A special perspective of the Toronto Zoo

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Although I am not really considered a "green boy" by most people, I wear no goat-wool socks and no camel-leather sandals, I did take the Red Rocket to Toronto Zoo yesterday. And I couldn't complain. I left at 6:12AM at the College subway station and arrived at the zoo at 7:20AM, a mere 40 minutes early.

About 8 of us showed up today for a tour at Toronto Zoo. A birding tour. I hasten to say that I am not a birder. No, siree. No religion for me. I am as so many people who smirk at newly converted birders who take a three hour car drive to go trampling around in nature and then come back with stories like "I saw three horned larks, a gray-cheeked thrush, a dickcissel, or was is it a white-throated sparrow, 2 eastern phoebes, and 4 warbling vireos. No sir, I have a head that is firmly planted on my shoulders. No such damn shopping lists for me.

Of course, I happen to be a snakehead, ehhh, a herper, and that's a totally different type of "er". I only go critter-happy about snakes, turtles, and the slimy stuff, like toads and frogs. You know, really interesting creatures. Nevertheless, it doesn't really hurt to see what these, birding ehhhh people do, right?

Off we went, off-track that is, or was it on-track? Well, it was both. It was off-track because we were treated to a tour of parts of the zoo where mere mortals never come, they call that "service area" or "closed to the public" or something similar wherein "you are not wanted here" is the main message. So, that alone was worth coming out here at this early time. At the same time, it was on-track because we followed the track of what was once a monorail train, a train that is since long replaced by the Zoomobile. Obviously, that keeps us under control, since jumping off the track is somewhat bad for one's health: it's deep. But it also offers one a unique perspective as one is much closer to the top of the trees where many birds live.

We were a bit out of luck, birding-wise. It seems that the birds weren't informed of International Migratory Bird Day, so they didn't show up. As our guide explained, last week was great because it had rained and there was a great "fall-out". Now, the biggest things I have ever seen falling from the sky is hail, but it turns out that it can rain birds too. More or less. The rain makes it very much harder for the birds to fly, just as it is a lot harder for us to swim with our clothes on. So, they land. To rest. That's called fall-out.

Well, no fall-out this time. It was more like a fly-away because it happened to be unusually quiet, but who cares? We had a great walk in Toronto's nature, and a very special piece of it on top of that. It was truly a pleasant walk, and as it happens, we did see some birds, and other interesting things.

It was quite remarkable to see how much of the Rouge Valley is actually owned and unused by the Toronto Zoo. It seems that Toronto Zoo is much more than Canada's greatest zoo and one of the top ten zoos of the world. A lot of conservation work goes on behind the scenes. By leaving most of the Zoo property as it is, wild and untouched, these parts have a fighting chance to stay vibrant and diverse, like a real forest, not like a golf terrain. Some people call that nature too. They are sorely mistaken.

The highlight of the tour, for me, was a white-tailed deer. Unfortunately, a tour is not really the time to look for the ideal photo-opportunity, but the pictures give a good impression of the experience.

Another remarkable thing was a beautiful nest of eastern tent caterpillars. They are considered pests by many, but the nest was surely worth seeing!

Unfortunately for me, no snakes, no turtles, no slimy stuff either. In spite of this being a bad day, we did hear a few birds. We saw a lot less than hoped for, but we did see a few. Here it goes: 3 Baltimore orioles, 1 rose-breasted grosbeak, 2 American goldfinches, 2 European starlings, 1 eastern phoebe, 2 white-throated sparrows. Am I a birder now? Help!

Vote it up! White-tailed deer - Odocoileus virginianus Taken during a tour of a natural area of Toronto Zoo. Bart B. Van Bockstaele (All Rights Reserved)