The World Through Our Lens
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario.
When people talk about Ice Storm Toronto 2013, I’m sure there will be much chatter about the devastation and suffering in the city, but many of those same people will readily acknowledge the transient beauty of an ice-encrusted world. In the hours subsequent to the brunt of the storm, Bob and I set out on foot to uncover some of that hidden splendour. Read more
Bob and I always keep a keen eye on the goings and comings in our backyard. There is constant activity centered around the bird feeders. If it isn’t squirrels that have outsmarted our most recent positioning of the feeding stations, it is the delightful array of birds sparring for feeding rights that entertain us. What a shock when one day Bob was walking to the garden house and spotted a new little critter under the arbour seat. A Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) sat huddled in the shadows hoping to avoid detection. Read more
One fall, Bob and I were so excited to see what we thought was a new bird sitting on our backyard arbour. Trouble was, we couldn’t find the bird in any of our bird books, so we turned to Toronto and Southern Ontario Birding for their input. It turns out that this beautiful bird is a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Read more
Every spring and again in late summer, Bob and I are graced with the attentions of hummingbirds in our flower garden, and this past year was no different. This Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) was seen visiting our Butterfly Bush repeatedly over the course of several days. Read more
Late one fall morning, Bob and I decided to pack an impromptu picnic and head down to Rosetta McClain Gardens on the Scarborough Bluffs here in Toronto. We anticipated wonderful views of Lake Ontario as we munched on our modest lunch, but we did not foresee the multitudes of dragonflies that had gathered at the gardens, ones such as this Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly. Read more
When Bob and I dropped into Rosetta McClain Gardens for a brief walkabout, the last thing we expected to see were hundreds of Green Darner Dragonflies darting in and around the expansive flower beds. When one such dragonfly lit on a flower head, we had the opportunity for a very close look at its anatomy. Green Darner Dragonflies can be positively identified by the black bulls-eye in front of their large brown eyes. Read more
My husband, Bob, while in the process of putting bird food into the feeders, happened to notice a new visitor to our backyard…a Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia), a type of Wood Warbler. Read more
On spring, as I went about cleaning up the dishes after breakfast, out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur fly past the patio door and make a sharp veer to the left. I was grateful that the bird hadn’t been fooled into flying into the window’s reflection. I was keen to locate it in my backyard and thrilled when the bird turned out to be a Gray-cheeked Thrush. Read more
One of my favorite backyard features is the flowering crab apple tree outside our bedroom window. It reminds me fondly of the wild cherry tree that bloomed next to my bedroom window when I was a child growing up at Oxtongue Lake. Bob and I scrutinize this apple tree for avian visitors every time we pass by the window. A pleasant surprise greeted us late one afternoon when a Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla) sat nestled in amongst the pink flower buds. Read more