Southern Ontario Birds – A Tale of Two Flyways
Southern Ontario Birds – A Tale of Two Flyways
In Southern Ontario, Canada, we have the amazing good fortune to live within the overlap of the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways. We have warblers, wading birds, songbirds, shorebirds and raptors all seeking space over our cities during peak migration season.
During the pandemic year where travel was not possible, we took the time to become more intimately connected with the natural world around where we live, resulting in a photo diary of the Covid year, taken in the varied geographical landscapes of our region. From the shores and wetlands of Lake Ontario, to the wild cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment and limestone Alvar environments, to the natural and man made peninsulas of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, the stunning diversity of bird species that either make this region home year round, breed here in the summer, or temporarily stop over while migrating, is truly a revelation.
Organizer
Elizabeth Szekeres (pronounced Sek-e-resh, all of the e’s are short) is a geographer with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies. Born in England, she grew up in Canada with parents who were great walkers and nature lovers. Elizabeth was a free-range child, living close to the north shore of Lake Ontario. Rattray Marsh, the last intact wetland in the Greater Toronto Area, was her playground.
Since Elizabeth retired from full time work in 2017, she has spent a lot of time traveling the globe to explore the natural world and observe birds. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she visited New Zealand, Southern Africa, Hungary, Spain, Ecuador, California, Oregon, The Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica, Newfoundland, Baja California, Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. Once lockdowns were over, she returned to travel, visiting Newfoundland, and then second visits to New Zealand and Costa Rica. She continued with Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland and Costa Rica again in 2023, and then Belize, Guatemala and southern Alberta in 2024.
Elizabeth writes the newsletter for her local naturalists’ club and loves to share her stories and photographs of the birds she observes. She presents regularly for nature clubs and seniors’ centres in the Greater Toronto Area, and has been a previous contributor to the Learn The Birds webinar series.