Mosaiculture – An Artful Garden In Gatineau

jean, mosaiculture 2018, gatineau, quebec, canada

Since the inception of a Mosaiculture Competitions back in 1998, Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal has launched 5 competitions and 6 exhibitions worldwide.  We have been fortunate enough to visit two of these, in 2018 we attended the artful garden of Mosaiculture in Gatineau, Quebec. Read more

Butterflies And Moths We Sighted In Tuscany

Stone cottage at Il Colombaio di Cencio, Tuscany

The morning following our arrival in Tuscany at first looked like it would be dreary and wet.  A light sprinkle of rain dampened the patio stones as we ate breakfast, but by the time we finished our fruit and cereal, warm September sunshine cast shadows of the tall trees surrounding our farmhouse, so we set off to explore the vineyard.  Butterflies and moths were everywhere in our dooryard, on the wildflowers and clinging to bushes and vines. Read more

A Northern Parula Warbler in a Backyard Oasis

Northern parula sitting on a tree limb in Toronto, Ontario

It was this past spring that Bob and I finally visited the Long Point area of Ontario during the peak period of songbird migration.  We had a long wish list of new birds that we would like to see, and on this list was a Northern Parula.  We failed to spot any when in that area of the province but did have one spend the afternoon in our Toronto backyard soon thereafter.  What a pleasant surprise! Read more

Eastern Comma Butterfly At Rosetta McClain Gardens

eastern comma butterfly, rosetta mcclain park, toronto, pic 12

Late this summer, Bob and I popped down to Rosetta McClain Gardens in Toronto to see if we could discover any birds of note but also to look for Monarch Butterflies given the few that we had seen in our own garden over the summer.  What we found was an Eastern Comma Butterfly on one of the Butterfly Bushes. Read more

Dog-day Cicadas Mating In The Heat Of Summer

mating cicadas in toronto, ontario

On a sultry summer day here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, I went out to the garden to tend to some chores.  Imagine my surprise, as I bent to the task of deadheading my Gaillardia, when something clipped the side of my head.  Seconds later, I noticed a pair of Dog-Day Cicadas mating where they lay on the pavement of the street. Read more

A Hummingbird Clearwing Moth at Oxtongue Lake

Image of a clearwing hummingbird moth at lilac bush at oxtongue lake, in ontario.

If ever you have seen a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, you were probably mesmerized as we were by the sheer look of its see-through wings and the way it hovers like a hummingbird.  In fact, you might have mistaken it for one of those teeny birds.  Bob and I have seen Hummingbird Clearwing Moths on a couple of occasions, once in Algonquin Park and this one above in my mom’s garden at Oxtongue Lake, Ontario. Read more

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