The World Through Our Lens
My childhood home at Oxtongue Lake holds a very special place in my heart, and we visit there often. Every season has something special to offer and to excite Bob and me. In early June, it was the nesting pair of returning Eastern Bluebirds that first captured our attention, but with expansive views from mom’s sunroom windows, we saw at least a dozen other species of birds including four pairs of Cedar Waxwings. Read more
Bob and I came home from Ontario’s Carden Alvar very satisfied with our experience in that unique habitat. The combination of grasslands, forests, shrublands and wetlands creates a landscape that is not only favoured by a wide variety of wildlife but also is attractive to those people who go in search of the birds and animals that live there. One such bird that we managed to see was a Wilson’s Snipe. 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
Bob and I had been looking forward to getting up to the Carden Alvar in Ontario, Canada, for at least a couple of years. I was filled with excitement at the prospect of seeing a number of early spring migrants and birds that favour the specialized habitat of the alvar plain, so it came as a pleasant surprise to also come across a rare Blanding’s Turtle. Read more
A moose cow and her calf stand along the forest’s edge in Algonquin Park, in Ontario, Canada, in spring. Read more
Our anticipation ran high the night before our first visit to the Carden Alvar that is located northeast of Toronto, Ontario. We had our alarm set for 5:45 a.m. but I woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. We were on site by 8:30 a.m. and spent hours touring the area. It was around mid-afternoon that we came across an American Woodcock, and the sighting pretty much made our day! Read more
One particular family of Red Foxes in Algonquin Provincial Park has become quite celebrated, so much so that seeing them no longer represents a challenge. On our day trip to the Park in late April, it was exciting to come across not one but two Red Foxes separate and distinct from the other well known foxes. This vixen was spotted near Lake of Two Rivers. Read more
When my son forwarded photos of a Mudpuppy that he and his buddies pulled from Lake Nipissing in Ontario while ice fishing, I thought “how interesting” but gave it no further consideration. I did not realize how uncommon these little aquatic creatures are. Read more
One of the highlights of our January visit to Algonquin Park was seeing a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks. What a marvelous way to spend my birthday, trekking about the trails in the Provincial Park. Our winter weather had been so fickle…fluctuating between spring-like temperatures and those more typical of the Canadian Arctic…that we had no idea what was in store for us when we booked our stay in Whitney. Read more
Our winter here in southern Ontario has been a real mixed bag to say the least. Yoyoing between a series of very warm spells and frigid Arctic air has left us, here in Toronto, with no snow to speak of, and it is now the end of February. What a surprise then, when Bob and I walked along the shore of Lake Ontario in Whitby, to find the water thick with slab ice and the most fanciful ice formations decorating the shoreline. Read more
