Dentonia Park

Dentonia Park is located in a multi-cultural neighbourhood in Toronto called Crescent Town.  It occupies over 6 hectares of land which makes it perfect for sport and recreation.  There's a baseball diamond, an 18-hole golf course, and a sporting complex which houses a swimming pool, an indoor track, tennis/squash courts, and a full sized gym.  There is even an adjacent community centre run by the City for seniors, adults, teens and kid programs.

Historically, Crescent Town was founded in 1887 when Walter Massey purchased the 240 acre land which centred around Dawes and Victoria Park Avenue.   The Massey farm on the property was named Dentonia after Mrs. Massey's family name.  The farm sold eggs, poultry and fresh trout and was the location of the City Diary Company which produced the city's first taste of pasteurized milk in Canada. In 1927, Mrs Massey donated over 40 acres of the Dentonia farm to the Crescent school where her grandsons were being educated.

Eventually the property was sold to the developers who turned it into the present day Crescent Town Neighbourhood.   It's a self-sufficient community with about 10 thousand people tucked away in several high rise properties surrounded by park lands.  There are pedestrian walkways that usher residents to their own community school, rec centre and market place.  It makes excellent use of space *much better than an 18 hole golf course* that is for sure.








For nature lovers, the famed Taylor Creek Park is located at the north end of Crescent Town.  It's a thickly wooded narrow valley great for bird watching and photography.  Great for walks, runs and summer afternoon picnics.  This is where the duckies were spotted cleaning off in the cold wintry waters of Taylor creek.

Glen Eagles Vista (Rouge Park)

Well I didn't spot any eagles to photograph at the Glen Eagles Vista but was able to rouse some pretty common robins...but wait, it isn't spring?

Actually I was surprised to see them at all in the dead of winter. Some of them were actually quite hearty!!

One was as fat as any robin I'd ever seen.  They were roosting in groups on branches of ornamental crabapple trees eating to their hearts content.

Here's the male I was telling you about

The Glen Eagles Vista is a short .5 km trail with beautiful views in the Rouge Valley all year round, although obviously more so in the summer and fall.  When there isn't snow to step through, you'll find a bedrock of gravel stones underneath making it an easy path to view some river valleys and geologic features just off Twyn Rivers Drive in Toronto.

As for my flocking feathery friends, it turns out robins form flocks.  They can and do live in sheltered areas in and around Toronto's ravines.  They like fruit trees so forget about feeding them the little black oil seeds that their chickadee cousins prefer because they won't come anywhere near it.   You'll also find them close to rowan or mountain ash trees from which to feed. 


As for the rotund robin, turns out he's a valiant male who will stay on territory all winter long.  He will sit alone in his ornamental crab tree and live off the fruit and will try and drive away any flocks who try and eat from his tree (although he won't bother with any of the fallen fruit).

All in all, the Glen Eagles Vista is a small but pretty addition to many trails explored in the Rouge Valley.