The World Through Our Lens
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario.
On a brilliantly sunny and relatively warm March day, Bob and I visited the Leslie Street Spit for some much-needed fresh air and exercise. It was at the Unwin Avenue bridge here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that we spotted the elusive Tundra Swan. 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 enjoy birdwatching through our patio door as we take our meals every day, but near the beginning of this past December, as we finished up our lunch, all the songbirds took flight in a rushed panic. Next thing we knew, this Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk assumed a stakeout from on top of my garden arbour. Read more
What a challenge to capture any Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) in a photograph! Over the years, as Bob and I have canoed on various lakes and rivers, we have observed countless Kingfishers taunting us with their perpetual cat and mouse routine. Always just one step ahead of us, it seems that these birds are playful at best, and always wait until we are in sight before taking flight for another tree a couple of hundred feet further down the shoreline. This handsome female took no notice of our presence on the observation deck at Colonel Samuel Smith Park in Toronto. Read more
For weeks, Bob and I had been hearing about a Yellow-crowned Night Heron making a stay at Colonel Samuel Smith Park on Toronto’s lakeshore. When finally we had a chance to pop down there for a look, it was quite late in the afternoon so we did not hold out much hope of seeing it since other people had been numerous times without success. Lo and behold, after we circled the main pond on an obscure trail through the woodlot, we came out to a clearing and found the Night Heron perched nonchalantly on a rock. Read more
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
At the height of the past spring’s migration, Bob and I made a plan to check out Ashbridge’s Bay Park at the shoreline of Lake Ontario in Toronto. Hundreds of sightings had been reported there the previous week, so we were up much earlier than usual and on site in the parking lot before the sun’s rays were much above the horizon. It was fairly late in the morning, however, when we discovered this female American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) in the middle of a dense thicket of trees. 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
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
