When we first moved to Northumberland County, Ontario 19 years ago I knew very little about poison ivy except for the old saying “leaves of 3, leave them be.” I learned about it soon enough. Northumberland County is covered with luxuriant poison ivy! To say it is widespread…
My garden has gone wild. That’s on purpose. Gardening for wildlife is so much fun. Pick some native flowers, shrubs, and trees. Add in some your favourite flowers that have lots of pollen and nectar, and enjoy the show. Even though we had the worst drought in years this summer,…
Baby birds now? Amazingly, yes. While many other birds are well on their way south for the winter, American Goldfinches are still dutifully raising their babies. One of the sounds of the fall garden here at my house is the insistent “feed me, feed me” from the baby…
For this blog we are going on a trip- to Saskatchewan! Saskatchewan is bursting with scenes like this. Huge fields of crops, cattle, barns, hay bales, and fenceposts. But Saskatchewan has many scenes, including ones you may not expect. In the far south lies some really surprising geography, plants and…
The Piping Plover Chicks at Presqu’ile are almost 4 weeks old. Look how they have grown! All 3 chicks are alive and well. They have had lot of changes in their lives over the past couple of weeks. When the chicks were a couple of weeks old, they received identification…
There’s a pair of Barred Owls in the Sugar Bush down the road from me. For the third year that I know of, they have raised a beautiful family in this old forest. Here’s one of the owlets from this year! The parents start to call loudly to each other…
Who have we here? Someone pretty special, that’s for sure. We have great news here in Brighton. Piping Plovers, an endangered species of shorebird, are raising a family on the beach at Presqu’ile Provincial Park for the first time in 100 years. Protection Plans in the US and Canada…
Yes, it happened again. I was compelled. Yesterday I went out and did a birding “big day.” This is a marathon of sorts, without the running, where I go out and try to find as many different species of birds as I can in a 24 hour period. Why?…
Do you ever wonder how birds can survive through the winter? It turns out, birds have quite a few adaptations that help them survive even the chilliest days. 1. Get puffy. When birds puff up their feathers it provides an extra layer of insulation to help keep out…
Look out. I have saved all my prettiest photos for this blog. What’s this owl doing? It’s regurgitating a pellet. Owls regurgitate pellets about once a day, usually from a favourite roost. They just open their mouths wide, make a terrible face, and push them out. Bleh.…
