Osprey return to their nest at Youngs Point

Osprey return to their nest at Youngs Point

Two Osprey in their nest at Young's Point - Ontario - Canada

In the spring of 2013, the Osprey had been sighted at Youngs Point, on the Trent-Severn Waterway at Lock 27, a small village just north of Peterborough, Ontario.  They had returned to their nesting grounds for the season.  On a trip up that way, Bob photographed and filmed the pair perched on their nest. Read more

Great Horned Owlets In Their Nest In Thickson’s Woods

Great Horned Owlets In Their Nest In Thickson’s Woods

great horned owl chicks and mother in nest -- - thicksons woods - whitby - ontario

Bob and I had not gone out to Thickson’s Woods Nature Reserve, in Whitby, 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

Skunk Cabbage Blooming in Cootes Paradise

Skunk Cabbage Blooming in Cootes Paradise

Skunk Cabbage plant, spathe bract, cootes paradise, hamilton, ontario

I have lived in Ontario my whole life, and despite trekking through the bush as a child, and doing endless hikes as an adult, this past spring was  the first time that I have ever come across a Skunk Cabbage plant at Cootes Paradise, in Hamilton, Ontario…lots of them, in fact. Read more

Barred Owl We Sighted At West Cranberry Tract In Whitby

Barred Owl - catching a snooze - Cranberry West Tract - Whitby

On a visit to the West Cranberry Tract at Lynde Shores Conservation Area in Whitby, in Ontario, another keen birder pointed out to Bob and me this Barred Owl (Strix varia) perched high in a tree.  Completely at ease, it was wiling away the day quite oblivious of the interested observers nearby. Read more

Snowshoeing The Spruce Bog Trail In Algonquin Park

With snowshoes on Jean looks for beavers in Algonquin Park

Bob and I had never gone snowshoeing before, so when the chance to try out a pair presented itself, we seized it!  After skiing the Leaf Lake Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park, in Ontario, in the morning, we ventured over to the Spruce Bog Boardwalk Trail where we knew we could walk out on the bog and really give the snowshoes a workout. Read more

Trumpeter Swans On The Shores Of Lake Couchiching

Trumpeter swan A41, Washago, Ontario

Early one spring, on the shores of Lake Couchiching, Bob and I caught up with two members of the trumpeter swan family as they began their migration back to their breeding grounds in central Ontario.

Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) at one time were familiar sights in southern Ontario during periods of migration, but due to over hunting in the 18th and 19th centuries, for their feathers and their skins, as of 1886,  they had vanished from the region.  That year, a hunter at Long Point on Lake Erie shot the last known trumpeter swan that was migrating from the west.

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