Since I spend rather a lot of time discussing the difference between subadult plumages of Bald eagle versus Golden Eagle (when people send me photos or in reviewing eBird records etc.), I decided to share a series of 9 slides on their identification. These slide should be self explanatory so click on the first one to follow the sequence in full screen:                 ..read more

I had the good fortune to spend a fortnight back in Manitoba and to catch up with friends and colleagues. That included the opportunity to get out birding a few times and appreciate the owls that I always found to be one of the province's main attractions. In just a few outings I saw 15 Great Gray Owls and 5 Northern Hawk Owls; certainly not a lot by Manitoba standards (nowhere close to a personal best for any species) but a great joy to watch. To share the memories, I put together this short blog post on some of the birds we saw (clicking on any photo allows you to view it full screen). Star ..read more

A recent trip to Cape Town, South Africa and Tanzania enables me to add some African Owls to my blog. I will combine these with some photos I had previously posted from Cameroon for a round-of of African owls (though still far from complete) in rough taxonomic sequence. Barn Owl  (Tyto alba affinis), Cameroon, © Christian Artuso The Tytonidae is represented by only three species on the African continent (another on Madagascar). The first is none other than the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) and we start by showing one of the African subspecies T. a. affinis with a collage that shows a male and a female ..read more

Friends, I will be on the CBC Radio’s Weekend Morning show tomorrow (Saturday) at approximately 08:50 am to talk about my experience in Manitoba.  It will be tough because in just 7 or 8 minutes I have to try to cover the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, Golden-winged Warbler conservation, the Manitoba Important Bird Area Program, the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative, the Manitoba Nocturnal owl Survey, Delta Marsh Bird Observatory, the Breeding Bird Survey locally, the Nature Manitoba Bluebird Fund, the Species At Risk partnership on Agricultural Lands, community pastures and grassland outreach ..read more