The World Through Our Lens
Upon learning of a family of Pied-billed Grebes at South Reesor Pond in northeast Toronto, Bob and I made it our destination for a late afternoon outing in hopes of getting a look at them. What we found were two immature Grebes with a mother whose vocalizations kept the pair in check. Read more
Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto is recognized worldwide as a significant habitat for breeding waterbirds, and during the summer months, when fewer songbirds make the Leslie Street Spit their home, birdwatchers will still be rewarded with glimpses into the lives of the colonial species, one of which includes the Black-crowned Night Heron. Read more
The addition of some vibrant red Canna Lilies in my backyard garden this year has had just the result I’d hoped for. Every day, for several weeks in August and early September, I had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit my flowers on its trek south. Read more
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
On a recent day spent cycling along the Waterfront Trail from Scarborough to Ajax, Ontario, Bob and I drew up at a picnic table to have our lunch and rest in the shade. There was lots of bird activity in the thickets of sumac, deciduous trees and shrubs that dotted the wide open space of the trail-side park. When Bob spotted a red and black bird, it took us a few minutes to identify it as an Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius), a Lifer for us. Read more
On Father’s Day, my family teamed up for a hike in Rouge Park, in Toronto, Ontario. For a change of scenery, my brother-in-law suggested a section of trail new to us, beginning just off of Meadowvale Road at the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre. It was towards the end of our day’s explorations that we came upon a female Wood Duck and several ducklings at the ponds along the Cedar Trail. Read more
On one of our spring birdwatching excursions, Bob and I dropped by Colonel Samuel Smith Park in Etobicoke. The favorable habitat of this urban park attracts many species of migrating warblers, and it often rewards us with sightings of shorebirds. On this particular day, it was a nesting pair of Red-necked Grebes (Podiceps grisegena) that stole our hearts. Read more
For a change of scenery at the end of a week of birdwatching in parks around Toronto, Bob and I decided to pay a visit to Oshawa. Our goal was to seek some of the migrating waterfowl that were moving through this area of southern Ontario. It came as a surprise to come upon a Great Horned Owl and two Great Horned Owlets in the same neck of the woods. Read more
Imagine Bob’s and my surprise when we got wind of a Glossy Ibis hanging around in Whitby, Ontario, one spring. The bird’s presence here in Canada is very unusual, and it had birders’ tongues flapping. Word spread quickly as to its location, and people flocked to see the Ibis, in some cases driving long distances for a look at this beautiful wading bird. Read more