Barb Castell is a birder who lives on an acreage SW of Calgary, Alberta, near the community of Priddis. The location is in the foothills, a transition zone between the prairies to the east and the mountains to the west. It is a great place to see birds, including some …
Imagine you’re a bird in flight, high in the sky, heading from your wintering grounds in South America to the Boreal Forest, along with a dozen other birds. You make the journey every year because that forest is your breeding ground. Migration, built into your genes like the colour of …
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 …
Hello again! This is not the busiest time of the year in my yard but there are still a few visitors making an appearance lately. It’s quite noisy in the yard these days, actually, because we are being overrun with Grackle and Starling juveniles. When you get 20 or 30 …
In June 2012 I submitted my concerns about Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline (NGP) to the Joint Review Panel of the National Energy Board (NEB). As I told the panel then, “Honestly, I’d rather be bird-watching, but sometimes there’s just no choice.” Of the 1161 citizens who made submissions to the NEB, …
Hello from Manitouwadge, in Northwestern Ontario. I will soon be contributing to Bird Canada on the 20th of each month, mostly about bird sightings in, near or around my yard but sometimes, maybe my flowers too! Just so you know, I am nowhere near being a professional birder or ornithologist …
It’s been a busy couple of months in my house since my last post in April. A new job, a new apartment, and plenty of changes for the better in my life have really kept me hopping. Part of my job is doing surveys for breeding birds, and most of …
One of the world’s greatest migrations is happening now. Billions of migratory birds are heading from the U.S., Central and South America to what’s been dubbed “North America’s bird nursery” —the sprawling billion-plus-acre boreal forest that spans the continent from Alaska across Canada to Newfoundland and Labrador—to nest and produce …
In late June I took a drive northwest of Calgary to see a pair of Sandhill Cranes that were reportedly nesting along the shore of a large pond (or small lake, if you prefer). I’d never really visited this particular area before, despite it being close to Grand Valley Road …
The Boreal Songbird Initiative and Ducks Unlimited have released a 20 page bulletin entitled 10 Cool Canadian Biodiversity Hotspots. The report highlights ten locations throughout our boreal forest that provide more detail and insight into its special biodiversity and conservation values. Pimachiowin Aki, Manitoba and Ontario Pimachiowin Aki, which means …