Tag Archives: Great Blue Heron

Milliken Park

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Suburbia spread over the farms of Scarborough following World War 2 moving from Ellesmere Road to Sheppard Avenue and then Finch Avenue. By the 1980s the farms between Finch Avenue and Steeles Avenue were under development. As part of a development proposal it is common for the city to request the creation of parks in exchange for increased density. Milliken Park was created in one of these deals. Milliken was a farming community that formed on both sides of Steeles Avenue in the Kennedy Road area, beginning in 1798. South of Steeles was part of Scarborough while the north side was in Markham. Since the two townships had been surveyed separately there was a misalignment between McCowan Road on either side of Steeles and the city wanted to take advantage of the developers to have them realign the intersection.

The former farm of Alfred Myles occupied Lot 22 in Concession 5 and had a tributary of Highland Creek flowing through it. Modern flood control techniques include the creation of ponds to collect run-off from spring melting and heavy rainstorms. These ponds are usually engineered to help purify the water before allowing it to flow into the local watershed. The Toronto Archives aerial image below shows the Myles farm in 1983. The blue line is Steeles Avenue and the brown one is McCowan Road. The green line on the left will become the current alignment of McCowan Road so that it meets with its Markham counterpart. The green oval encloses the newly created pond and the existing woodlot beside it. Subdivisions are just starting to encroach from the south.

The picture above shows the property under development as a park but it wouldn’t have its official opening until ten years later in 1993. During this time the pond would be dug and the earth they removed would be piled up in little hills around the pond. To the south of the pond a larger hill would be raised. Trees and grass were planted and in the north west part of the park extensive gardens were laid out. These have become the backdrop for many wedding pictures.

The larger plants in the middle of some flower gardens in the park are a type of flowering tobacco. Known as Jasmine Tobacco or Sweet Tobacco it is grown as an ornamental plant and isn’t cultivated for smoking purposes.

Throughout the park various trees have been identified with name plates to help people learn the types of trees that surround us everyday. The tree in the picture below is a White Oak which gets its name from the pale colour of the wood.

There’s a splash pad and an extensive set of playground slides and swings to keep the little ones entertained. Picnic and bbq areas can also be found scattered around the park and fireworks are displayed every July 1 for Canada Day when there isn’t a pandemic going on.

The pond is the central piece of the park. A paved pathway makes its way around the pond and there’s a short boardwalk and viewing platform. The pond also serves to hold storm water while pollutants from the surrounding subdivisions settle. The water is then released into Highland Creek without carrying these chemicals into Lake Ontario.

Several Red-eared Sliders are living in the pond. These turtles are native to Florida and the Lower Mississippi River but have become the most common turtle to be sold as an aquarium pet. Red-eared Sliders that live past the first couple of years can be expected to survive for 30 years and this is longer than some people are prepared to keep them. So, thinking it doesn’t matter, they release them into local ponds like the one at Milliken Park. They then outcompete the native turtles for food and nesting sites. Often the native Painted Turtles become exterminated in the process.

Goldfish that are released into the wild can grow to very large size because they adapt to the size of their environment. The Toronto Region Conservation Authority reports catching ones that weigh a kilogram when they’re doing their fish surveys. A few goldfish released into a pond like Milliken Pond can increase to the thousands in just a few years because they are very prolific. There’s certainly thousands of them in Milliken Pond.

The pond is ringed with cattails which are a natural way to purify water. Since the pond is designed to remove contaminants from the surrounding drain water, these plants have been allowed to grow all the way around the pond. They naturally absorb chemicals, including phosphorus, out of the water and store it in the plant fiber. This allows the water released from the pond to have less of these chemicals in it. The willow tree, with the long light green hanging branches, in the picture below has a Great Blue Heron standing on the top branch.

Great Blue Herons are quite common in Ontario and their numbers are increasing. There were over 1,600 colonies throughout Ontario in 1976 and this had almost doubled by 1991 with a 55% increase in the number of nesting pairs over that same period. Their numbers continued to climb over the past three decades and now you can find one or more on almost every river and pond in the GTA. This one was casually preening its feathers and has a couple stuck in its mouth in the picture below.

There’s at least one large white Japanese Koi Carp in the pond. These fish can live for 35 years, grow to 35 inches in length and reach 35 pounds in weight. This one was likely about 18 inches long.

