Drew Monkman

  This morning at about 10 a.m., I observed a pair of Great Egrets briefly on the Otonabee River in Peterborough, just south of the zoo.  They flew in and stayed in the area for only about 10 minutes or so, but were very active during that time.  They waded Read more…

Cottagers sometimes find large, mysterious, jelly-like “blobs” attached to the dock or aquatic plants. They are formed by colonies of Bryozoa, a freshwater invertebrate. Looking somewhat like an egg mass, the clumps are clear, dense, and have distinct, repetitive patterns and markings on the outside. Bryozoa are like a freshwater Read more…

  Today, an adult female Eastern Dobsonfly crawled up on my deck for about 30 minutes.  She was almost five inches long. I’ve never seen one before, though I understand they are fairly common. Living on Armour Road about 150 metres from the Otonabee River we never know what will Read more…

Today, I had two Monarchs on my milkweeds. Observer: Ulrike Kullik, Highway 7, Havelock

  – Lesser Yellowlegs (1 report) ——————————————— Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> Needs Alert for Peterborough. The report below shows observations of species you have not seen in Peterborough, based on your eBird observations.  View this alert on the web at http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN34560 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless Read more…

*** Species Summary: – Peregrine Falcon (2 reports) ——————————————— Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> Rare Bird Alert for Peterborough. The report below shows observations of rare birds in Peterborough.  View this alert on the web at http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN36363 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) Read more…

Jerry Ball and I went butterflying  in the NE of the County today. Our route was Cty Rd 6, Cty Rd 44, Hubble Rd, Cty Rd 46 and Sandy Lake Rd. Butterflies were prolific, especially on Sandy Lake Rd.. In total we saw 42 species, with amazing numbers of hairstreaks. Read more…

Regarding the abundance of  fruit this year…yes!  It’s as if everything is  masting (producing a huge amount of fruit/seed)!!  Dale & I have expounded about the abundance of flowers since the early spring, and right on through until now:  first the Canada Plum, then the serviceberries, and even the maples, Read more…

This year’s butterfly numbers have been a little off. I have yet to see any Monarchs or Question Mark butterflies.The ones I have seen are – skippers, azures, tailed-blues, American lady (caterpillars now on Pussy Toes), tiger swallowtails, eyed browns, pearly eyeds and white admirals.  The woodland butterflies , eyed Read more…

This past Sunday, June 30, I saw a pair of  Sandhill Cranes, near Cambray (northwest of Lindsay). They were in a large field. Observer: Gavin Hunter

Here are a couple of recent photos of a Green Heron fishing from a tree branch along the shore of an island in Rice Lake. As shown in the first photo, the heron would cling to a branch while hanging upside down and jabbing its bill in the water to Read more…

  Click here to learn about eBird *** Species Summary: – Least Bittern (1 report) – Upland Sandpiper (2 reports) – Peregrine Falcon (2 reports) – Northern Rough-winged Swallow (4 reports) – Cliff Swallow (1 report) – Eastern Towhee (1 report) ——————————————— Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> Needs Read more…

A resident of Benmor Towers has seen a family of hawks around Jackson Park.  The nest is in one of the white pines near the  climbing frame and can bee seen from the ground . (Note: The bird is a Red-tailed Hawk. A pair has been nesting in the park Read more…

I have noticed that most of the trees, shrubs and vines seem to have a great deal of fruit on them this year. Among the species that really stand out in this regard are Eastern White Cedar, Red Oak, White Spruce, Sugar Maple, White Ash, Black Walnut, American Beech, Choke Read more…

This morning when I stepped out the front door, there was a Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at railway ties at side of house.  Several weeks ago, I had a White-tailed Deer in the backyard. It was dining on the fresh foliage of a Norway Maple. I frequently see Red Foxes Read more…

We had a rare visitor this evening – an Eastern Bluebird. He seems to be hanging around too…I’ve never seen him before. Observer: Kim Reid, Drummond Line, east of Peterborough and north of Highway 7

A leucistic female cardinal has been around our house all spring.  I finally got a photo of her at the feeder today. (N.B. Leucism is a general term for the patches of white on a bird’s body resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation. This often results in patches of Read more…

This afternoon I walked the Trans-Canada Trail from the foot path that goes up the steep hill to the bottom of Wallis Drive, past the  blue bridge (near the pumping station entrance point on Parkhill Road at Ravenwood) to about 100 metres west of the orange bridge at Lily Lake. Read more…

  A Black-crowned Night-Heron was perched on the dead top branches of a tree right beside the river, just north of the “Greenhouse on the River” garden centre on River Road (County Road 32). It seemed like it was fishing,  although it did not move even when we got out of Read more…

Yesterday, me and two friends birded Wylie Road on the Carden Alvar, just north of Kirkfield. It is well worth a trip at this time of year, especially for the opportunities to get great photographs of species such as bluebirds.  In addition to the numerous bluebirds one Loggerhead Shrike (at Read more…

Today I saw my first Monarch Butterfly of 2013. It was flying over a meadow off of Sharpe Line, just east of Bethany. Observer: Drew Monkman

  Last night I went to look for Eastern Whip-poor-wills just outside Warsaw. At the bridge on Rock St in Warsaw there was a Red-shouldered Hawk calling in the dark. Two km down Centre Road (in Douro-Dummer) there were four Eastern Whip-poor-wills calling from the large field opposite the two Read more…