Latest news with #TorontoandRegionConservationAuthority
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Yahoo
'Pretty evil birds' are dive-bombing pedestrians in Etobicoke, residents say
Red-winged blackbirds are dive-bombing residents of one Toronto neighbourhood, swooping down and pecking at their heads, but an expert says there's not too much the locals can do as the birds protect their nests. On one street in Etobicoke, near Kipling Avenue and Dundas Street W., the birds with the distinctive markings are annoying and even frightening residents. In some cases, if the pedestrians flee, the birds will chase. Ron Glatt, a local resident who has lived in the area for four years, said on Thursday that the attacks seem to be worse this year than last. He said the red-winged blackbirds live in the trees in the area, including outside his house. "We've just really been seeing them be more aggressive than usual," Glatt said. "When people are running, it seems to make things worse. The birds will follow them down the street. We've seen delivery drivers get repeatedly attacked while they're trying to deliver packages. So yeah, they're pretty evil birds." Glatt said his home security camera footage has shown instances where people have been attacked to the point where they have fallen over. Glatt said it would be good if the birds found another area in which to nest. But failing that, he said he has found that staring at the birds, or making eye contact, is one way to lessen attacks. "Walking backwards and looking at the birds tends to work pretty well," he said. One of the homeowners who lives in the neighbourhood told CBC Toronto that her family stopped using the front door to avoid getting attacked. 'A territorial bird just protecting its eggs' Tristan Boswell, another resident, said he was pecked in the head earlier this week in the evening when he was not wearing anything on his head. "It's a territorial bird just protecting its eggs. And it's annoying," he said. "I've seen people, when people are just passing through, get swooped on and they're like, they're being attacked by some invisible enemy, but it's just a bird nesting and trying to protect its little ones." Boswell said he thinks the birds' behaviour is more of an inconvenience rather than a major problem, but he said the city could perhaps put decoys of hawks or owls or blue jays in the trees to ward the red-winged blackbirds off. "Nothing invasive or anything like that... because life is life, you know," he said. Shane Abernethy, bander-in-charge at the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station, an initiative of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, said the nests are "extremely vulnerable" because the eggs have hatched and they now contain live chicks. Abernethy said bird nests and their eggs are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, an international treaty. Moving them is not possible, he said. 'They're not out for blood' "These birds are defending their nests so this is a purely defensive action. They're not out for blood. This is nesting season for red-winged blackbirds and, in fact, the peak of it," Abernethy said. "As a result, they're aggressively driving away anything they perceive as a threat, which will include any potential predators as well people who have wandered a little bit too close to the nest sites themselves," he said. Abernethy said the attacks should end in the next few weeks. He said the birds attack from behind and he recommends that people make eye contact if a bird is spotted close by, avoid getting close to the birds and consider wearing a hat for protection. In a statement, a city spokesperson said the city can't anticipate where nests are being built or how a bird might react to a person's proximity to one. "We encourage the public, if they see or encounter an aggressive red-winged blackbird, to please keep their distance because they're protecting their young and their nest."
CBC
12-03-2025
- Science
- CBC
Endangered salamander to get car-free spring migration routes in Burlington and York region
Burlington has closed a section of King Road every spring since 2012 Endangered salamanders threatened by sprawling suburbs will get car-free access to small stretches of the Greater Toronto Area this month as they emerge from their subterranean winter shelters and journey under the cover of night to their spring breeding ponds. Burlington has closed a section of King Road every spring since 2012 to help Jefferson salamander who live along the Niagara Escarpment make the nocturnal trip to their vernal pools. King Road is closed from North Service Road to Mountain Brow Road starting Wednesday, until April 9. Meanwhile, York Region says from March 24 to May 2 drivers can expect intermittent overnight closures of Stouffville Road, between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street, which runs through the Oak Ridges Moraine to help the migrating salamander. David Lawrie, a research scientist with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, told the CBC in 2023 that because they're small, slow and prefer to travel on dark, rainy nights with poor visibility, a high percentage of salamanders get squashed by vehicles en route. The greyish, blue-speckled amphibian spends winter in abandoned rodent burrows, rock crevices or other moist pockets below the frost line until their spring emergence. The salamanders, who live for up to 30 years, tend to capitalize on a warm rainy March or April night to make the journey to their breeding ponds, often the same one where they were born. Environmentalists opposed to opening up protected Greenbelt lands for development have often cited the endangered salamander as one of the species most threatened by southern Ontario's urbanization. Climate change is also expected to pose an increasing threat to the species as warmer temperatures dry up those spring pools faster than before.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Science
- CBC
Endangered salamander to get car-free spring migration routes in Burlington and York region
Endangered salamanders threatened by sprawling suburbs will get car-free access to small stretches of the Greater Toronto Area this month as they emerge from their subterranean winter shelters and journey under the cover of night to their spring breeding ponds. Burlington has closed a section of King Road every spring since 2012 to help Jefferson salamander who live along the Niagara Escarpment make the nocturnal trip to their vernal pools. King Road is closed from North Service Road to Mountain Brow Road starting Wednesday, until April 9. Meanwhile, York Region says from March 24 to May 2 drivers can expect intermittent overnight closures of Stouffville Road, between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street, which runs through the Oak Ridges Moraine to help the migrating salamander. David Lawrie, a research scientist with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, told the CBC in 2023 that because they're small, slow and prefer to travel on dark, rainy nights with poor visibility, a high percentage of salamanders get squashed by vehicles en route. The greyish, blue-speckled amphibian spends winter in abandoned rodent burrows, rock crevices or other moist pockets below the frost line until their spring emergence. The salamanders, who live for up to 30 years, tend to capitalize on a warm rainy March or April night to make the journey to their breeding ponds, often the same one where they were born. Environmentalists opposed to opening up protected Greenbelt lands for development have often cited the endangered salamander as one of the species most threatened by southern Ontario's urbanization.
CBC
10-02-2025
- General
- CBC
Local angler catches nearly metre-long muskie in Toronto Harbour
Local angler catches 2nd recorded musky in Toronto Harbour in the last 30 years 20 hours ago Duration 3:42 Social Sharing A local angler had a pretty notable catch recently. Dylan Sampson could have never imagined a muskie would be at the end of his fishing line in the Toronto Harbour back in December. "When I saw the pattern, I knew right away it was not a pike," Sampson said. It was only the second recorded muskie catch in Lake Ontario fronting Toronto in the last 30 years, according to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). The other angler who caught a muskellunge — more commonly referred to as a muskie — in the Toronto Harbour back in 2022 was his twin brother. The TRCA says it has had an extensive monitoring program in the Toronto harbour over the last three decades, and it has never caught one in one of its surveys. "I've gone out with him and he's taught me so much ... he was in complete awe when he saw that muskie and it inspired me to get out as well," Sampson said. The fish measured one metre in length and weighed approximately nine kilograms, he said. After a couple of pictures, Sampson released the fish back into its natural habitat. Sampson's excitement is clearly visible in a YouTube video filmed by Darin Morrison-Beer, a friend and filmmaker, just a couple of hours into the fishing session. The TRCA says it's been working to rehabilitate the Toronto Harbour through measures like habitat restoration and improving water quality. Those improvements are conducive to bringing a top order predator like a muskie back to the Toronto waters, it says. Sampson says the catch is motivation to continue pursuing his love of fishing. "My line has gotten stronger my lures have gotten bigger and I'm going to get another one," he said.
