Introduction Last Saturday, while conducting our Great Canadian Birdathon (still looking for donations - we've already raised over $10,000 for bird conservation!) we came across a distinctly "cinnamon" teal just outside of Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario. We quickly got the word out and subsequently lots of people had a chance to look for it. Since then I've been trying to figure out whether it was indeed a Cinnamon Teal or maybe just a cinnamon teal. This post is an attempt to assemble all the information I have along with photos from a variety of people (thanks to them all for sharing!). I ..read more

As some of you know I have some lights up around my house for moths. This year, since I’m home all the time I’ve done more than usual and I’m also hoping to try rearing some caterpillars. The other day that I had a female Cecropia Moth and I kept her over night to see if she’d lay some eggs – she did and I’m patiently waiting for them to hatch. Right now we’re in peak season for a lot of the big showy Giant Silkworm Moths and I had a female of another species, Promethea Moth show up at my light on Monday night: Promethea Moth female (slightly bigger than a Monarch for size comparison ..read more

There's been a huge growth in interest in moths in Ontario over the last several years...the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America (by Ontario's David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie!!) is certainly a huge factor in that. But there are lots of other important factors, too: there's excellent photo recognition now on iNaturalist (where a lot of Ontario moth-ers are reporting their sightings), the Toronto Entomologists' Association has their moth atlas (and associated Moth's of Ontario iNaturalist project) and of course there are excellent online resources for ID, in the for ..read more

There seems to be more and more interest in checking out bird migration live on weather radar maps. So I thought I'd put together a short post to compile some resources. Seeing birds on radar is not at all new, but there are lots of great websites now for viewing live radar images (or radar loops). I'd recommend everyone who is interested in birds and radar check out eBird's primer. The short explanation is that radar shoots out a signal, and what you see on radar maps is the reflection. It's mainly used by most people to view precipitation, but when migration is heavy, birds show up too. He ..read more