The World Through Our Lens
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario.
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
One summer, Bob and I made numerous trips to Tommy Thompson Park, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During one trip to the park, we were quite pleased to find an Osprey perched on a tree stump in the middle of the first large pond in the wetlands. Read more
Last week, Bob and I walked over to Milliken Park to check up on the Trumpeter Swan Cygnets and search for Monarch Butterflies. As we busied ourselves photographing a beautiful Monarch specimen on a milkweed flower, we became distracted by numerous Cedar Waxwings perching in the top of a dead tree. We were happy to see that a number of those birds were still at the park. When I glanced into the crown of a nearby maple tree, I was dumbfounded as to what I was seeing. It looked like a huge turban made out of cloth, but then I recognized it as a hornet”s nest. It was huge! Read more
One summer, Bob and I made for Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We were certain, given the large number of Monarch Butterfly larvae that we had seen before, that we would be able to find a chrysalis on one of the many Milkweed plants. Our memory served us well as to the locations of a good share of the well-advanced larvae, but it took us two days to actually locate a Monarch’s chrysalis amid the fields of stately Milkweed plants. Our persistence had paid off! Read more
On a nice outing to Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, we finally succeeded in locating some of this year’s crop of Monarch Butterfly larvae, ten in fact. We were ecstatic. Read more
What a sad summer it was here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 2014, because Monarch Butterflies were conspicuous by their absence. Bob and I had been monitoring sightings posted by nature lovers on Facebook, and websites such as The Insects and Arachnids of Ontario, and Butterflies and Moths of North America. We were not the only people discouraged by the poor showing of these beautiful insects so far that year. Read more
How beautiful is a sprawling drift of Sunchokes fading into the distance! That is just what we found when Bob and I visited Lower Reesor Pond in northeast Toronto. This native species of sunflower goes by many different names including Sunchokes, Sunroot or Earth Apple. Read more
Bob and I take regular walks in a local park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, because we find that the variety of habitats found there encourages an assortment of birds and animals at any given time of the year. One walk we were stunned by the numbers of cedar waxwings we sighted. Read more
For the past several years, starting each spring and into the summer months, I have been pestered by Red Lily Beetles on my Tiger Lilies . These beetles stand out quite well on green plants, but they are a trick to catch and squash. I declare I think they see me coming because, often, as I move in on their position, they drop to the earth below and essentially disappear in the shadows.
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