Carden Birds

Posted February 19, 2011

A burst of posts about northern shrikes begun by Sean led to a comment by our friend Fraser Gibson about the endangered loggerhead shrikes that nest on the Carden Plain near Orillia, and my own visit there last summer. This barn swallow was photographed on a rainy day last July from the blind constructed for […]

Remember this one, Al?

Posted February 18, 2011

Around the same time as indicated in the post below – 1999 or so – I took Al and another friend for a walk out along the Grand River at the end of Zeller Drive. I had been seeing a shrike fairly regularly at a spot on the drive there. As we approached that spot […]

My Shrike 2-cents

Posted February 17, 2011

This is a piggy-back on Sean’s great blog below… Sean, you may or may not know that this was the bird that started by birdwatching career back in Feb of 1999… I was in the car with Ted Cheskey (and 2 other people that I cannot recall right now) and we were making a right […]

I like shrikes

Posted February 17, 2011

Saw a Northern Shrike today.  It’s a robin-sized bird that preys on rodents and birds and insects.  It catches its prey with its beak, usually breaking the animal’s neck, or crushing its skull.  I haven’t seen a shrike catch anything, but apparently it is a violent affair.  The shrike today was at the top of a tree, […]

The Zen Master of Chickadee Feeding

Posted February 11, 2011

Better Way

Posted February 9, 2011

A couple of years ago I wrote a song about my job as an outdoor educator.  Here is my band Ridgewalker playing it in my basement before Christmas.       [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/10319101″]

Trappings of Winter

Posted February 4, 2011

Junior blogger Kyle, an-ex co-op student at Laurel Creek, sends this post from Northern Ontario, about an hour east of Parry Sound.  He is currently working a trapline with his uncle. “Hey Sean, I saw your post about the owls, not gonna lie I’m kinda jealous. But I saw a bunch of birds of my […]

Spring has Sung

Posted February 1, 2011

Spring is on the way… This statement might sound a bit bold with temperatures today below –10C and a wind-chill of –20C, but the signs of spring are emerging. Last week I heard the nasal song of the White-breasted Nuthatch on two consecutive days and song fragments of various bird species including Northern Cardinal and […]

“The Bird”

Posted January 30, 2011

Occasionally a bird rare to the local scene will show up unannounced and cause quite a stir in the birding community. Take the case of the Anna’s hummingbird presently residing in a homeowner’s yard in Newfoundland. Not so unusual except that it’s winter out east and there are no flowering plants to provide nectar – […]

Owling – It’s a Hoot!

Posted January 29, 2011

Went for a cross-country ski at Laurel Creek on Thursday after work with my wife, son, and several GRCA employees.  We finished up at about 6:00.  People were climbing into their cars and I suggested that we try calling for owls.  We went out on to the bridge directly in front of the nature centre and […]

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