Sunday, June 24, 2007

Mississauga Wildlife :: A Walk in the Park

When you live in Port Credit, there's less of an urge to head north to cottage country to experience the natural life. Just west of where the Credit River enters Lake Ontario, there are lots of parks and natural areas that are host to a variety of wildlife, some benign, and some, such as the coyotes in the area (sign, photo below), with a caution.

On the Waterfront Trail, just as it enters Saddrington Park, I heard a crackling sound in the underbrush that fills much of the lands owned by Imperial Oil. This large green space is totally fenced, with a barbed wire top, and many signs telling us to stay out. (It was here that I saw a coyote loping along the other evening.) I stood still, looked for the source of the noise, and saw this deer. It was only about 10 feet from the trail, but on the other side of the fence (center, photo below).

Here's a close up. You can see how serious this fence is. I was the only one on the trail at the time, but other walkers came along. We watched the deer make several fruitless attempts to find an opening in the fence before it headed out of sight, into the center of the green space.

Over by the Port Credit lighthouse, just under the bridge that crosses Lakeshore Road, passersby stopped to watch these nesting swans.



Here's a shot of the Toronto skyline. The CN Tower, just to the right of the rusting tanker, makes a good reference point to give some idea of the distance from Mississauga to the heart of Toronto.


For more photos of Mississauga, see my photo web site for the pages for Mississauga and Streetsville.