Category: Natural World
-
Red-Winged Blackbirds
The male Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a ubiquitous sight in the GTA, especially near marshland; given how common they are, it’s hard not to get a bit blasé about these rather splendid creatures. The main thing that struck me, the first time I saw them, was that a calling male does look rather as…
-
Recuperative visit to the Rock Gardens
My endlessly kind other half took me to the Rock Gardens run by the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, as part of a period of recuperation after getting a little closer to snuffing it than I usually like. Being too weak and feeble at the time to carry much gear, all of the images on…
-
Walking by the DVP
My first job in Canada was just off the Don Valley Parkway and some lunchtimes a friend and I would take a stroll around the block, to get a bit of exercise. I always took my camera, although rather more in hope than expectation; on one occasion, this splendid bird decided to put in an…
-
Cootes Paradise
Cootes Paradise (possibly an egregious missing apostrophe there?) is a rather lovely wetland near Hamilton; it is looked after by the Royal Botanical Gardens, although it is a semi-wild landscape. In the not too distant past, the wetlands were badly damaged by pollution, excessive human use and also by the damage caused by the introduced…
-
Geese: shortly after dawn
One distressing aspect of an enthusiasm for photography is the need to get up at a totally unreasonable hour to catch some of the better light; this image required my surfacing when most sensible folk were still tucked up in bed. The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is one of the classic sights in their namesake…