Sugar Beach

Location: At the foot of Lower Jarvis, south of Queens Quay
Date photo taken: 19 February 2017

Sugar Beach, located across the slip from the Redpath Sugar factory, is one of Toronto's newer and already most iconic parks. Half of the park is given over to a beach space complete with comfy chairs and 36 lovely pink umbrellas. The other half of the park is a plaza designed for hosting programmed and more spontaneous events. The two halves are bisected by the Waterfront Promenade. Even in the winter, Sugar Beach has its appeal. On a sunny day like this one, the water looks spectacular and the sand under the umbrellas glows pink. This weekend, the park will once again host Sugar Shack TO, a free event with live entertainment, a marketplace, a specialty bar and of course, some sweet treats.

Shoreline Beacon

Location: Lower Church Street

Date photo taken: 8 February 2016

This new art installation is tucked into a nook on Lower Church Street, just north of the Esplanade. Once upon a time, the natural shoreline of Lake Ontario would have been in approximately this location, before the City extended itself about a kilometer through the use of landfill. This piece, by artist Paul Raff, helps passersby rediscover this part of Toronto's history. The limestone base evokes the natural shoreline, and the projection on the wall explains the rest:

"For 10,000 years this was the location of Lake Ontario’s shoreline. This brick wall stands where water and land met, with a vista horizon." 

Long Tailed Duck

Location: Lake Ontario, off Sherbourne Common

Date photo taken: 21 February 2016

If you find yourself at the shore of Lake Ontario this winter you may see some of these striking black and white ducks. This is a male, identified by the pink spot on his bill and by the long tail feathers for which the ducks are named. Normally they spend their time in the Arctic but they forage for food by diving so when temperatures start to dip and the water to freeze, they move out in search of open water. That takes some of them out to the coasts, but others travel south to winter on the Great Lakes. While their populations are still currently healthy, they were listed as a 'Common Bird in Steep Decline' on the 2014 State of the Birds Report.