The World Through Our Lens
For a change of scenery at the end of a week of birdwatching in parks around Toronto, Bob and I decided to pay a visit to Oshawa. Our goal was to seek some of the migrating waterfowl that were moving through this area of southern Ontario. It came as a surprise to come upon a Great Horned Owl and two Great Horned Owlets in the same neck of the woods. Read more
Owing to family demands this winter, Bob and I have had no opportunity to do birdwatching, much less skiing or hiking. One past Sunday was our first day of liberty, and we seized the moment by going to one of our favorite spots for birdwatching… Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto. We were not disappointed and came up with a lifer, a gorgeous Long-Eared Owl. Read more
Bob and I had heard that, at a particular cemetery in Burlington, Ontario, there are no less than three Eastern Screech Owls that inhabit nest holes in a couple of different trees. On the morning of our most recent visit, we did find one of the Red Morph Screech Owls, but when directed to a second tree that a pair of Screech Owls calls home, the cavity showed no sign of its occupants. It wasn’t until much later in the afternoon that I spotted this Red Morph when it poked its head out of the dark hollow for a peak at the world. Read more
Bob and I could not believe our good fortune when we found a second Eastern Screech Owl on the same visit to Burlington, Ontario. This Eastern Screech Owl Grey Morph is quite different from the Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl we had just observed at a nearby Cemetery. Read more
Well, Bob and I can finally say that we have seen an Eastern Screech Owl in the wild, as opposed to one we visited at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre a couple of years ago. It has taken us two years to finally see the Eastern Screech Owls in Burlington and not for lack of knowing where to look. It was overcast one day last week when Bob and I again ventured west of Toronto in hopes of finding at least one of the known Screech Owls out of its nest hole. Read more
Bob and I are determined, so we decided to once again make a trip to Colonel Samuel Smith Park to try to see the Snowy Owl viewed by many birdwatchers. Persistence pays off! We did locate the Snowy Owl and spent 2 1/2 hours recording its movements about the harbour. Read more
On a lark, Bob and I thought we would revisit Thickson’s Woods in Whitby, Ontario, to see if we could find the Great Horned Owls that inhabit that forest. It had been about a year since we earnestly looked for the Owls, and sure enough, one of the beautiful birds was found perched in the top of a tall pine tree. Read more
One winter Bob and I caught sight of this Snowy Owl with a fresh kill out on the ice at Frenchman’s Bay, on edge of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Read more
Only a week after first photographing the Great Horned owlets in Whitby, Ontario, Bob and I returned to catch up on their progress and development. When we first spotted the mother Owl, she was taking a break from her nesting responsibilities perched at the end of the same branch as that holding the nest. Read more
Bob and I had not gone out to Thickson’s Woods Nature Reserve, in Ontario, for about 5 weeks in the spring of 2013. Nor had we heard if the babies had hatched, so a visit was in order to check on the status of things. What a thrill when we sighted two Great Horned Owlets in their nest. Read more
