The World Through Our Lens
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
For the second year in a row, the mated pair of Trumpeter Swans that have taken up residence at Milliken Park in Toronto gave birth to a new set of cygnets…7 in all this past spring! Within a couple of days, Ashton and Tango, as they are fondly known, lost one cygnet to unknown causes, but the other six are thriving. Read more
What a thrill to learn that, this year, not one but two pairs of Piping Plovers have nested on the beach at Darlington Provincial Park here in Ontario. This is really noteworthy for three reasons. Read more
In our quest to see and photograph as many different species of tropical birds as possible while visiting San Blas, one of the best locations in all of Mexico for birding, a boat tour into the mangrove swamps was a must-do activity for Bob and me. And what could be more perfect than a languid birding boat trip through La Tovara National Park, a federally protected ecological preserve? Read more
After spending all day at the Carden Alvar in Ontario, basically patrolling along Wylie Road north to the T intersection and back again to McNamee Road, Bob decided that we should continue to check out some other areas of that protected habitat before we made for home. Cameron Ranch and Canal Lake both deserved a short visit, and near the causeway that crosses the lake we discovered one pair of Osprey already occupying a nesting platform. Read more
Bob and I were surprised when we visited my mom’s place at Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, in late April to see so many Northern Flickers, or Yellow-shafted Flickers as they are also known. On the first day alone, we saw no less than eight of these birds, six at one time in a leafless deciduous tree. Read more
Bob and I were up early one morning in May in our attempt to get to the Carden Alvar, in Ontario, Canada, at a decent morning hour. We’re usually a little slow to get off the sheet, but in this case, we did better than usual and found ourselves on Wylie Road by 8:30 a.m. I know it’s not sunrise, but we still scored lots of sightings, among them several pairs of Eastern Bluebirds. Read more
What great fun to set off exploring the vicinity around San Blas, Mexico, in search of wildlife. The morning that Bob and I scoped out the shrimp ponds on the outskirts of this small fishing community, quite a variety of birds met our searching eyes, most of which we had never seen before. Among those plying the water for something to eat was this impressive White Ibis. Read more
Our first time visiting the Carden Alvar had Bob and me astonished by the myriad sounds of nature that combined into a marvelous symphony: choruses of frogs, whirring of Wilson’s Snipes, echoing conk-la-rees from the Red-winged Blackbirds, and Savannah Sparrows raising their voice in song. On several occasions, all were overshadowed by another lively bit of birdsong that had us mystified…until we finally spotted this Brown Thrasher. Read more