A few years ago my husband, Dennis, bought me a spiffy new nest box equipped with a nestcam for my spring birthday. Within two days several violet-green swallows (tachycineta thalassina) began checking it out. I’d expected an extended looky-loo period because that’s what happened the spring before when swallows nested under the eaves …
Calgary photographer Rob English has the most amazing luck photographing small mammals. He got these shots last summer near the summit of Highwood Pass in the Canadian Rockies. He notes that he wasn’t the only one searching for pikas, but when the long-tailed weasel saw him it disappeared in the …
This past week has been full of excitement for my Grade 9 students as they prepare for their upcoming sailing trip in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. I’ve been busy with my own preparations as well, so I thought I would keep things simple this month and showcase a …
Posted By Cindy Boucher PURPLE FINCH!! With coffee flying and a mad dive for my camera, to snap a few shots before he flew off, two things hit me. One: the pain of hot coffee seeping through jeans and two: my favorite birds had arrived to the Cork. Now, I …
In April of 2012 the federal government announced it was divesting itself of 2.3 million acres of PFRA community pastures, 1.78 million of which are located in Saskatchewan. The control for these pastures has now reverted back to the prairie provinces and in response the Saskatchewan government has announced they …
In Part 1 of this series, we covered in some detail the Suborder Charadrii, which included such beauties as the American Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, and the ever-present Killdeer. In that suborder, we went over the 11 endemic species in some detail and mentioned 4 vagrant species. This month, we’ll …
Pledge to Fledge is an international grassroots campaign from The Global Birding Initiative, designed to introduce more people to the observation of wild bird species. P2F is designed to help birders recruit their non-birding friends, nurture them toward becoming a casual birder, and then, ideally, into a citizen concerned about …
Bird Canada has been updated with a new Birding Resources section. We’re in the peak of spring migration. If you’re feeding birds in your yard, these hungry new arrivals will be eager for your food, and not always aware of the deadly windows near the feeders. Window strikes kill millions …
Now that spring has arrived, our winter visitors here in Calgary will soon be leaving and one particular bird that I will miss more than others is the humble Common Redpoll. From a photographer’s point of view they are pretty much a dream subject: they are fairly common, like to perch …
Every now and then a western or a mountain bluebird makes an appearance here in the Comox Valley during the winter and early spring. A single mountain bluebird turned up at YQQ in April, 2012 and two more turned up on the Comox Valley Nature May, 2011 spring bird count. …