Tag: Ontario

Ontario is one of the ten provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada.

An Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly in Algonquin Park

An Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly in Algonquin Park

Atlantis fritillary butterfly on the ground at Mew Lake, in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

This past summer found Bob and me in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario in search of Black Bears.  The blueberry patch at the old airstrip near Mew Lake Campground was a magnet for two families of Black Bears a year ago, so we were hoping that some of them might have returned in search of this year’s crop.  Instead, the only visitors to the blueberry patch were countless Atlantis Fritillary Butterflies. Read more

A Black-Crowned Night Heron at Tommy Thompson Park

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photograph of a black-crowned night heron sitting on a tree at Tommy Thompson Park, Toronto, Ontario

A Black-crowned night heron at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto is recognized worldwide as a significant habitat for breeding waterbirds, and during the summer months, when fewer songbirds make the Leslie Street Spit their home, birdwatchers will still be rewarded with glimpses into the lives of the colonial species, one of which includes the Black-crowned Night Heron. Read more

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird prepares to head south from Toronto

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird prepares to head south from Toronto

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at a Canna Lily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The addition of some vibrant red Canna Lilies in my backyard garden this year has had just the result I’d hoped for.  Every day, for several weeks in August and early September, I had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit my flowers on its trek south. Read more

Modest Sphinx Moth Caterpillar at Oxtongue Lake

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Modest Sphinx Moth Caterpillar on the ground at Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, Canada

How would you like to come face to face with this fierce-looking caterpillar if you were about knee high to a grasshopper?  It was about 4 inches long (10 cm), around 1/2 inch in diameter (1 cm), and surprisingly quick at navigating through the tangle of grass.  This is the larva of a Modest Sphinx Moth (Pachysphinx modesta) that we saw in the community of Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, near the end of August. Read more

Black Swallowtail Butterfly In Toronto

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A Black Swallowtail Butterfly sitting on a coneflower in Toronto, Ontario

I relocated some Coneflowers in my Toronto garden last fall, and was blessed with the gift of a few more from a friend, and the plants seem to be flourishing in their new location.  Bob and I have monitored them closely since they are said to attract butterflies, and late one afternoon, we spotted this beauty, a Black Swallowtail Butterfly tasting the nectar from one particularly tall specimen. Read more

Double-crested Cormorants nesting at Tommy Thompson Park

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double-crested cormorants, tommy thompson park, toronto

Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario, is an amazing destination for anyone who is interested in observing birds, especially during spring migration, but a visit in July was also rewarding for Bob and me when we discovered scores of Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) with their young in the nests. Read more

An Eastern Garter Snake at Oxtongue Lake

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eastern garter snake, oxtongue lake, ontario, pic 2

Bob and I spend a lot of time at my childhood home at Oxtongue Lake, in Ontario, because my parents still occupy the same house all these 65 years later.  That is where I had my first encounter with a Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) when I was knee high to a grasshopper.  Seldom since then have we seen any snakes on their property, but this beauty slithered across the beach property recently, and I was so pleased to become reacquainted. Read more

Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly At Tommy Thompson Park

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hickory hairstreak butterfly on milkweed flower, tommy thompson park, toronto

On a particularly hot July day, Bob and I decided to seek cooler temperatures along the lakefront here in Toronto, so we loaded our bikes and made for   Tommy Thompson Park.   There, along the bicycle trail, Bob spotted this dainty Hickory Hairstreak Butterfly.  It was a Lifer for us. Read more

A White-tailed deer in Algonquin Park

A White-tailed deer in Algonquin Park

White-tailed deer eats leaves in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

On a recent visit to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Bob and I were surprised to spot a White-tailed Deer just inside the Park boundary.  It was only recently that I had remarked on not having seen a deer in the Park for years whereas at one time, they were very commonplace. Read more

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