Land grants in Scarborough were 200 acres, usually completely covered with ancient forests. To earn patent, or ownership, of the land 5 acres had to be cleared and fenced. When that was done the surrounding forest be cut and the land prepared for farming. Over the years farmers would clear most of the property but almost everyone left a stand of trees from which they could cut firewood, fence posts and perhaps collect some maple sap for making syrup in the spring. The wood lot on Alfred Myles property is on the west side of the pond and has a series of trails that provide some much needed shade on hot summer days.

The park is home to many small mammals including black and red squirrels, chipmunks, and of course Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. These are perhaps the most common of the five rabbit and hare species that are native to Southern Ontario.

Monarch butterfly numbers are estimated based on the size of area in Mexico where they spend the winter. To have a sustainable population an overwinter area of 6 hectares is considered necessary. This past winter the butterflies only occupied slightly more than 2 hectares of the site. This means that there will likely be a lot fewer Monarchs to view this year. The one below appears to be still sleeping on this early Sunday morning.

As for the community of Milliken after which the park is named, there isn’t much left. The most visible reminder is Ebenezer United Church at the corner of Brimley Road. The 1877 county atlas for Scarborough Township shows a Methodist Church on the south side of Steeles while the one for Markham Township places it on the north side of the road as it is today. This happened because 1878 was the year the congregation decided to replace their original building with with this brick one constructed in the gothic revival style. They worshiped in the first church while they erected the new one across the road.

Benjamin Milliken II was the son of the founder of Milliken and he built this home in 1855. However, it’s technically in the ghost town of Haggerman’s Corners. And that, as they say, is a different story. One that we haven’t written yet.

Milliken Park has extensive paved trails, interesting wildlife and is the perfect place for friends and family to spend a relaxing afternoon.

Google Maps Link: Milliken Park

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The Flood Control Pond at G. Ross Lord Park

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Sunday, August 8, 2021

G Ross Lord Park is one of our favourite places as followers of our Facebook page will know. We post wildlife and nature photos from there almost every week and the variety of creatures is outstanding. This post focusses on the flood control pond and the surrounding woods and grasslands and pays particular attention to the wide variety of birds that can be found there. The County Atlas from 1877 shows that there were two dams on the West Don River in the area that is now G Ross Lord Park. The lower pond supplied water to a saw mill and it is this flood plain that was used to create the flood control pond in G Ross Lord Park.

Following Hurricane Hazel in 1954 it was decided that flood control measures would be implemented to control the release of water to downstream areas. A dam was built on the West Don River near Dufferin and Finch that would be capable of holding five and a half million cubic metres of water. The G Ross Lord Dam was completed in 1973 and the flood control pond can rise by as much as five metres following a major rain event or during spring thaws.

It has been common over recent summers to see a pair of Herons and an Egret at the pond. This year there has been up to 14 Egret and 4 Heron at the same time. There’s five Egrets and one Heron in the picture below.

This aerial photo comes from the Toronto Archives and shows the site in 1971 before the flood control pond was created. The blue shows where the West Don River used to flow around a wide ridge of land and reveals that the hydro towers were originally located on land.

The dam flooded a large area of land that expands dramatically after every heavy rain event. A soon as the rain has stopped the dam is opened to allow the water to slowly drain away to create room for the next rain storm.

Although this is a man made pond it was formed around a river and has become home to a wide range of wildlife. The baby Painted Turtle featured below is native to the area but the Red-eared Slider I saw last year is a domestic pet that has been dumped in the pond. Over the years I have often seen a large Snapping Turtle just up-stream from the pond.

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to see a pair of Peregrine Falcons land on the mud flats when the pond was at a low point. There are a few nesting pairs around Toronto but most of them are in the area of Lake Superior.

There are often people fishing in the pond where they catch Brown Bullhead, Carp, Pumpkinseed and White Suckers. The Herons, Egrets and Cormorants live here in large numbers because of the easy fishing when the water level is lower. The Heron in the picture below has just speared a young sucker.

Cedar Waxwings live in the forests surrounding the flood control pond. They like to sit on branches and fly out over the water to snatch insects out of the air. There are several different types of damselflies and dragonflies that hover over the pond and make great snacks for the birds.

It’s common to see both Red-tailed Hawks and Copper’s Hawks in the area around the pond. The Cooper’s Hawk in the picture below is one of a pair that is nesting in the trees on the north side of the pond.

The image below shows the pond looking toward the east when the water is at it’s lowest level. When flooded, it can rise well into the trees on the other side as well as covering the place where this picture was taken.

