On your mark… get set…

The last day of March, and this morning found me down at the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station, helping to set up the site for the start of another fabulous spring migration season. The research station’s primary goals are to collect data on local and migratory bird populations to aid with conservation efforts here [...]

Earth Hour in Toronto

Earth Hour took place yesterday around the globe, locally at 8pm. By early afternoon yesterday, the first photos and stories were coming in from New Zealand and other countries on the far side of the world from here. Ours, of course, took place at 8pm our time, and I nearly forgot about it even after [...]

Peering in the pond, part 2: Signs of life

I picked my way across the little patches of grass and stone, the few areas that aren’t submerged, till I reached the point where the water began to deepen. I squatted down on my heels, peered into the water and saw……
….nothing.
At least, not at first. The water looked still and quiet and empty. I can’t [...]

Peering in the pond, part 1: Don’t fall in!

With the days getting longer, and the turning forward of the clocks a few weeks ago, daylight lingers well into the evenings these days. When I finished the day’s house renovation tasks today there was still ample light to go padding about outside, and I wanted to get out for a bit to enjoy the [...]

Easter birds

At my parents’ for Easter dinner yesterday, I popped outside for some around-the-house birding while waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven. I decided not to venture further because there’s still quite a bit of snow on the ground, and with the (slightly) warming temperatures it’s quite soft now. Also, the driveway [...]

Life and death in a birdhouse

With the nice weather yesterday, and perhaps also as a symbol of the new season, I took my screwdriver and went out to clean out the birdhouses to make room for this year’s residents. When I was growing up we didn’t have birdhouses set up. I’m not sure why, because we always had feeders. Perhaps [...]

Signs of spring

Yesterday was the first day of spring. The sun was out today and the birds were singing. My mom heard the first Red-winged Blackbird calling from the swamp. I heard a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying by, out of sight. I’m also fairly certain I heard a Brown Creeper, though I wasn’t able to find [...]

A beetle from summer

When I returned to my parents’ this week my mom had brought out a beetle she had found while shopping downtown in the local town back in the summer, following a conversation we’d had earlier this week on a subject I can’t recall now. The beetle was dead when she found it, so she picked [...]

Tunnels from top to bottom

When I sat down to enjoy the sunshine and do a bit of sketching in the Don Valley trails on Sunday, I chose a young sapling to sit in front of. Not for any particular characteristic of the tree, but just that I like to have something at my back. I didn’t pay much attention [...]

Solitude in the heart of the city

This morning I got up early, leaving Blackburnian still asleep in bed, and slipped out the door with my camera and sketchbook to go to one of my favourite spots in the city. Unlike the Rouge, this area is just a short drive, perhaps ten minutes along in-town roads, located in a section of the [...]