The fixed fountain at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

Dear Readers, when we come to Toronto we always like to ‘visit’ John’s Dad, who died in 2012 and who is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. His ashes are interred very close to this fountain, and I think this is the first time we’ve visited when it’s been working (though obviously it doesn’t work in the winter when the temperatures are below freezing). As John’s Dad was an engineer, he’d be very happy to see that things are finally functioning correctly.

To back track a little, on the way to the cemetery I noticed this little fluffball

Adorable! Lots of sparrows have made their homes in the narrow gap between the awning and the wall on this new-ish development. Why Toronto has such a love for Olde Worlde language I don’t know, but I’ve never come across so many Shoppes. This is my first Towne however.

Anyhow, back to the Cemetery. I rather love this place – it’s an oasis of green after the relentless concrete of downtown.

I am trying to get better at identifying Canadian bird calls. On this visit I picked up the calls of an American Robin and a Chipping Sparrow. American Robins are actually thrushes, and i think you can hear the blackbird in the recording below…

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

The Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) is a New World Sparrow – although it looks like ‘our’ sparrows, it’s actually more closely related to ‘our’ buntings. Its call does sound a bit like someone hammering very very quickly with a teeny tiny hammer. Or possibly an old-fashioned sewing machine? See what you think. Once heard, it’s difficult to forget. 

Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) Photo by By Mdf, Edited by Fir0002 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3189699

There are also some amazing trees in the cemetery, and along the Kay Gardiner Beltline that borders it. The one below is a Dawn Redwood – I’d never noticed one without its leaves before, and the shape is extraordinary.

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

And how about this fantastic Red Oak (Quercus rubra) – these old trees have such personality. I almost expected this one to pick up its roots and walk.

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

And finally, I loved this garden, planted along the Kay Gardiner Beltline as a Monarch butterfly way-station. At this time of year it’s full of bulbs, but in summer it’s been planted with milkweed, the butterfly’s most important foodplant.

So, this was a lovely walk on what looks like one of the sunnier days of the holiday – the weather definitely looks as if it’s taking a turn for the worse next week. Fingers crossed that the forecast is wrong!