Thanksgiving Paddle - Early Morning birding at the Toronto Islands

It's been a very long time since the last post and quite a while since actually enjoying a noteworthy paddle. Took advantage of the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday to get an early day trip to the Toronto Islands with the hope of seeing some active wildlife. Got on the water about 1/2 hour after sunrise to an empty Cherry Beach.

Trees have started changing but the colours are still in the early phase of their transition. This shot of the Eastern Gap to the harbour showcases the lush greenery of the islands in contrast to the industrial section of the Portlands.

My leisurely paddle in the early morning was rewarded with an sighting of a mink resting amongst the boulders of the islands' northern breakwall. His coat was brown and grey and the clever fellow even sported some moss as a bit of camouflage on his back. 

A little further on, I spotted the head of a beaver swimming close to shore. 

The calm waters of the inner canals were quite peaceful this early in the morning.

Here's a photo from the 'Sunfish Cut', a very much photographed viewpoint of the city skyline.

Just to the left of this shot I came across the first of many (seven) different Great Blue Heron sightings. This one was actively hunting and focused only on its prey completely unconcerned with the human in the red canoe.

There are few favourite spots that have been left in a naturalised condition instead of being maintained as manicured parkland by the city authorities. These areas are usually loaded with lots of dead fall and weeds and don't see much traffic. I make it point to go through them and often just wait for other bird sightings.

Here's a shot of immature, Black-Crowned night Heron hiding along the shoreline.

Also spotted a  smaller, but mature Green Heron perched atop some driftwood spying for minnows below. 

Suddenly, I heard a prehistoric sounding loud croak above me and spotted another Great Blue Heron atop a tree.

Navigating around the many fallen logs and debris of the channel, it became quickly apparent that this was spot was also Turtle heaven. Many different sizes and types were out of the water warming up in the morning sun.

Numerous blue jays began squawking loudly and were harassing a Red-Tailed Hawk in the vicinity. The Hawk found relief by perching on dead tree. Could't get the best shot here.

Moving on to interior of the islands close to the shuttered amusement park, these trees caught my eye. The creeping vines wrapped around the trunks have turned into a brilliant scarlet colour while the leaves on the trees were a bright yellow. The combination made them seem like they were right out of a fantasy movie.

Due to Covid, all the animals at the Island Farm have been moved to another location. Paddling next to the empty corrals and barn was quite silent and little sad.

Headed over to another marshy lagoon off the beaten track where I captured a shot of Great Egret hunting next to another Great Blue Heron. Think these two birds compete for the same food supply and habitat but there seemed to be no animosity between them. Having them positioned so close allowed for a wonderful chance to compare their sizes, with the Great Blue noticeable larger.

The white plumage makes the Great Egret stand out against the shoreline. A second one was at the other end of the Marsh and while lining up the photo, I noticed yet another Blue Heron peaking out behind some shrubbery to the right. 

Paddling a bit more in the weed choked lagoon, I spotted another Great Blue that blended in nearly perfectly with the greyish dead fall along the shore. This one remained perfectly still while I paddle by.

Above me I heard some more trill-like shrieks and noticed another raptor perched on a dead tree branch. Noticeable smaller than the Red-Tailed Hawk from earlier, this one had the marking of Peregrine Falcon.

As I paddled closer to try and get a better photo, it took off but in its place, another hoarse croak spooked me. Seems like I got too close to another,very perturbed looking Heron.

I got the message and paddled off to a final favourite spot, a tiny little pond reached through a shallow stream. Water levels are low here usually requiring getting out a dragging for a bit. No big deal. The reward was a third sighting of another Great Egret.

By this time it was nearing 1pm and the crowds of leisure seeking city dwellers had come to the islands. A slew of motorboats, jet skis and loud human voices  pretty much ended any chance of not disturbing any more of the wildlife so turned around and headed back. It definitely pays to get paddle this area as early as possible. Still to be about a mile or so offshore from Canada's largest urban centre, the Toronto Islands offers some pretty wonderful wildlife viewing opportunities.

WCHA - Northern Lakes Chapter - Cherry Beach Paddle

In an effort to meet local members of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, I offered to lead a group paddle to Toronto Islands for the Northern Lakes Chapter.  It was scheduled for August 27th, but after weeks of beautiful weather, that day happened to coincide with heavy rainfall and extremely gusty southerly winds. The event was bumped a few days to Thursday. Joining me on the outing was Chapter Head, Alex G and local Toronto resident, Bernadette F along with her cute dog, Pookie. Bernadette was able to use public transit to arrive at the location as a shuttle bus leaves from Union station and stops right at the foot of Cherry Beach, our access point.

Conditions were much more favourable than two days prior, but a brisk Westerly wind (the prevailing direction) created some chop for the initial departure. Luckily, Alex brought his 16ft North Bay Canoe prospector which handled the conditions well and I  bobbed around in my re-canvassed Chestnut Playmate. Once in the main canal however, all was calm for a enjoyable tour.

