Barely a century ago, in the early 1900s, South America was considered remote, mysterious, and dangerous. Less was known about South America than any other inhabited continent. Even today, there are as many as 200 uncontacted indigenous tribes totalling up to 10,000 individuals living in voluntary isolation in the depths […]
In March, I featured the first of three postings I want to make from my recent trips to the Pantanal wetlands in central Brazil. This month I will focus on the birds, hopefully illustrating some of the fascinating biodiversity of this remarkable ecosystem. The pink blossoms are a colourful backdrop […]
For the last couple of years, I have spent the month of August in the Pantanal wetlands of central Brazil. I first went to this remote area in South America in 1997 when I was on a scouting trip to determine if this little-known wilderness had any merit as a […]
In 1977, the great horned owl was Alberta’s pick following a province-wide children’s vote. This powerful owl is the second heaviest owl in Canada and is a formidable predator of small and medium-size mammals and birds. It will even tackle heavily quilled porcupines, nestling hawks, peregrine falcons, and every other […]
Macaques have a very expressive face. This animal became frightened when a more dominant monkey arrived in the hot pool. This month I want to feature the last of the photos I took on the two trips I led to photograph the winter wildlife of Japan. Typically, people don’t expect […]
The Pacific loon, like all species of loons, has beautiful blood-red eyes. Many authors have erroneously suggested that the reason a loon has red eyes is to restore the red colouration filtered out of the water when the birds dive underwater. This is wrong. More likely, the intensity of the […]
I decided to continue the theme I began last month with “Extreme Birds” and feature extreme examples of reptiles this month. Worldwide, there are roughly 10,000 reptile species, including caiman, alligators, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises, snakes, lizards, and a single species of tuatara. Below are some of my favourite extreme […]
I have been addicted to nature trivia since I was a boy. I always wanted to know which animal has the strongest claws, the lightest bones, the most enormous mouth, the longest lifespan, and the biggest belly. Today, many decades later, whenever I need a trivia fix, I can always […]
When I was a boy, bears were the demons in my nightmares. During the day, they lurked in the dark recesses of my imagination, and at night they skulked from the shadows to stalk and chase me. I stopped having those frightening dreams many decades ago, but I have never stopped thinking about […]
This montage features the feathered finery of six adult male grouse. (clockwise from upper left) Greater sage grouse, spruce grouse, ruffed grouse, dusky grouse, rock ptarmigan, and white-tailed ptarmigan. Canada is home to 9 of the 12 species of grouse that live in North America. These include three species of […]
