The World Through Our Lens
One spring, on the only clear day in a week of rainy weather, Bob and I seized the opportunity to go birdwatching. A return trip was in order to the area of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. Not since the previous spring had we visited the protected areas in the Gardens’ vicinity, all of which make for great hiking and birdwatching. It was in the Grindstone Marsh that Bob and I came upon two pairs of Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) idling in the backwaters of one of the marshes. Read more
Bob and I took a drive down towards Cambridge to see if we could locate any of the Sandhill Cranes reported to be nesting in the area of Grass Lake. Our first observation over the marshy lake revealed nothing to us of the Cranes’ whereabouts, but a fellow birdwatcher pointed us a little further down the dirt road where Eastern Bluebirds were preparing to nest. They were going to have to stand in for the Cranes until a little while later. Read more
A sure harbinger of spring is the sight of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) staking a claim on a chosen birdhouse, and that is exactly what Bob and I witnessed on a spring weekend near Cambridge, Ontario. A farmer had generously provided a small selection of nesting boxes at the edge of a field, and they were a hot commodity. Read more
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, in Alberta, Canada, 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. Read more
After spending a few days on Vancouver Island, we returned back to the mainland for a trip to the BC interior. During a brief stay in Kamloops, we were lucky enough to see a number of Black-billed Magpies outside of our hotel. Read more
An early spring rendezvous in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, allowed Bob and me to fit in a stop at Lynde Shores Conservation Area for a quick tour around the bird feeding trail. Near one of the feeders, a beautiful Brown Thrasher was tucked low in the crown of a fallen tree. Read more
The objective of our drive to Comox from Bowser, British Columbia, was to find and photograph Bald Eagles. As we observed a pair of those magnificent birds of prey just offshore, we became aware of a considerable flock of American Wigeon Ducks scooting along the shore of the Salish Sea right in front of Bob and me. 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
