The sound of the spring @ Riverwood Conservancy

| Christie

This year, the spring arrived stealthily in Ontario, and suddenly I realized it was gone already.

From March to May, Mother Nature put on her new appearances, and we watched the flowers blooming, as we eagerly awaited them for so long. We enjoyed the sun and the clear skies, the birds and their songs.

Trillium flowers

For an ever-growing city, as Mississauga, the Riverwood Conservancy is no longer a hidden gem. Located in the central part of Mississauga, the Riverwood is home to approximately 180 species of resident and migratory birds. While free bird hikes happen throughout the year with expert birders, anyone can do birdwatching at anytime throughout the park, just keep quiet and the eyes opened.

wood trush

Cities are growing at a faster rate than any other habitat on Earth. Especially Mississauga, one of the largest cities in Canada. The wild life is oppressed, finding less and less space where to live. But this park is an amazing home to much of the wildlife.

white tail deers

A new bird I’ve noticed lately in the park is the Baltimore oriole. This one was attracted by the tree flowers, and we watched its dancing from branch to branch, sipping the sweet nectar from the blooming flowers.

Baltimore oriole

One of the most popular parks in the city for walking, cycling, running, fishing, birdwatching, the Riverwood Conservancy is one of the beautiful urban parks in GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

It is home to several species of wildlife, such as deers, squirrels, beavers, and many species of birds. The dense bushes and the little swamps make a great habitat, letting them thrive as best as possible. Palm feeding the birds, especially the chickadees, is one of the popular entertainments in the park.

If you ignore the city noise in the background, you can enjoy the tunes of the song birds living in the park. Some of them are more vocal than others, and sometimes you can hear several songs at the same time. A lively forest, it is a nice place to recharge your batteries and connect with the nature.

Several types of woodpeckers are to be found in the park, and the red-bellied ones can make a musical show as well. You can also hear their shrills echoing loud in the woods. Generally, hammering against a loud or resonant object is the woodpecker equivalent of singing. Woodpeckers can peck up to 20 times per second.

Hairy woodpecker

While some birds hide and make nests high in the trees, other birds, like the white-crowned sparrows like to hide in safe tangles of the bushes.

white-crowned sparrow

Tiny birds like warblers, and vireos fly from tree to tree, making a real show with their constant flicking of the wings. They hide cleverly through the foliage, hardly letting themselves caught in a camera. This spring was a joy for me, as I’ve had quite few bird lifers: Ruby-crowned Kinglets, yellow-rumped Warblers, and a wood thrush.

yellow-rumped Warbler

Blue jays and cardinals are very common birds in the neighbourhood. While the Blue Jays are normally shyer, the Northern Cardinals could be observed more often perching high in the trees, or feeding on the platforms along some of the trails. You could hear their loud and distinct calls much more often than any other bird, and sometimes you can hear mated pairs sharing song phrases, or chasing each other in the woods.

blue jay

The Credit River is home to a wide range of wildlife.

Credit River

The Canada Geese and the Mallard Ducks are plentiful, making the watershed their permanent home.

Mallard ducks

This spring I spotted a pair of Common Merganser having fun in the water, totally ignoring the human visitors along the river.

Common merganser

Chipmunks and squirrels are definitely residents of Riverwood Conservancy. They come out very hungry in the springs, and enjoy very much the munching of the delicious tree buds. Between the peanuts from the people and the tree buds of the forest, they look like having so much fun during these days.

black squirrel

Thank you for walking with me, and hope you will enjoy the little video😊

Tip(s) of the day:

  • Parking lot might fill up quickly during the sunny days, but you can park on the adjacent streets, free of charge;
  • Wear proper footwear, and watch your steps, as some trails are prone to washouts.

32 thoughts on “The sound of the spring @ Riverwood Conservancy”

  1. The Riverwood Conservancy combined with Erindale Park, even going as far as UTM through a theoretically forbidden passage, makes for great terrain to explore around the Credit River, with autumn hanging on for longer. But it’s true that spring only lasts a single weekend and already the heat wave is starting.

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    1. So much to explore in the neighbourhood, isn’t it? Indeed, the heat wave came up too early this year, and finally we are having some rain these days after so many torrid weeks.
      Enjoy your weekend!! xx

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  2. Nothing beats a walk on the wild side. Glad you have a place like this to visit, thanks to the Nature Conservancy. If this heat sticks around out West for the next week, we may have to forego our usual weekly walk. Thanks for sharing Christie. Allan

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    1. Indeed, we have nice parks and so many trails, although the ones in the city might get crowdy some of the weekends.
      The heat hit us awhile ago, we’ve had some torrid weeks already here in Ontario, and I hear now there is some warning on the West coast. I only hope it will not last long.
      Have a nice weekend Leighton!
      Christie

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  6. Canada certainly has some of the most epic parks. wide open spaces and knock-your-socks-off scenery in the world. I’m glad to see you had a lovely time exploring the Riverwood Conservancy and managed to capture many beautiful natures marvels. Thanks for sharing and have a nice day. I hope all is well 🙂 Aiva 🙂

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    1. Thank you Aiva for your nice words! Mother Nature never falter to offer us nice surprises🙂
      Everything is well here, or so we hope LOL
      Have a wonderful week ahead🙂
      Christie, xx

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    1. Thank you Maggie! The truth is that I took the pictures through several days, but indeed, there is quite a bit of wildlife there🙂 Hopefully they will stay in future, as the city develops at such a fast rate.
      All the best, xx

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  9. It’s a great thing when a park is available for city dwellers and wildlife. I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage hand-feeding the wildlife (they are not pets), but other than that, it looks like a terrific park. Your photos, Christie, are magnificent and you were able to capture so many lovely creatures.

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    1. Thank you Jet for your kind words! I agree with you, hand-feeding the wildlife is not a great idea, and although there are many parks with signs to not feed the wildlife, people still do it, unfortunately.
      Have a lovely week ahead!

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    1. I always wondered where all the deers are really hiding, as the park is not that big, and the side trails have multiplied quite a bit lately. Hopefully they will still have sufficient space in the bush.
      Christie

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  12. Lovely to provide folks with a touch of nature. It was the Trillium that lured me in. My late husband always made a big to-do over finding the first Trillium of the spring. We do seem to need to clean up our act in learning to be kinder to our planet and all that live on it. We’re losing far too many birds in the smoke from all these wildfires, This will be a very sad planet without birdsong. 💕

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    1. I love the Trillium and Trout Lily fields in the spring, they are so gentle, small but so strong😊
      Definitely we need to be more caring with our planet, the cities are growing at a such fast speed, and the wilderness is burning down. I wish the heavy rains from Europe to move instantly to our forests which are in so much need of them..

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  13. What a lovely park to wander in … and not just to spot birds, but also other wildlife (I was amazed to see that the deer did not run away when seeing you).
    And I certainly liked your video – the chirping of the birds and just nature’s sound in general is such a wonderful way of appreciating our surroundings!

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    1. I was quite far from the deers, I didn’t want to disturb them, although I think they are used with people around, as the park can be quite busy at times. Thank you for watching the video too!!
      Have a wonderful weekend,
      Christie, xx

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