I completely forgot about Downsview Park. I would imagine that its expanse of real estate should indeed attract both meadowlark and bobolink, and perhaps it does so, at times, but I seldom think to check eBird for reports from this location because it is so far away and also because I strongly associate the park with Hwy 401 as a means to access it. The 401 is the devil's playground. It wasn't always like that. When I used to work with my father, during the summer between years at U of T, we would use the 401 all the time going from job to job. That was in the early 70's when it was still possible to hit the 401, travel a few stops and then get off it again with a certain alacrity and purpose. By the 90's I would occasionally need to use the 401 to head out west, always out west, because whatever seminar I needed to attend could apparently only be presented from a suitable venue that only the west could provide. Travelling to said venue in the early morning was a nightmare (nightmares often occur early in the a.m.) and coming back after the seminar had concluded turned out to entail stop-and-go traffic. Did I mention that I abhor stop-and-go traffic? Even quite recently, when I drove out to Oshawa to visit McLoughlin Bay and Beaton Point the traffic was light heading out very early in the morning, but coming back around noon, the traffic came to complete stop. No accident, no emergency, no elephant on the highway, just volume of traffic ... at lunchtime! I avoid the 401 during the day, if I can. To recapitulate ... Downsview Park = 401 = frustration = premature aging.
