A resident of Benmor Towers has seen a family of hawks around Jackson Park. The nest is in one of the white pines near the climbing frame and can bee seen from the ground . (Note: The bird is a Red-tailed Hawk. A pair has been nesting in the park Read more…
Plants in bloom, bird song winding down during the hottest month of the year Click here to view column NOTE: The web address for dragonfly and damselfly pictures was mistakenly omitted from the column. Go to http://www.odonatacentral.org/
I have noticed that most of the trees, shrubs and vines seem to have a great deal of fruit on them this year. Among the species that really stand out in this regard are Eastern White Cedar, Red Oak, White Spruce, Sugar Maple, White Ash, Black Walnut, American Beech, Choke Read more…
This morning when I stepped out the front door, there was a Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at railway ties at side of house. Several weeks ago, I had a White-tailed Deer in the backyard. It was dining on the fresh foliage of a Norway Maple. I frequently see Red Foxes Read more…
We had a rare visitor this evening – an Eastern Bluebird. He seems to be hanging around too…I’ve never seen him before. Observer: Kim Reid, Drummond Line, east of Peterborough and north of Highway 7
A leucistic female cardinal has been around our house all spring. I finally got a photo of her at the feeder today. (N.B. Leucism is a general term for the patches of white on a bird’s body resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation. This often results in patches of Read more…
This afternoon I walked the Trans-Canada Trail from the foot path that goes up the steep hill to the bottom of Wallis Drive, past the blue bridge (near the pumping station entrance point on Parkhill Road at Ravenwood) to about 100 metres west of the orange bridge at Lily Lake. Read more…
A Black-crowned Night-Heron was perched on the dead top branches of a tree right beside the river, just north of the “Greenhouse on the River” garden centre on River Road (County Road 32). It seemed like it was fishing, although it did not move even when we got out of Read more…
Ministry of Natural Resources What to do if You Find a Sick, Injured or Orphaned Wild Animal If you see what you think may be sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, don’t remove it from its natural habitat. The bird or animal may not need assistance and you could actually Read more…
Yesterday, me and two friends birded Wylie Road on the Carden Alvar, just north of Kirkfield. It is well worth a trip at this time of year, especially for the opportunities to get great photographs of species such as bluebirds. In addition to the numerous bluebirds one Loggerhead Shrike (at Read more…
‘BioBlitz’ of Harper Park catalogued unseen world of plants, animals and birds Click here to view column
Today I saw my first Monarch Butterfly of 2013. It was flying over a meadow off of Sharpe Line, just east of Bethany. Observer: Drew Monkman
Last night I went to look for Eastern Whip-poor-wills just outside Warsaw. At the bridge on Rock St in Warsaw there was a Red-shouldered Hawk calling in the dark. Two km down Centre Road (in Douro-Dummer) there were four Eastern Whip-poor-wills calling from the large field opposite the two Read more…
This afternoon I walked the Trans-Canada Trail from the blue bridge (near the pumping station entrance point on Parkhill Road at Ravenwood) almost to Ackison Road. A great number of wildflowers are in bloom right now. Although most are non-native, it’s still impressive. FLOWERS IN BLOOM White: Canada Anemone (abundant), Read more…
I am writing because I realized the other morning that I have not heard one of my favorite sounds this spring, the flute-like call of the Wood Thrush in our woods. It has been part of our spring/summer experience for as long as I can recall since we moved here Read more…
My wife, Nancy, caught this scene on the morning of June 9 as she was picking flowers in our meadow garden at our cottage on Mississagua Lake. Observer: John Ronson, Mississauga Lake (Note: This is a Goldenrod Crab Spider – Misumena vatia. It is commonly found hunting in goldenrod Read more…
These Red Fox cubs have been providing entertainment for some Ennismore residents this spring. Four were around for some time, while the 5th one just showed up on June 9th. The pictures were taken by a trail camera. Red Foxes usually have three to six cubs. Drew Monkman
Local chapter of 4RG (For Our Grandchildren) gets start with climate seminar Click here to view column
Bald Eagles are nesting across from St. Peter’s on-the-Rock church near Collin’s Island on Stony Lake. The pictures were taken by Jeff Jones the week of June 3rd and by Rob Welsh on June 12. From the Jone’s photo, there appear to be two eaglets in the nest. According to Read more…
Last Friday was the first day that I noticed any Snapping Turtles laying eggs with just one showing up. Today, there were up to at least 5 in my front and backyard area and they showed up late (mid-morning) and some are still out there now (7 pm) I have Read more…
While driving in the University Road area on Sunday around 5:30 pm, we saw a Great Egret fly overhead. We have not seen one before so this was exciting for us! We also noticed the wetland off University Road is drying out – what caused this? (drained by Douro-Dummer Township Read more…
This little Gray Treefrog was on my deck in a broken clay pot this morning. He is only about one inch long. What a cute little thing! Observer: Kim Mitchell, Ennismore
I thought I heard an American Redstart in our lane this morning (May 29th) after walking my son to the bus. I pished and for the first time it worked! He flew right down to within 10 feet of me and sang right to me. He was beautiful! Thanks for the Read more…
All but one of six local species are at risk, so keep a sharp eye out on rural roads Click here to view column
Have a look at this guy! It’s an Io Moth. I finally found it online because I’ve never seen one before. Pretty impressive, eh? It was on our front porch. When I touched it, it flew a little, opening its wings to show its hindwings with the eyespots. Wow! Observer: Jill Read more…
This afternoon I walked the Trans-Canada Trail from the blue bridge (near the pumping station entrance point on Parkhill Road at Ravenwood) to Ackison Road. A great number of shrubs are in bloom right now – almost all with white flowers – especially from the bridge at Lily Lake to Read more…
Why is it that most places I go the cedars are brown and many have almost no foliage? Is there some kind of blight, a lack of rain or are the trees dying naturally? According to Taylor Scarr, provincial forest entomologist at MNR, the “browning” is the result of Read more…
Today on Nichol’s Cove Road I had four Golden-winged Warblers. Three were males all singing the typical Golden-winged song and the forth was a female associating with one of the males. The Brewster’s Warbler that I saw last week was also still present and singing the typical Blue-winged Song but Read more…