Woodpeckers are very common in the park and there are at least three different species that feed off the bugs in the trees that have died from being flooded around the pond’s edge. The large Pileated Woodpecker is less common than the Downey and Hairy ones that can be found on almost every visit. The picture below shows a male Downey Woodpecker.

Spotted Sandpipers are shore birds that can be found all around the edges of the pond where they compete with Killdeer for the small insects and minnows that live there.

Over the years I have watched a pair of Belted Kingfishers working the river just upstream from the flood control pond. This year, they appear to have moved downstream to the pond where they can be heard before they are seen. Kingfishers are one of the chattiest birds and seldom fly without filling the air with their loud rattling scolding noises. They will sit on a branch until they see a fish under the water and they will dive at great speeds into the water to come up with their lunch. Both the male and female can be seen in the picture below.

The grasslands and new growth forests along the edge of the flood control pond have become home to a wide variety of songbirds. Various warblers share the trees with American Goldfinch and make for a nice splash of colour.

It’s alost certain that every visit to the flood control pond will be rewarded with the sight of Cardinals. These beautiful birds mate for life and can be seen and heard all year around.

When people think of bird watching in the Toronto area they often think of Tommy Thompson Park which is known for the wide variety of birds that can be seen there. If you live in the northern part of the city you may find that G. Ross Lord Park is more convenient and also has an amazing variety of birds.

Google Maps Link : G Ross Lord Park

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Hiking the GTA #100 – Amazing Animals

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April 28, 2014 to July 18, 2015

Presented below is a gallery of animal pictures taken during the first 100 hikes on the Hiking the GTA adventure.

On July 21, 2015 I published my 100th post in this blog under the title Hiking the GTA #100 – Greatest Treks. That post looked back at the creation of Hiking the GTA and listed the top 15 hikes as determined by activity on WordPress. This post presents some of the amazing animals that we encountered along the way. By hiking quietly and keeping off of the beaten path you have the opportunity to come face to face with some of the wide variety of wildlife we share our parks with. Most of the animals are more afraid of you than you are of them and will disappear quickly. In reality some of the plants in our parks are more dangerous than the wildlife. The following pictures are in the order in which I took them except that I saved my personal favourite for last. Links to the related articles are provided where additional descriptions of the animals are presented.

This White Tail Deer buck was following me through the woods along Wilket Creek on June 22, 2014. This was the only creature I saw all year that made me nervous as I’m usually the one doing the following.

The little baby Cross Orb Weaver spiders in this picture are just hatching and look like grains of pepper leaving the egg sac. The mother spider had previously brought a Daddy Long Legs spider into the web to provide a breakfast to the hatchlings. Seen near Middle Road Bridge on Aug. 16, 2014

This Red Tailed Hawk was feasting near Barbertown on Aug. 23, 2014.

Also seen in Barbertown was this Dekay’s Brown Snake on Aug. 23, 2014

The Monarch Butterfly below was seen at the forks of the Don on Sept. 14, 2014.

Spadina House has it’s own resident fox as photographed on Dec. 21, 2014.

This Snowy Owl was seen at the Adamson Estate on Jan. 24, 2015

This coyote was photographed in West Deane Park on Jan. 31, 2015

The beaver in this picture was seen in Etobicoke Valley Park on Feb. 28, 2015

This White Egret was fishing near the dam at The Old Mill on May 10, 2015.

The Red Breasted Grosbeak below was photographed in Norval on May 16, 2015.

This Trumpeter Swan, complete with tracking tag, was seen at the mouth of the Credit River and featured in The Ridgetown – Port Credit on May 23, 2015.

This Black-crowned Night Heron was published in The Forks of the Credit – The Stone Cutter’s Dam on July 18, 2015. Unlike the Great Blue Heron in the cover photo it does not have long legs and neck.

Hiding in plain sight in the picture below is a new born White Tail Deer Fawn. This is my favourite picture of the past year and was taken near the Barber Paper Mills on June 6, 2015.

This is just a sample of the some of the amazing animals we saw on our journeys in the first 100 hikes in this blog. Many others were featured and many more will yet be photographed on future hikes.

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Newmarket Ghost Canal

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Sunday June 21, 2015

It was the first day of summer and although the sky was threatening rain it wasn’t actually supposed to happen. I decided to check out the remains of the partially constructed Newmarket Canal. I parked in the conservation parking lot off of Green Lane near the second concession. The East Holland River crosses here and heads north out of
Newmarket. I walked about 15 minutes south of Green Lane to where the third lock on the abandoned canal was built to start my investigation of the canal.

