[Ontbirds]Rattray Marsh & Turtle Creek: early morning 17 March 2008

[Wayne Renaud]

   David Hallett did Rattray Marsh yesterday afternoon and it was very
luck-luster.  
   This morning from 7:15 to 8:45 a.m. was a totally different story.
   Along Turtle Creek where it crosses Bexhill I found 3 Black-crowned
Night-herons, 3 Purple Finches, two Red-bellied Woodpeckers and one
Yellow-rumped Warbler.  At Rattray Marsh, at the bottom of the hill off the
parking area there were a total of 8 Yellow-rumps in three small groups with
as many Golden- crowned Kinglets feeding at the tops of balsam poplars.  In
the flooded area just across the boardwalk near the pumping station I found
a male Black-throated Green Warbler.
   On the marsh there was a Common Moorhen along the dense edge of cattails
at the very northern-most end of the marsh ... it was weaving in and out of
the cattails and often lost from view.  Sparrow-wise a descent, but modest,
showing: Song, Lincoln, Swamp, Fox and White-throated, all in small numbers.
   Single Caspian Terns were seen over the marsh and on the lake off Turtle
Creek.
   Off-shore, small numbers of Common Loons, Red-necked Grebes and Horned
Grebes.

Directions:
  Go south down to the end Bexhill which runs south of Lakeshore about 5
long blocks east Erin Mills Parkway; park at the metal gate  The marsh and
knoll trail start at the bottom of hill from the parking area.  This gets
you into, more or less, the middle of main area of the marsh.  Find a street
map to orient yourself and/or follow the the trail map inside the park.
Glenleven Park is located on the west side of Bexhill about half way between
Lakeshore and Nautalix ... down stream you can bird a large part of the
floodplain from the road.
  For those who want to visit the site for the first time or simply want to
know where all the trails area, Mississauga has a map of the marsh and
surrounding trails on their web site:
'http://www.creditvalleycons.com/recandleisure/maps/rattray.pdf'.

Wayne Renaud