MALE BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, STREET NEAR HOUSE, THORNHILL, ON

GREAT EGRET, E. T. SETON PARK, TORONTO, ON

BANK SWALLOW IN FLIGHT & NESTING AREA, E.T. SETON PARK, TORONTO, ON

   Even though the photo of the bird is fuzzy due to its distance and fast flying we can ID this bird as a Bank Swallow as follows:

• Clean white below with dark breast-band.
• Relatively long white tail; dark at the end.
• Underwing pattern: leading edge darker than portion behind it.
• This swallow was among a flock of swallows nesting in holes in a vertical sandbank along the banks of the Don River.  Vertical sandbanks are typical nesting areas for Bank Swallows.  The second photo shows the vertical sandbank (middle left) where these swallows were nesting and flying into and out of.

   The Bank Swallow is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 307.

BREEDING CHIPPING SPARROW, E.T. SETON PARK, TORONTO, ON

   We can ID this sparrow as a breeding Chipping Sparrow as follows:

• Bright rufous crown.
• Black eye-line extening to bill.
• White eyebrow.
• Gray face and white throat.
• Unstreaked whitish/grayish underparts.
• Grayish rump.
• Mottled rufous and brown upperparts.
• Pink-orange legs.

   The Chipping Sparrow is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 306.

BREEDING EUROPEAN STARLINGS, PALMER PARK, PORT PERRY, ON

SONG SPARROW, PALMER PARK, PORT PERRY, ON

   We can ID this sparrow as a Song Sparrow by its brown streaks converging into a central spot on its chest and its brown cap with a central gray stripe.

MALE NORTHERN CARDINAL, MILL POND PARK, RICHMOND HILL, ON