The World Through Our Lens
What a delight to have winter arrive on time this year! Cold temperatures and lots of snow meant that our bird feeders were busy from morning until night. And then one morning, we noticed that all was quiet in our suburban backyard. A Sharp-shinned hawk had landed. Read more
It had been several years since Bob and I came across a Northern Saw-whet Owl, the first time being in our local park in late October of 2012. It was that bird sighting that got us hooked on bird watching. It was a long interlude but not for lack of trying. Our patience and persistence finally paid off when we located this Northern Saw-whet Owl on a recent warm February day near Oshawa, Ontario. Read more
It is safe to say that Bob and I probably failed to get an exact count of all the different birds that we managed to see in San Blas, Mexico, but at least we were able to make positive identification of those species that crossed our paths, birds such as this Tri-coloured Heron. Read more
When Bob and I visited San Blas on the Pacific coast of Mexico, our objective was to see some of the endemic bird species as well as others that winter in that southern locale. We had seen a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron in our hometown of Toronto a couple of years earlier. As we cruised through the mangrove jungle on our guided tour, closeup views of these rather elegant birds were fairly frequent. Read more
Bob and I had a long list of sights to see in New Zealand and first up was the gannet colony at Muriwai Regional Park just outside of Auckland. About an hour’s drive north of Lone Kauri Lodge where we were staying on the North Island, it made for the perfect day trip. Over 2,000 Australasian Gannets make up the colony at Muriwai, which is one of only three mainland gannet colonies in New Zealand. Read more
On a mid-June visit to Carden Alvar in Ontario, Bob and I opted to tour the area in the reverse direction from our first visit when we crossed Canal Lake at dusk. First thing in the morning provided better light for photography, and there was no lack of activity near the Osprey nests. We were hoping that the Osprey did not drop its load as they flew over! Read more
Bob and I were so excited as we set off from the pier on our mangrove swamp tour. With Chencho at the helm of our substantial launch, we were confident that many tropical birds would not allude detection. One species that caught our eye on several occasions was a Green Kingfisher, seen here perching at the edge of the San Cristobal mangrove estuary. Read more
It was late spring when Bob and I undertook our second notable bike ride of the season, May 28, and because of the warm temperature, we opted to cycle from Scarborough to the Lake Ontario shoreline. At the first rocky breakwater east of Highland Creek Trail, we spotted 5 Whimbrels grouped on some large flat slabs of concrete. Read more
Patience is a virtue, and often when Bob and I are birdwatching, time is of the essence so patience goes out the window. On one “quick” visit to Milliken Park in Toronto, to check the progress of the recently-hatched Trumpeter Swan cygnets, what actually stole my attention was this Great Blue Heron. Bob left me to my stakeout while he enjoyed the company of the 2-week old cygnets. Read more