The World Through Our Lens
Ontario is one of the ten provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada.
They’re back! It seems that trumpeter swans, H11, and her cygnet were just taking a short vacation away from their home pond. We were pleased to see that the whole family had returned and were cruising the pond in Milliken Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Read more
Earlier this past fall, visitors to Milliken Park in northeast Scarborough would have noticed that only two Trumpeter Swans were inhabiting the main pond where previously there had been a family of four. Tango, the female or pen, was diligently caring for her one remaining cygnet after the untimely death of her other baby in mid-September. Read more
Along about mid-summer, Bob and I were interested in exploring some new wetlands that we had come to know about, and one of them was Atkinson Park Wetlands or McKenzie Marsh in Aurora. It is located near St. John’s Sideroad and Yonge Street. Bob and I were delighted to find a series of boardwalks that traversed a good-sized pond and wetland, and these conducted us to a paved trail adjacent to another smaller pond. It is there that we came upon a Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) sitting discreetly on a milkweed leaf. Read more
Come join me on a virtual tour of the magnificent Fall Colours In Algonquin Park this past autumn. Even before we entered the Park, the show of coloured foliage took our breath away. At the boundary of the Park is Park Lake, known to many as Long Lake, and as we passed that way, stretching before us was this tantalizing stretch of highway lined with trees dressed for the season. Read more
The location of our picnic spot along the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Park, happened to be very ideal next to a pond where we were rewarded with the pleasure of observing this Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria atlantis). Read more
One summer, two Juvenile Least Bitterns spent their time hanging out at Colonel Samuel Smith Park on the lakeshore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During one of our hikes at the park we found the two Least Bitterns near Whimbrel Point. Read more
Earlier one summer, Bob and I undertook to hike the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park. It is touted as one of the more difficult trails in the Park but also the trail along which hikers have the best chance of sighting wildlife. The 11-kilometre loop skirts nine small lakes and ponds while passing through dense forest. We enjoyed a clear day with intermittent clouds that gave brief reprieves from the blazing sun that threatened to discourage any wildlife from making a show of themselves along the trail. Still, we sighted many turtles and frogs such as this Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). Read more
Bob and I recently visited Lower Reesor Pond in north Toronto because it is fairly close to our home and the day’s weather was uncertain. There had been recent reports of a Green Heron sighted there, and we were keen to see for ourselves what waterfowl might be on location. One of the birds that pleased us that day was a Solitary Sandpiper. Read more
Over the previous few weeks, Bob and I have made countless trips to Tommy Thompson Park, in Toronto, Ontario, in search of Monarch Butterflies, caterpillars and their elusive cocoons. On one visit, another Monarch Butterfly landed on a bush right in front of me, or so I thought until I got a closer look at its wings. The brightly-coloured orange butterfly turned out to be a Viceroy butterfly (Limenitus archippus). Read more
One fall, Bob and I ended up spending most of the day at Colonel Samuel Smith Park at the edge of Lake Ontario in Toronto. Our mission to locate a flutter of Monarch Butterflies started early in the morning, but it was not until late in the afternoon that we finally knew success. There was no mistaking the chosen tree for its branches hung with hundreds and hundreds of these beautiful butterflies, come together to rest for the night. Read more
