Category: Wildlife photography

Photography of wildlife we have observed around the world.

An Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly in Algonquin Park

An Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly in Algonquin Park

Atlantis fritillary butterfly on the ground at Mew Lake, in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

This past summer found Bob and me in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario in search of Black Bears.  The blueberry patch at the old airstrip near Mew Lake Campground was a magnet for two families of Black Bears a year ago, so we were hoping that some of them might have returned in search of this year’s crop.  Instead, the only visitors to the blueberry patch were countless Atlantis Fritillary Butterflies. Read more

Modest Sphinx Moth Caterpillar at Oxtongue Lake

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Modest Sphinx Moth Caterpillar on the ground at Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, Canada

How would you like to come face to face with this fierce-looking caterpillar if you were about knee high to a grasshopper?  It was about 4 inches long (10 cm), around 1/2 inch in diameter (1 cm), and surprisingly quick at navigating through the tangle of grass.  This is the larva of a Modest Sphinx Moth (Pachysphinx modesta) that we saw in the community of Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, near the end of August. Read more

Black Swallowtail Butterfly In Toronto

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A Black Swallowtail Butterfly sitting on a coneflower in Toronto, Ontario

I relocated some Coneflowers in my Toronto garden last fall, and was blessed with the gift of a few more from a friend, and the plants seem to be flourishing in their new location.  Bob and I have monitored them closely since they are said to attract butterflies, and late one afternoon, we spotted this beauty, a Black Swallowtail Butterfly tasting the nectar from one particularly tall specimen. Read more

An Eastern Garter Snake at Oxtongue Lake

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eastern garter snake, oxtongue lake, ontario, pic 2

Bob and I spend a lot of time at my childhood home at Oxtongue Lake, in Ontario, because my parents still occupy the same house all these 65 years later.  That is where I had my first encounter with a Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) when I was knee high to a grasshopper.  Seldom since then have we seen any snakes on their property, but this beauty slithered across the beach property recently, and I was so pleased to become reacquainted. Read more

Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly At Tommy Thompson Park

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hickory hairstreak butterfly on milkweed flower, tommy thompson park, toronto

On a particularly hot July day, Bob and I decided to seek cooler temperatures along the lakefront here in Toronto, so we loaded our bikes and made for   Tommy Thompson Park.   There, along the bicycle trail, Bob spotted this dainty Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly.  It was a Lifer for us. Read more

A White-tailed deer in Algonquin Park

A White-tailed deer in Algonquin Park

White-tailed deer eats leaves in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

On a recent visit to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Bob and I were surprised to spot a White-tailed Deer just inside the Park boundary.  It was only recently that I had remarked on not having seen a deer in the Park for years whereas at one time, they were very commonplace. Read more

Eastern Bluebirds With Fledglings At Oxtongue Lake

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eastern bluebirds at oxtongue lake, ontario

My dad had been trying for 15 years to woo a pair of Eastern Bluebirds to nest on his property at Oxtongue Lake in Ontario, Canada.  Not since the year 2000 had he even seen Eastern Bluebirds in the area.  You can imagine how excited he was when a pair showed up in May 2015 and demonstrated interest in one of his homemade nest boxes. Read more

A Leucistic Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Oakville

A Leucistic Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Oakville

Leucistic Ruby Throated Hummingbird on a fence post at Shell Park, Oakville, Ontario

Earlier this year, during spring migration, Bob and I set off to investigate Shell Park along Lakeshore Road West in Oakville, Ontario.  Our short visit there was rewarded when we spotted an unusual hummingbird, a Leucistic Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Read more

Eastern Comma Butterfly At Tommy Thompson Park

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eastern comma butterfly, tommy thompson park, toronto 6

An Eastern Comma Butterfly was the icing on the cake for Bob’s and my bicycle tour around   Tommy Thompson Park   in Toronto, Ontario one Sunday.  Eager to check out the construction of new cells along the eastern perimeter of the Leslie Street Spit, we had embarked on a day-long circuitous route around the man-made peninsula in the hopes of seeing some shorebirds in the dwindling amount of water in the huge holes. Read more

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