Being able to observe a Great Grey Owl hunting for voles in the foothills west of Calgary has to be one of the great joys one can experience as a birder in southern Alberta. Moreover, no matter how many times I have the privilege to witness these owls in action …
February came and went in a flash. Even with the extra day this year. I guess having so many days with Spring-like temperatures made it one of the most pleasant February(s) we’ve endured in a few years. The backyard didn’t present too much activity, or rather nothing out of the …
On the day before Valentine’s Day, GROWLS (Gabriola Rescue of Wildlife Society) held a wonderful event in celebration of Bald Eagles. Aptly-named Love is in the Air: An Eagle Affair, the day included a tour of eagle nests and a talk by provincial biologist Ian Moul about the Gabriola Eagle …
Hello again! Hope everyone had an enjoyable Valentine’s Day. Believe it or not, it is time for the Gray Jay to nest! Up here in NW Ontario, I believe the Gray Jay is the earliest species to begin nesting, usually in mid to late February. The signs have been there …
A lot of people don’t like winter, but we enjoy it. Sure, we miss our beautiful Baltimore Orioles, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and the many other birds that visit us during the Spring/Summer months, but Rob and I help ease this by taking a yearly winter road trip to the massive and beautiful …
For my first post of 2016 I offer you a photo display of some of the birds seen on the 2015 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Gabriola Island. The photos are by five Gabriola photographers – Shannon Gresham, Garry Davey, Zulis Yalte, Eileen Kaarsemaker, Douglas Green – and me. Prolific …
A belated Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Parts of January have been brutally cold but so far, it hasn’t lasted more than a couple of days … highly unusual as normally, most of January looks like this photo! It never ceases to …
Winter 2015/16 has proven to a bumper ‘winter finch’ season, at least here in the Calgary area, where the redpolls, grosbeaks, siskins, crossbills, etc showing up in good numbers. I just love the colours of all these finches, so made quite a number of outings over my Christmas vacation specifically …
December 2015 started off rather interesting in our Toronto backyard. We were still getting visits from Red-winged Blackbirds! I can only recall one other December in the near decade where we had such birds still visiting. We always call the Red-winged Blackbirds our first sign of Spring. The weather was …
Birding is purported to be the fastest-growing “hobby” in North America. Apparently, one in five Canadians consider themselves birders (http://globalnews.ca/news/1978047/birding-hobby-soars-in-popularity-across-north-america/) and the 2009 US census states: “24 million Americans play basketball, 23 million baseball, and 9 million play American football — at the same time, there are estimated to be nearly 60 …