I have driven by a small woodlot in an industrial park several times. This March, I decided to visit it and see whether it was public or private land. To my surprise, I found it was a small Oakville city park called Winston Woods. It has maintained trails and is a bit larger than it looks though it’s stlil pretty small. I enjoyed exploring and noticed that many dog-walkers did too.
The Regular Residents Warm Up to Spring at Winston Woods
I have seen a few Chipmunks this year but this one was looking particularly appealing as it sunned itself on a stump.
I also saw one butterfly but was unable to catch a photo of it. I suspect it was a Compton’s Tortoiseshell. I hope to find more butterflies if we ever get a warm sunny spring day: that won’t be for a while judging from the forecast!
Shagbark Hickories Improve Squirrel Survival
A Shagbark Hickory
The first thing I noticed in the wood lot was the relatively huge number of Eastern Grey Squirrels, both black and grey ones.
With no homes or feeders nearby, I was a bit surprised by their numbers until I realized the park has many good-sized Shagbark Hickories. It looks like there are oaks, too. So they squirrels are probably doing well from the steady supply of large nuts. Certainly the hickory rinds are as thick as mulch along a few spots on the trail.
Birds of the Woods
During my short visits, I saw Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. There were also some strings of holes in a trunk that look like a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been there before.
I was a bit surprised that I didn’t see or hear any Black-capped Chickadees at all. But I may just have missed them.
I watched this Red-tailed Hawk fly in and try to settle out of sight. It was unsuccessful. The American Crow that had chased it here started bombing at it. The hawk gave up and flew on and out of the wood lot.
The American Crow winged back to perch in triumph.
A Hint of Birds to Come
I didn’t see any little Brown Creepers but I did see a loose group of three Song Sparrows. They are one of the first migrants to re-appear in Mississauga and I was pleased to hear them.
I hope to visit the wood lot again later this spring. I’m quite curious whether any spring flowers have survived there and whether there are any Mourning Cloaks or Commas. Time may tell!
Related Reading
Join In
Have you taken the time to visit any new green places recently? Please share your finds with a comment.