( Read more... )

( Read more... )

I ran the Dwight route for the annual international Breeding Bird Survey for the 11th time on Saturday morning. I had a couple of treats this time.

The route begins at the same time every year, 4:54 a.m. or a half-hour before sunrise, and runs through mixed forest of the Haliburton Highlands. Along 40 km of road I make the same 50 stops every year ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

On to the last four days of the trip.

• May 26: Leaving Winnipeg. Manitoba has some birding hotspots, particularly significant wetlands where many waterfowl species nest. I found a good birding destination, Oak Hammock Marsh, 45 minutes north of Winnipeg. I'd like to get up early one morning and go see this. Please, djjo? We'll be too late in the season ( Read more... )

djjo and I went for a walk around Bruce's Mill Conservation area Sunday morning after hangnaildhole's 40th birthday party. hangnaildhole and atldaddybear live on the edge of a sugarbush in a park. We heard a Northern Parula and saw blue butterflies. I want to live in a place like that.

The sky was achingly clear, the air cool and windy. It fomented the maples and cast dramatic light ( Read more... )

On Thursday afternoon I met Sylvie for a weekend of birding at Point Pelee, using Dad's place as a base.

Friday at noon we caught the MV Jiimaan ferry for Pelee Island (the photo shows Sylvie on deck nearing arrival). It was my first visit, though I grew up practically within sight of it. What a revelation! It had the lush, flat landscape of Lake ( Read more... )

Sylvie and I escaped to Elora Gorge for a walk today. The sound of water rushing through the rapids was soothing. I needed it.

I wanted to know the French names of trees, so she told me: cedre, peuplier, cerisier, bouleau (birch), sapin (fir), chêne (oak), pin. "You probably know maple," she said. Of course we always see it on syrup bottles, but I ( Read more... )