Category: Birds

This can be a frustrating time of year for anyone who enjoys being outside. The sun is doing a good job of warming the earth up to welcome life back in a grand way, but Father Winter still pops back for a visit. On Wednesday, I took Monty for...

I’m now 2 days behind on my posts, so I’m going to post these photos with little commentary. On Tuesday we took a 6-hour boat tour into Kenai Fjords National Park, and these photos, posted in the order they were shot, show some of the highlights of the day....

We had some interesting visitors on Saturday – a pair of spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) who were certain that Spring has arrived. The male put on quite a performance over a period of about half an hour. He certainly had the eye of the female. Nice work, and good...

I spent Friday at a Natural History and Nature Interpretation workshop. Offered to Yukon guides by the Wilderness Tourism Association of the Yukon, its purpose was to increase the level of knowledge of people who already have a solid base and to help them interpret the Yukon’s wildlife and...

We’ve been having above-average warm weather for weeks now, and I estimate that Spring is about 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Reports that some swans even spent the winter in the Whitehorse area prompted us to go on a tour of the main swan viewing spots yesterday. The return...

When you’re surrounded by wilderness, every day can be a surprise. Yesterday we had planned a day of spectacular scenery, but in addition to that we got a look at just how incredibly rich the natural world around us is. The weather forecast has been changing often lately, but...

Yesterday was our ship’s day in Sitka, our favourite port. It was unfortunately a very short visit, from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm – we’d love to spend 12 hours there (or a week!). I awoke to fog and a light rain, with the Zaandam off to starboard. This...

What a glorious time of year this is. Despite the cool temps and the wet, it’s wonderful to watch the world sprouting in various ways. Sometimes it’s a nuisance – with the lodgepole pines letting loose clouds of pollen the past few days, everything from cars to patio furniture...

Flying excites me – if I can’t be doing it, I want to be watching it. Whether it’s natural flight or technological flight is immaterial – the concept is the same to me, and the Yukon is a great place to watch both types. The photo above is a...