- BIRDING ON THE POINT
- BABY POINT HERITAGE TREE OF PROVINCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
- THE HUMBER RIVER – A HERITAGE RIVER
BIRDING ON THE POINT Residents and visitors alike have long enjoyed the vast and varied natural heritage of one of Toronto’s most beautiful neighbourhoods bordering the Humber River. From the summer of 2020 to the summer of 2021, a long time resident of Baby Point documented and photographed 39 different species of birds in the backyard of his home on the north ravine of Baby Point Road. All are listed below with the dates they were photographed and identified. Featured are 26 of these 39 images.
UPDATE: An additional 21 images of newly sighted species in April and May of 2022, on the same property, have since been added. Enjoy! (Photographs courtesy of Stephen Bartolini)
1. House Sparrow 21/07/2020
2. Hairy Woodpecker 26/07/2020
3. Mourning Dove 14/08/2020
4. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 14/08/2020
5. Great Crested Flycatcher 16/08/2020
6. Northern Flicker 03/09/2020
7. White-throated Sparrow 21/09/2020
8. Red-tailed Hawk 21/09/2020
9. Turkey Vulture 02/10/2020
10. Golden-crowned Kinglet 10/10/2020
11. Broad-winged Hawk 20/11/2020
12. House Finch 25/12/2020
13. Barn Swallow 21/01/2021
14. Great Horned Owl 10/02/2021
15. Song Sparrow 03/04/2021
16. Brown Creeper 04/04/2021
17. Northern Cardinal 04/04/2021
18. Red-bellied Woodpecker 04/04/2021
19. Black-capped Chickadee 04/04/2021
20. Dark-eyed Junco 04/04/2021
21. Downy Woodpecker 04/04/2021
22. White-breasted Nuthatch 04/04/2021
23. Red-breasted Nuthatch 04/04/2021
24. American Robin 04/04/2021
25. Blue Jay 05/04/2021
26. American Goldfinch 06/04/2021
27. Hermit Thrush 28/04/2021
28. Brown Thrasher 28/04/2021
29. Pine Warbler 30/04/2021
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 01/05/2021
31. Magnolia Warbler 02/04/2021
33. Brown-headed Cowbird 02/05/2021
34. Red-winged Blackbird 02/05/2021
35. Yellow-rumpled Warbler 03//05/2021
36. Black-and-white Warbler 05/05/2021
37. White-crowned Sparrow 11/05/2021
38. Baltimore Oriole 13/05/2021
39. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 15/05/2021
Northern Cardinal
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Northern Flicker
Brown-headed Cowbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird in flight
Broad-winged Hawk
Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-capped Chickadee
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
Great Horned Owl
American Robin
Black-throated Green Warbler
White-throated Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Great Crested Flycatcher
Magnolia Warbler
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Pine Warbler
American Goldfinch
Added April and May of 2022 (below)
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (back)
Eastern Towhee
Purple Finch
Purple Finch (female)
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk (front)
Cooper’s Hawk (back)
(Myrtle) Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Parula Warbler
Northern Parula Warbler (back)
American Redstart Warbler (uncommon)
American Redstart Warbler (front view)
Northern Parula Warbler (top) with Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler (bottom)
Turkey Vulture (back) 10/05/2022
Turkey Vulture (10/05/2022)
Cape May Warbler (10/05/2022) front view
Cape May Warbler (11/05/2022)
Bay Crested Warbler (front view) 13/05/2022
Bay Crested Warbler (13/05/2022)
Bay Crested Warbler (female) 13/05/2022
BABY POINT’S HERITAGE TREE OF PROVINCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
A 250 year-old Black Oak (photograph courtesy of David Slaughter), a Heritage Tree of Provincial Significance designated by the Ontario Urban Forestry Council, can be found behind 35 Baby Point Road. Many superb mature trees add visual beauty and welcomed shade in the heat of summer.
THE HUMBER RIVER – A CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVER: Baby Point is a promentory of land sitting above the east bank of the Humber. It is located between modern-day Jane Street and the Humber to its western boundary, with the Old Mill and Bloor Street to the south.
The Humber River, which flows around the Baby Point promentory, was officially designated a Canadian Heritage River at a plaque unveiling ceremony in Toronto on 24 September 1999. The Humber is part of the Canadian Heritage River Systems (see Links tab for more information).
The Humber watershed has provided a home for many in the past 12,000 years, first for Aboriginal peoples and later for European explorers and settlers. More than half a million people of different cultures live in the Humber watershed, both rural and urban, and many more travel to the watershed for work and recreational purposes. The national designation was made because of its outstanding human heritage and recreational values and the contribution it has made to the development of Canada.
Those who live on the Point are influenced on a daily basis by this beautiful river, so important in defining another characteristic that makes this neighbourhood unique.
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Exhibition on the Humber River titled What’s Up With the Humber River?
Please take time to view and enjoy this beautiful and informative exhibition on the Humber River curated by Kate Campbell, Master of Museum Studies and Master of Information Graduate, 2019. (link below)
Many thanks to Kate Campbell and Heritage York for allowing us to share this exhibition with our community. The exhibition was originally created as a temporary physical exhibit shown at Lambton House from January to July 2019.