valley area, but one of the highlights was an over-wintering flock of Rusty Blackbirds at the end of an obscure side road. Looking at ebird, it would seem these birds have been regulars for at least the past 3 winters. I was able to count 19 individuals yesterday, but some of the reports show up to 27. As well, there are sometimes Red-winged Blackbirds with the group but not yesterday. I found the birds very entertaining to watch as they would sometimes seem to bounce and jump around on the side of the road as they vied for the best spot to feed. Sometimes they were quite vocal too, with their eerie squeaky/creaky sounds. Usually I feel lucky to find 2 or 3 Rusty Blackbirds in Toronto over the course of a whole year; so this was a real treat for me to observe so many together.
Note: I was there between 12 and 1 pm and for the first 20 minutes of my visit, I could only find two. Then suddenly the whole flock just appeared on the side of the road. They were feeding on corn and grain that has been spilled in various places along the shoulder. The flock wouldn't let me get too close before flying into the trees, but they would always come back within a few short minutes. There were no other cars and no signs of life from the house at the end of the road during my visit. I have no idea how much longer the flock will stay but hopefully they're not quite ready to migrate away just yet. -Kris
DIRECTIONS: Ok so technically this location is not actually in Toronto, but it's less than half a kilometer east of the city boundary. If anyone knows where the Pie Stand is, you're very close. It's toward the end of "Sideline 34", which dead-ends at a private farm. To find it from Toronto, travel north on Meadowvale Rd past the Toronto Zoo; stay on Meadowvale until it becomes Plug Hat Road and curves to the east. Plug Hat ends at Beare Road where you can turn either direction to reach your destination, but if you turn right (south) you will pass right by the Pie Stand for
even more birds. So turn right onto Beare Rd, which will then turn east and become Finch Ave; turn at the first left onto the Scarborough-Pickering Townline where you will soon see the Pie Stand on your left. Stop. Buy something yummy. Watch the feeder action. Now continue along the road until you reach Concession 3 Road and turn right, then right again onto Sideline 34. Drive 1km and park along the edge of the road. Watch and listen for the flock. Of course you can also just use Google maps or GPS!
Rusty Blackbirds by
Kris Ito, on Flickr