The idea of building a canal to link Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe had it’s beginnings in the 1820’s. Following the War of 1812 greater consideration was given to the moving of goods and people and a period of canal building began. The first Welland canal opened in 1829, the Rideau in 1832 and Trent-Severn in 1833. An idea was brought forward to link Lake Ontario near Toronto with Lake Simcoe and then Georgian Bay. The project never got past the drawing board however and was abandoned until Rowland Burr resurrected it in the 1850’s. In 1857 he had some success and the government commissioned the Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay Canal. The idea was to use the Humber and Holland Rivers to reach Cook’s Bay on Lake Simcoe. With all the dredging and locks that would have been required the cost became too great and the idea was put on the shelf.

William Mulock was born in 1844 and was a member of parliament from 1882 until 1905. Serving as the MP for Newmarket, Mulock revived the idea in response to his constituent’s requests to do something about rising railway prices. Mulock envisioned the canal extending only as far as Newmarket with a possible future extension to Aurora. In 1904 Mulock proposed the canal which began construction in 1906. The first section from Lake Simcoe to Holland Landing would require no locks but there would be three locks between there and Newmarket. The third lock was intended to lift boats 11 feet but as can be seen below has been filled in and is now part of Bayview Park.

The dam has also been partially filled in as the first three sections are near ground level behind the dam. A sluice gate allows the river to bypass the old lock.

Black Raspberries grow along the sides of the trail between lock number three and Green Lane. It looks like there will be a nice crop coming soon for those who live in the area.

Four swing bridges were constructed of which only the one near Green Lane remains. This one was built on the Kelley Farm and was locally known as the Kelley Bridge. The blue swing mechanism can be seen under the new pedestrian bridge in the picture below. The bridge would have swung across to rest on the concrete support to make way for a ship to pass through the canal.

The gears that ran the swing bridge remain in place although the bridge was never used in that manner. It was used as a stationary steel truss bridge to carry Green Lane over the Holland River until 2002 when it was replaced with the newly widened road and bridge. The earlier truss bridge was removed in 2004 for safety reasons and the swing bridge works painted to help preserve them.

The paved path works its way up the west side but I chose the less used dirt path on the east. The trail leads to a hydro corridor and then through a marsh. I kept following a set of human footprints that led me across two small streams and through a field onto an abandoned piece of roadway. From there I could see the second lock. Great Blue Heron seem to like the river and local marshes. I saw at least three different ones as I made my way along the river.

A red car hood has been tossed off of the bridge on the second concession and into the East Holland River. A tree is taking advantage and growing inside the car part.

Lock number two was the tallest of the three rising 26 feet. An old concrete bridge still spans the river on the second line but it was added after the canal was abandoned and a swing bridge was no longer required. This is now an abandoned bridge across an older abandoned canal lock. Rogers Reservoir was intended to contain some of the water required to operate the canal and the canal walls extend well beyond the actual lock here to form the sides of the reservoir.

The trail continues into Holland Landing where lock number one stands abandoned. It’s lift was 16 feet and is the only one of the three locks that the river still runs through. Holland Landing has it’s own collection of historic buildings including an 1870 court house and two churches from the 1840’s. It’s interesting to ponder what might have become of the village if it had been home to one of the locks on a functioning canal system.

The project ran way over budget and construction was about 2/3 complete in 1911 when the Federal Government changed after 15 years of Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals to Robert Borden’s Conservatives. Construction was stopped while the new government reviewed the project, ultimately determining that there simply wasn’t enough water to make it work. Calculations showed it would take over 2 weeks to fill the locks and so the project was abandoned. No further work was done until 1924 when a crew was sent around to make the locks safe. The picture below of the first lock shows the mounting position for the swing bridge for Old Yonge Street which has since been removed.

Although his proposal for a canal to Newmarket ended in disaster, earning the nickname “Mulock’s Madness”, he managed to have a very successful career after leaving politics. He worked in the justice system serving as Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of Ontario from 1923 until 1936. He passed away in his 100^th year having earned his own nickname, “The Grand Old Man of Canada”, and a street name in Newmarket.

A story published in Newmarket Today on Feb. 9, 2019 contains considerable detail much of it setting the record straight on some fake facts that can be found on the internet. Included among them is the idea that there was insufficient water to operate the canal. Richard MacLeod is an expert on Newmarket history (The History Hound) and his article can be found here.

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