We were greeted by a picturesque family of Mute swans, with mother and father book-ending their two cygnets in a postcard formation. This will be my wife and I walking our kids to school in a few days...

Summer canoe camps run on the island and a group had recently landed on the shore of one of the undeveloped islands to sing some camp songs while we silently paddle by...

Water levels on Lake Ontario were down from their all time high earlier this year, but they were still much higher than anything I've seen before. The shoreline which used to be sandy beach was flooded and getting under one particular bridge meant ducking under or getting your forehead smacked with concrete.

Large fibreglass voyageur canoes took tourists around, yet the local wildlife seemed undisturbed by the grunts and competing splashes of the paddles.

The group spotted two herons in the marshy areas which impressed us with their noble poise...

Due to the flooding, the island train that skirts the waterfront was non-operational and many of the farm animals at Far Away farm were inland away from their waterside pens. However, we were later gifted with seeing a mink swim across are bows.

The wind conditions in the inner harbour were too intense to check out the old Hanlan's point where the old baseball stadium once stood and where Babe Ruth hit his first home run into Lake Ontario waters as a pro-baseball player. Instead, we stayed in the protected channels until we reached the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Great Lakes. At one point it was just 25 feet from the exposed lakeshore, but sand deposits and fill have now left it marooned 100 yards inland. The tree line to the south has also grown so that the lighthouse is no longer visible from the lake as originally intended.

On the way, we got some interesting comments from people riding the Gondola above one of the canals. Mostly, it was how cute Pookie the puppy was while riding in the canoe. The white and brown building in the background is the island church, St.Andrews-By-The-Lake (1884) where the every summer in July, the lagoon fills with all sorts of watercraft for the annual Blessing of the Boats, a neat local tradition.

My re-canvassed stayed completely dry which was nice. I may need to tweak the seat a little bit, but on the whole I'm absolutely delighted with this narrow 14 footer as a solo boat. Plans are to perhaps attempt another group paddle to the Islands in spring. Perhaps we'll have more people turn out after a long difficult winter.

In the meantime, the WCHA Northern Lakes Chapter may run another in another paddling hot-spot in the city - The Humber River Marshes - sometime in late September, early October to coincide with peak fall colours.

2019 Temagami Canoe Festival

Wasn't able to attend the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association 40th anniversary Assembly in upstate New York. Turns out every year there is  small, 2 day canoe-themed festival held in Temagami on the same weekend. This year, I made the drive up on the Saturday to check out the waterside exhibits set up by the main town docks.

One of the neat features was a small brigade of voyageur canoes which made their way to shore and set up camp...

Got to meet Dave from Sewn Home, a new canvas tent maker based out of Timmins, Ontario. He had a variety of tents and tarps setup all with dried spruce poles.

I was there to check out the canoes and paddles of course. Here was a neat one in the booth of a Coureur du Bois trapper. Included alongside the display of  pelts was a hand-made paddle with an etching of the typical travel route in the region from Montreal to Fort Temiscamingue just northeast of here.

 Bob's Backcountry Paddles had a nice booth with wide array of hardwood paddles. Like myself, Bob decorates the blades with some pyrography, mostly maps of local Temagami waterways.

Really liked his portable display stand made from a half log and wire backing...

A solo paddling display was conducted right off the main dock for the audience. You'll also see some folks checking out a red canoe up on the dock in the background. I went over and took a couple of pics as well.

Turns out it was an older model from the Temagami Canoe Co, said to be Canada's 2nd oldest surviving canoe company. The short boat was particular wide, someone akin to a Chestnut Bob's Special. The bow seat was covered with a fuzzy sheepskin top for ultimate seating comfort.

Other wood canvas canoes were on display. Here is a restored 17 foot cruiser made by another local maker, Garden Island Canoe Company. The maker constructs seats with woven nylon cordage that get varnished forming a tough weave that is more ideal that cane for tripping canoes.

Another beauty on display was a 16footer built on the original Prospector form of Chestnut Canoe. The maker, Hugh Stewart from Headwater Canoe Co in Wakefield, Quebec was on hand. Hugh was one of the few individuals to acquire Chestnut canoe forms when the company folded in 1979. This one was being raffled off as a 2nd place prize for a local contest.

The highlight for me was seeing the various birchbark canoes on display. Very impressive was this canoe built by an impressive young lady from Bear Island First Nation with an elder last summer. The canoe made the the trip down the Lower Missinaibi River to Mattice as part of inaugural journey.

The cedar thwarts had etchings of a feather and the maker also implanted feathers in the stem deck weavings...

The main outfitter in town also had an impressive collection of modern canoes...

Inside was a rare treat...another bark canoe dated to be at least 80+ years old but needing substantial repair. With the broken lashings holding the thwarts, the canoe has widened quite a bit, but the woodwork was very neat revealing a skilled builder.

Next year I plan to attend the whole 2 day event with the WCHA and setup the historic paddle display.