Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia warbler by Harold Stiver

I saw a small bird with a yellow breast boldly striped with black, busily gleaning something from a fruit tree–insects, I suppose. It was quite striking. It was a magnolia warbler, which might have been passing through to northern forests or staying for the summer. We get quite a few unusual birds passing through in the spring.

Happy New Year, global warming edition!

We had November like the Septembers used to be, December like the Octobers we used to have, a green Christmas, and now pouring rain for New Year’s Day. This is not the climate I grew up with and I’ve moved north! It should be cooler here.

Happy New Year, people!

Update on Pottery Road closing

Pottery Road goes under the Don Valley Parkway and connects Broadview Avenue with the Bayview Extension. It’s an old road that climbs down into the valley. A new retaining wall has been installed north of the road. However, engineers weren’t satisfied that the hill slope was stable and have nibbled the hill back further. The road is currently scheduled to re-open November 30th.

Pottery Road update

Torontonians will recognize Pottery Road as the space warp that gets them from the Bayview Extension to Broadview Avenue north of Danforth. As such, it takes a lot of pressure off other arteries to and from downtown, such as the  big bridge (the Princes’ Viaduct) over the Don Valley Parkway. It’s an old road that winds down a steep hill, ducks under the Don Valley Parkway, and  crosses the Don River via an old cement bridge. This summer the city undertook to improve the road and sidewalk and install street lights. It was supposed to open September 7th.

Pottery Road in the Don Valley

I hope you haven’t been holding your breath.

It didn’t open on time. It was going to open September 30.

I hope you weren’t holding your breath.

The latest is that the hillside above the road is safe but not up to safety standards. I’m not sure which retaining wall  they’re talking about since most of the north side of the road is natural slope. Did I mention that someone just built an apartment building looming over the road? Regardless, the engineers aren’t satisfied and they’re taking measurements and considering what to do.

“The wall is safe…but, it’s not within acceptable engineering limits,” said Gord MacMillan, director of design and construction for the City of Toronto.

Here’s the update. I think they’ll be finished about February. What do you think?

 The City’s design consultants have been working on an engineering solution to increase the stability of the embankment above the newly constructed retaining wall on the north side of Pottery Rd, east of the Don Valley Parkway which remains the sole reason for the continued road closure.   

 On the basis of engineering designs prepared by the consultant, Technical Services is in the process of obtaining price quotations and realistic construction timelines. The General Contractor’s sub-contractors are expected to submit quotations and construction schedules by October 7th 2011.

Unfortunately, we still do not have a date for the re-opening of Pottery Road

Wild weather

LotStreetWiz warned me that there’s a tornado warning in Ontario. Actually, there’s a warning upwind of us (where the weather comes from) and a thunderstorm warning where I live. I got all the cats in by waving treats. Now I’m going out to tidy away loose objects that might be blown over or away. Not that I expect a tornado here but we will get wind gusts and we could get downbursts of wind later.

I lit a big fat candle in case the power goes out again.

Later: loose items like lawn chairs are stowed. One of the cats went out again.

We don’t have a tornado warning but now we have a tornado watch (the next level down) and a thunderstorm watch. We’re starting to get thunder, lightning, and rain. The reports from the west talk about golfball-sized and gumball-sized hail. Oh, and my basement still has a puddle from the last storm, the one where we lost power for over four hours.

Our swim

I found a picture, from last year, of our destination islet. As you can see, it’s not quite a Bum’s Rest, but not really big enough for a picnic.