Discovering The World Through Our Lens
When I suggested a walk in Rouge National Urban Park one day, I jokingly said that maybe we would see an owl. About an hour later, that prediction came true when I almost walked up to a beautiful Barred Owl sitting low in a small deciduous tree. Read more
It was a rainy afternoon when Bob and I finally made it to Lake Matheson to explore the walking tracks there. The famous reflection of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman did not materialize on the lake’s surface, but we sure had dandy views of a New Zealand Bellbird alongside the trail. Read more
On a recent wintry day, Bob and I headed to our local park for some fresh air and a bit of exercise. As we walked the asphalt trail through a wooded section of the park, I noticed movement off to the side of the walkway. A young Virginia Opossum had dared to be out of its den during daylight hours! Read more
Amherst Island is situated in Lake Ontario near Kingston, and for at least a couple of years, Bob and I had intended to visit it. The intention was to photograph birds of prey that winter there. Our explorations were enriched by of a healthy population of White-tailed Deer that casually foraged in different areas. Read more
From the patio door, on our second morning at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, I saw dense fog hemming in the mountains and feared, at best, an overcast if not a rainy day. A glance at the clock revealed it to be only 5:30 a.m. Two hours later, the fog was lifting, and the sun bathed the hillsides in golden showers of light. Read more
Bob and I arrived at Hilltop Camp in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park exhausted after an extremely long day that saw us traveling from Kruger National Park and across Swaziland to get there. Over dinner, we had views of the Park from the expansive restaurant patio that overlooked muted silhouettes of undulating mountaintops while an armed guard sat unobtrusively in the shadows and watched for wildlife that might cross the thin electric wire just below the terrace. Read more
After leaving Muriwai and the Gannet colony, Bob and I planned to make a stop at Ark in the Park en route back to our lodgings. Ark in the Park is a conservation area of note in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park of Auckland. Situated in Cascade Kauri Park, it is where concerted efforts are being made to restore the ecology of the area to its natural state. Read more
On what seemed a very ordinary winter day, Bob and I took a leisurely walk over to one of our local parks to escape the routine of familiar household chores. Milliken Park in Toronto, Ontario, was almost deserted. Though we scanned bushes and trees, not a single bird was seen until I noticed a solitary Cooper’s Hawk perched on a sunlit branch. Seconds later, the hawk launched into the air and nabbed a Big Brown Bat that was flying by. Read more
On a bright, sunny Saturday in mid-October, Bob and I decided to make a trip to the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario. A fellow birder had reported groups of Sandhill Cranes in that vicinity where corn fields had recently been harvested. At first, we were afraid the drive would be all for naught, but in the end, we located close to 200 of these elegant birds. Read more