The World Through Our Lens
A sudden change in plans had Bob and me with a free day in which to go birdwatching, an opportunity not to be missed. Recent reports had us setting our sights on an area just west of Toronto, an area to which we had never gone birdwatching before. It promised to be a fruitful day, and sure enough, amongst other species observed, we did sight one Sandhill Crane at Grass Lake near Cambridge, Ontario. Read more
On a lark, Bob and I thought we would revisit Thickson’s Woods in Whitby, Ontario, to see if we could find the Great Horned Owls that inhabit that forest. It had been about a year since we earnestly looked for the Owls, and sure enough, one of the beautiful birds was found perched in the top of a tall pine tree. Read more
On our first morning in Banff National Park, Alberta, Bob and I made a beeline for Lake Louise to take advantage of the morning sunshine for photographing that iconic location. When we returned to the parking lot at Chateau Lake Louise, Bob quickly pointed out an interesting bird loitering near the vehicles and seemingly unafraid of the humans coming and going about their business. The bird turned out to be a Clark’s Nutcracker.
An early spring rendezvous in Whitby allowed Bob and me to fit in a stop at Lynde Shores Conservation Area while in the area. The Cranberry West Tract turned up no birds of note, but we did spy a family of deer, a young buck, doe and two fawns, that kept their distance in the thick brush. We then popped over to Lynde Shores for a quick tour around the bird feeding trail. Near one of the feeders, a beautiful Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) was tucked low in the crown of a fallen tree. Read more
Morning walks are the ritual for my sister-in-law, Claire, and her husband, Martin, and from their home in Bowser, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, they have a variety of options open to them, but no matter which direction they choose to go, they almost always spot one or two Bald Eagles in the treetops. Read more
As Bob and I were coming near the end of our visit to the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, we thought we had seen the best of what the protected area had to offer that day, a variety of ducks, Lesser Snow Geese, Spotted Towhees and scores of Great Blue Herons, to name a few, but the best was yet to come. As we rounded a bend in the trail, our eyes fell on several Sandhill Cranes foraging for bits of food in the brilliant sunshine. Read more
Bob and I could not overlook the cacophonous racket overhead when a large flock of Lesser Snow Geese flew by. As we took the circuitous route around the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, one section of the trail seemed to parallel the flight path of the Geese across Westham Island. Read more
As Bob and I rounded the trail that borders West Field at the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, we could not believe our eyes. In a wide channel in the midst of a slough were several groupings of very impressive ducks: Northern Shoveler Ducks, to be exact. We had never seen this species of duck before but there was no mistaking this Northern Shoveler Duck with its over-sized bill. Read more
Even before Bob and I pulled into the parking lot at George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, there was no doubt that we were in for some fantastic birdwatching. On the approach, paralleling the road, was a channel where Great Blue Herons and Common Mergansers were leisurely passing the afternoon. Our walkabout began along East Dyke, but we soon branched off onto a trail that meandered alongside a series of very large ponds. That is where we became enthralled with a flock of Northern Pintail Ducks. Read more