AMERICAN ROBIN EATING A CATERPILLAR, IN FRONT OF HOUSE, THORNHILL, ON

MALE HOUSE FINCH ATOP TREE, THORNHILL, ON

VIEWS AT E.T. SETON PARK, TORONTO, ON

JUVENILE RED-TAILED HAWK, E.T. SETON PARK, TORONTO, ON

   We can ID this hawk as a juvenile light morph Red-tailed Hawk as follows:

• Underside is white with some brown streaking.
• The underside of tail is pale.  Juveniles do not have red tails.
• While perching wing-tips fall short of the tail.
• Indistinct malar stripe, white throat and light eyebrow.
• Cere and feet are yellow.  Also has a long yellow gape, which indicates a juvenile.

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.