It starts with a bang. A few days of beautiful warm weather, and suddenly they flood northward, crossing the wide expanse of Lake Erie (a risky open water voyage apparently worth the circumvention of Detroit), then push up through southern Ontario and beyond. I headed out at the crack of dawn on Saturday to see [ Read More ]
The Northern Cardinal is one of the most brilliantly coloured of our North American birds. Originally a more southerly species, it has extended its range north over the past two centuries and is now a common sight in parts of southeastern Canada. As a non-migratory songbird, this expansion is believed to be influenced by both [ Read More ]
Can you see us? The Earth, as a tiny pale dot caught in a shaft of scattered sunlight as seen from the Voyager I spacecraft, at a distance of six billion kilometers away. Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever [ Read More ]
We’ve reached the lull, that period of spring migration where the usual early arrivals have already settled in and we wait eagerly for the coming onslaught. I spotted a Barn Swallow wheeling overhead yesterday, decidedly early for this species. It won’t be long now. Here’s an Eastern Phoebe, found on a windy day near the [ Read More ]
Snow returned on Monday to blanket the countryside, but this past Sunday was a beautiful balmy day. I went for a walk in the fields while out at my parents’ place, enjoying the weather while it lasted. It still feels strange to wander around back there without my old boy keeping me company. Pausing at [ Read More ]
Neibauer Marsh is a large pond situated in a cornfield on the outskirts of Guelph. Being a relatively shallow, stagnant body of water, it can be late to thaw in the spring, but once it opens up it attracts large numbers of migrant waterfowl. We had enough warm weather this past March to see the [ Read More ]
Birder with a sketchbook, skeptic and popular science junkie. Spends too much on books. Fearful of spiders. Is well trained.
Currently resides in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
