The World Through Our Lens
Photography of wildlife we have observed around the world.
When hiking the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park, we took a lunch break near the top of the loop a short distance beyond Wolf Howl Pond. Two small ponds made an inviting place to have our picnic lunch, and there was so much activity around the water that we were fully entertained while we ate. One Lance-tipped Darner Dragonfly repeatedly landed on a submerged log directly in front of our picnic spot. Read more
Along about mid-summer, Bob and I were interested in exploring some new wetlands that we had come to know about, and one of them was Atkinson Park Wetlands or McKenzie Marsh in Aurora. It is located near St. John’s Sideroad and Yonge Street. Bob and I were delighted to find a series of boardwalks that traversed a good-sized pond and wetland, and these conducted us to a paved trail adjacent to another smaller pond. It is there that we came upon a Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) sitting discreetly on a milkweed leaf. Read more
The location of our picnic spot along the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Park, happened to be very ideal next to a pond where we were rewarded with the pleasure of observing this Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria atlantis). Read more
Earlier one summer, Bob and I undertook to hike the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park. It is touted as one of the more difficult trails in the Park but also the trail along which hikers have the best chance of sighting wildlife. The 11-kilometre loop skirts nine small lakes and ponds while passing through dense forest. We enjoyed a clear day with intermittent clouds that gave brief reprieves from the blazing sun that threatened to discourage any wildlife from making a show of themselves along the trail. Still, we sighted many turtles and frogs such as this Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). Read more
Over the previous few weeks, Bob and I have made countless trips to Tommy Thompson Park, in Toronto, Ontario, in search of Monarch Butterflies, caterpillars and their elusive cocoons. On one visit, another Monarch Butterfly landed on a bush right in front of me, or so I thought until I got a closer look at its wings. The brightly-coloured orange butterfly turned out to be a Viceroy butterfly (Limenitus archippus). Read more
One fall, Bob and I ended up spending most of the day at Colonel Samuel Smith Park at the edge of Lake Ontario in Toronto. Our mission to locate a flutter of Monarch Butterflies started early in the morning, but it was not until late in the afternoon that we finally knew success. There was no mistaking the chosen tree for its branches hung with hundreds and hundreds of these beautiful butterflies, come together to rest for the night. Read more
Last week, Bob and I walked over to Milliken Park to check up on the Trumpeter Swan Cygnets and search for Monarch Butterflies. As we busied ourselves photographing a beautiful Monarch specimen on a milkweed flower, we became distracted by numerous Cedar Waxwings perching in the top of a dead tree. We were happy to see that a number of those birds were still at the park. When I glanced into the crown of a nearby maple tree, I was dumbfounded as to what I was seeing. It looked like a huge turban made out of cloth, but then I recognized it as a hornet”s nest. It was huge! Read more
One summer, Bob and I made for Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We were certain, given the large number of Monarch Butterfly larvae that we had seen before, that we would be able to find a chrysalis on one of the many Milkweed plants. Our memory served us well as to the locations of a good share of the well-advanced larvae, but it took us two days to actually locate a Monarch’s chrysalis amid the fields of stately Milkweed plants. Our persistence had paid off! Read more
Bob and I had put in a very full day in Algonquin Provincial Park on the last day of our visit to that wilderness area so were heading home to Toronto late in the afternoon. We had no reason to stop again until we got home…that is until we spotted a young Porcupine hobbling across the pavement of the South Portage Road near Dwight, Ontario. Read more
Bob and I cannot get enough of exploring the wilderness in Algonquin Provincial Park here in Ontario. It was while hiking the Mizzy Lake Trail that we came upon a Moose cow and her calf standing in the muddy water at one end of a lake. Read more
