I was riding the Humber River bike trail today - unbelievable - what an amazing trail, especially north of the 401 where there it's all dedicated paved path through woods, grasslands, and of course the river banks, and very few pedestrians for about 25 km. Loads of birds. Anyhow, I came to this small pond, the water is low so there was an exposed mud flat (look for the green arrow on the map) with 20 shore birds: 12 Killdeer, 6 Least Sandpipers, 1 Solitary and 1 Spotted.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=43.733414 ... 1&t=h&z=18If you zoom out, you can see the paved bike path well marked on this map.
Also, a Great Egret was perched in a tree across the pond looking very majestic (I actually saw 4 of them at various points in the river from Lake Ontario to this location - it's my impression that they are becoming increasingly common), a Belted Kingfisher was zipping around, also had Cedar Waxwing and many others common species.
In the oddities department:
Further up the trail last week I heard a rooster calling from a thickly wooded area - twice! I went into the woods looking for him but it was too thick, didn't spot him.
If you want to ride the trail north of the 401, and you have a bike carrier, a good access point is the parking lot here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=43.714162 ... 1&t=h&z=17If you want to ride it from the Lake to the end, it's a 55km round trip. South of the 401 parts of it involve city streets and some sections go through heavily used parks. So don't expect to go too fast
North of the 401 I have only ever followed the western branches, which lead through the Humber College Arboretum, all the way to Finch and Hwy 427, and you only need to cross one city street (at Albion Road) - the rest of the way it's all underpasses under the roads. And the hills are all nice and small
