The World Through Our Lens
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The Poison Garden at Blarney Castle is one of the featured gardens on the grounds that span some 1,000 acres, but it is but a tiny plot sheltered behind the Blarney Castle battlements. The Poison Garden contrasts sharply with the expansive green spaces and vibrant flowers found elsewhere on the estate property, but mystique pervades the small plot and has curious visitors anxious to investigate . 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
After Bob and I were safely on shore following the boat tour of Cobh Harbour, the greater part of the afternoon was still available to us, so we drove up to Blarney Castle, in County Cork, to Kiss the Blarney Stone. Read more
When Bob and I decided to travel to the Grand Canyon, it was more about seeing the spectacular scenery than anything else, but on our first morning at Grand Canyon National Park , we had an early morning helicopter flight booked at the local heliport. When we emerged from our rental car to check in, our birding instincts took over when we spotted a Mountain Bluebird perched in one of the trees at the edge of the parking lot. Read more
We found the Recumbent Drombeg Stone Circle in a pastoral valley that was very similar to the one where Coppinger’s Court is situated. 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
Coppingers Court Ruins looks more like a haunted house than a former Grand Stronghold. But it was that pervasive cryptic appeal that had Bob and I veering off R597 in County Cork, in search of its exact location. Read more
Years ago, I planted a Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) in my front garden in the hopes of attracting butterflies to my property. I never imagined that one day I would be seeing, not one, but two Giant Swallowtail Butterflies cavorting amongst the branches of the plant. 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