Category: Birding
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"Peent! Peent!" Here comes the Common Nighthawk
Today’s blog was written by former Discovery leader at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park and current birder and Senior Discovery Ranger at Rondeau Provincial Park, Sarah Wiebe. Meet the Common Nighthawk. This peculiar nightjar (medium-sized nocturnal bird) calls Ontario home during the summer months and can be seen all over the province, including cities and provincial parks!
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5 reasons to visit Nagagamisis Provincial Park
Canada’s Boreal Forest Region stretches from the edge of the Yukon in the north, down and across the country all of the way to Newfoundland and Labrador. Ecologically rich and diverse, the boreal forest ecosystem captures the imagination with its towering trees, shimmering lakes, and breathtaking scenery. It can be hard to choose where to…
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The flight of the Prothonotary Warbler
Today’s post comes from Jess Matthews, chief park naturalist at Rondeau Provincial Park. Special thanks to Kevin Gevaert for providing Prothonotary Warblers photos! Close your eyes. Try to imagine a spring with no birdsong. A spring without flashes of colour flitting through the bushes. A silent forest void of oranges, yellows, blues, and reds… …it…
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Loons are like campers — they love their park!
`In today’s post, Kettle Lakes Provincial Park‘s senior park naturalist Sarah Wiebe shows us that loons and campers aren’t so different! Just like many families, Common Loons choose Kettle Lakes as the place to stay with their family in the summer. You could say that loon families love parks as much as we do! Like…
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Just for the gull of it!
In today’s post, Awenda’s Chief Park Naturalist Tim Tully defends what some may think is the undefendable: the gull. If there was ever an animal that gets a raw deal, it’s the gull. It’s time to set the record straight and come to the defense of this unfairly maligned avian “underbird.” For starters, we can’t…
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Piping Plovers
Today’s post comes from Assistant Ecologist and Piping Plover specialist Ian Fife. If you’ve visited some of our popular Great Lakes beaches, you may have noticed restricted areas for a tiny bird no larger than a sparrow. What’s so important about these birds, and why do we fence off parts of our beaches to protect…
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Help us fill Breeding Bird Atlas gaps!
In today’s post, Ontario Parks Northeast Zone Ecologist Anna Sheppard is asking for your helping hands (actually, eyes. And ears.) Planning to visit any of these northwestern parks this summer? Aaron Provincial Park Blue Lake Provincial Park Lake Superior Provincial Park Neys Provincial Park Silver Falls Provincial Park Woodland Caribou Provincial Park If so, and…
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3 ways to level up your birding
Today’s post comes from marketing specialist and birding enthusiast, Tanya Berkers. When Ontario Parks signed on as a supporter of the third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, I eagerly volunteered on one of the organizing committees. I love birding, and the Atlas is an important volunteer-dependent project that supports conservation and environmental policy across the entire…
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Photographing the birds of the boreal
Nagagamisis Provincial Park is a very special place for birds — just ask camper Edith St. Martin. During her stay this summer, Edith combined her deep love of learning and teaching with paddling and photography. Her captivating photos of birds in the park, and her willingness to share them, show us just how diverse and…