Leslie Street Spit

Let me introduce you to yet another wonderful little corner of my city.

Let's look at the pictures first though.

Can you spot the critter in this photo?
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The Leslie Street Spit is a piece of land that juts out into Lake Ontario just south of where Leslie Street begins. My guide, a friend from church, tells me that it is a man-made formation being built up over time by soil being dumped from constructions sites in the city. Because it is very isolated, the spit becomes home to many migratory birds as they rest before crossing the lake, or just settle down there for the winter.
At this time of year, so I was told, one can often see owls out on the spit. I didn't really expect that we'd see anything. I was just going along for a little trudge through the winter-storm-warning weather. It was actually very exciting then, to see some of the great diversity of wildlife that our city hosts. So, in case you guessed what you were looking at in the pictures above, here are the answers:

1. Saw-whet Owl
2. Barred Owl
3. Woodpecker (not sure of variety)
4. Redpolls (two of them)
5. A freezing Lake Ontario

I didn't crop the owls so as to let you hunt for them. Zoom in if necessary.
So, one more locale to add to my list of favourite TO nooks and crannies. By the time we emerged about four hours later, I was feeling quite chilly, but it was certainly worth the trip.

In the Evening, I attended a Christmas concert by the Toronto Chamber Choir. Some pieces by Buxtehude (who I had never heard of before) and Bach's famous Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Wake). I have a friend from OISE who sings in this choir and invited me to come. Once again, glad I did.